Hi all,

I'm in the midst of putting a set of 92 axles into my 86. Among other things, they were cheap, had 4.10's, and the front is an upgrade from the badly wounded D44 that was in my plow truck. The newere Dana 50 seems pretty intact, but I need to replace the brake hoses on the truck. I see there are two part numbers indicating a change around 1990. What changed on the trucks to warrant that? Should I buy hoses for the 92 axle, or the 86 truck?

One other show stopper - do I need to acquire a driveshaft from the Dana 50 truck (which I do not have)? I need to replace the pinion u-joint anyway, but I hope I don't need to find a new driveshaft. Someday, I want to swap in a 60; that might make THREE driveshafts I would eventually need. Ugh!!

Thanks,
Pete

 

the 50 is no real strength upgrade over your current D44. it should bolt right in though and i would get the brake lines from that year

 

I thought it had larger balljoints and hubs?

 

The D50 is a ttb right? Your better off doing an SAS...

 

......but for now, these axles cost me $200 for the pair, and my 44 had a broken hub and u-joint. The TTB 50 has Dana 60 outers, too, in case I source a DRW Dana 60 in the future. And the 4.10's are better suited for my application (local heavy towing, plowing, and general mayhem). So, its all good, at least for now.

Thanks,
Pete

 

The 50 has larger balljoints and u-joints, and is a decent upgrade from the 44HD for a plow truck.
As for the brake hoses, which calipers are you using? Actually, that shouldn't matter, the 92 calipers should be the same as the 86 ones anyway, Brake hoses to suit your truck would be what I'd go with.
As for the driveshaft, your existing one should bolt right up. I know they are the same between my 6.9 truck(44HD) and my 460 truck(used to be D50)

 

Thanks! I guess I'll find out soon enough, I hopefully will sling it under the truck tonight or tomorrow night. What caused me to pucker slightly was the fact the new axle has the remains of the slip-yoke driveshaft on it, and the trucks 'shaft is a fixed style (at least, the diff side is - I imagine the transfer case side must have the slip yoke feature, since I doubt the transfer case front output is a slip yoke). Then, all of my "expert" pals who have done this swap "many times" tell me the 50 has a longer pinion snout.......well, that leads me here, to ask for your collective advice. Thanks, and I'll let you guys know how it turns out.

 

a D50 is definitly a strength upgrade from a D44. ball joints i'm pretty sure are the same from F150-F350
The D50 uses a 1330 series ujoint so you should be ok with your front Dshaft.
not sure about brakes but thats an easy swap, you're looking at flare fittings on the brake line so as long as your brake lines fit the calipers on the D50 you can adapt the other end to the hard line if they do not fit already.
the D50 also uses the larger locking hubs like the D60, they are not indestructable but they are pretty tough, i've put mine to the test many times and its been good. no shaft problems or ring and pinion problems. and there is starting to become some aftermarket support for them in the way of lockers and such.

 

I know that's not right. I went to Online Auto Parts and Auto Accessories Store at PartsAmerica.com and looked up balljoints for my 89(next project), and they must have at least 4 different ones for the lowers. It looks like the upper joints are the same though. I still haven't figured out what I need. I guess I need to look at the sticker on the door to see what lb axle I have.

 

The D50 has different ball joints, I would think the D60 would have the same ones since the D50 has D60 outers. Because of the ball joints, the truck will require a more costly and lengthy alignment though.

 

Here's a neat link someone had in one of the other forums.

Librarian