what years did ford use a closed knuckle dana 44 on f100 4x4's?

were these only 59-60 or did they use them later ?

 

I thought all Dana 44's were closed knuckle until the mid 70's?

 

They used them upto about 76, then they went open knuckle and disc brakes.

 

It was a mix, I have a 72 F-100 with the factory original open knuckle D44 front end.

 

This little nugget will tell all:

http://77cj.littlekeylime.com/web_rs44.html

 

everything in that artical about early axles is too new

this is a standard rotation low-pinion closed knuckle leaf spring axle.

is there any identification tips to tell if its a 59-60 or 61-64? are the spring pads the same width?