i am gona buy this 76 f250 with 79 steering, dana 44 frotnned, low pinion, and 60 rear....i want a 60, i have a D60 out of a 86 f350...but i heard that axle wont work unless i re do the sring perches or cut axle tubes.......

what axles would bolt right in? 79 d60 axle?


could a 44 handle the abuse? i doubt ill beat on the truck considering its a show truck....its got a 500 HP 460

 

Get 44s bound up with a Dana 44 and it'll snap like a twig... unless building a poser mall crawler then yer golden. What are you building?

 

True... But, if you keep all wheels on the ground and keep it open... You'll just eat ball joints.

 

buildign more of a show truck, but i would take it out in the pit probely.....do you think i should just fab my 86 d60 in it? or get a 79 axle?? ... pluss a highpinion would be nice considering the truck has a 9 inch suspention...

 

A 60 would be best, although I'm unsure of using an 80's one.

 

what if i cut the axle tubes? and shorten them? id be worried about the caster

 

From what I've heard- 31 spline D44 < 35", 35 spline D44 < 37", D60 < 40", D70/80 < 44"

I guess it's more like a "Rule of Thumb" thing but it makes sense. I'm sure we have all seen or owned a truck with a D44 running 44" tires but like HIO said, ain't gonna last that long at all under the stresses of offroad.

 

This guy on FTE once said....D44 versus D60: But you will have a hard time finding a 60 with the 32.5" spring spacing, it'll have to be from a dentside. The '86+axles are spaced at 36", but are more common. Honestly the price you pay for one is way over rated. I happened to get one and put it in my truck, but it is just bragging rights to say "Yeah...I got a D60 front axle." They are over rated unless you continually are beating on it so hard you are tearing your D44 apart all the time.
The truths:
Yes it is heavier...doesn't do much but slow your truck down.
Yes it has a bigger ring gear...haven't broke yours, so why need to go bigger?
Yes it has bigger u-joint...good news is that likely won’t break on you.
The pitfall:
(The outer shafts are the same diameter as the outer shafts on a D44) POSSIBLY INCORRECT (just a different spline count). Instead of maybe breaking a u-joint you will likely break an outer shaft and good luck finding a cheap replacement.
The D44 held up for you for now, why change it? Also spare parts for the 44 are cheap. If you have 3:55 gears now and want to find 4.11s just find a D44 with 4.11s in already. I wouldn't pay more than $200 for a D44 front...they are very common. One questions for this would be what size tire are you running? For off road use the D44 is usually good 35" and under tires (yes there are many exceptions for this). If you rebuild the D44, do you plan on putting in after market (stronger) axle shafts and u-joints (or do you already have them). Load rating tests show that a fully upgraded D44 axle with good aftermarket shafts (there are LOTS to choose from and some are far better than others) is about equal to a stock D60 with 35 spline outer stubs. Ok now you just upgraded your axle shafts... what does your current ring and pinion look like? If you are eating up teeth or snapping pinion shafts there is really no fix for this but to go to a D60... well there is one possible option and that’s a Dana 50 which is a kit to drop in D50 gears into a D44, bigger ring gear but same pinion shaft diameter. If you are going to regear and going to keep the D44 this might be a good time to look at this option for increased strength. Last question is... with the plow on the front and any extra weight are you over the D44's load rating? If you are really working it hard do you know if your D44 is still strait and are you overloading the wheel bearings? Might be time to weigh the front half of your truck and see where you are at. An axle truss might help, but I'd say if you are past the 44's weight I'd move on to a 60.

 

I had a friend who used to run a 78 f100 with 38" buckshot bias ply tires and he beat the ever living hell out of that truck, jumped it, rolled it, sunk it and snatched everyone else out of the mud with it.. The only things he killed in the drive train were a 300/6 (melted it) broke two 9" axles but the front axle NEVER broke..

 

An open Dana 44 geared 4.10 is much more likely to live than a Detroit 5.38 Dana 44.

It makes a huge difference, and most people, even if they do blast across a field in low range once in a while, just aren't Dana 44 killers.

Like I said though, even open and on the street, it will eat ball joints.

 

I used to have a f150 with a 429 CJ. The rear was a D60, the front a five lug D44. When I first bought the truck it had 44" Boggers, and the previous owner broke axles in the 44 every weekend at the mud bogs. I promptly swapped to 38.5" Ground Hawgs and never had an issue. Later I swapped the D60 rear for a 9" and stepped down to 35" Swampers and owned a much happier truck.

Personally, I wouldn't run 44" tires on a Dana 44 period.

 

You already have the D44 in, so why not at least try it and see how far you get?


There are many parts to beef up a D44. Chromoly axle shafts and CV shafts have been known to take quite a beating. Axle trusses can be welded on to prevent a frowning front end. King pin trusses can also be welded on for strength. A larger and stronger ring gear can be fitted if you begin to shear off teeth.


You might as well try and see what fails on the 44 before going through the headache of swapping in a 60.

 

true but all that qork...when i can just find a 79 d60 and itll bolt right up

 

Just ask yourself one question are you going to wheel this 500hp show truck hard enough to snap axles and u-joints? Probably not. I know I wouldn't. Save yourself the trouble and run the 44. You could always upgrade your axle shafts if you have trouble later. Good luck.

 

your right..im not a heavy wheeler, im not rock crawling or im not that ahole that does 4wd burnouts on black top lol....so your right...