hey guys. i just found a D44 high pinion front axle on craigslist for $350 and a 9" for $150 from the same person. they don't have matching gear sets so i would have to swap them out. i want to run 4.10's in my truck which it already has with the axles that are under it. the D44 i'm looking at has 4.09 gears in it and the 9" has 3.50's or at least thats what is claimed. i figure they will both need rebuilding anyways so new gear sets isn't much of a problem.

Here's the question.. what parts should i throw at these axles? whats a good brand for the ring and pinions?? i just used the axle builder app on 4 wheel parts for an around about idea about what i can do and apparently there isn't a detroit locker for the 9" so if i want a locker i gotta go with the ARB and i don't really want to do an ARB for cost reasons. Does anyone know how good the Auburn pro series limited slip will work??? i thought i would do a limited slip up front also. right now i'm looking at $1550 for gears and limited slips if i went through 4 wheel parts. is there a cheaper route that will work just as good???? $2000 for the swap isn't exactly what i had in mind.. LOL

This isn't going to be an all out trail rig, but i don't want to worry about this stupid TTB especially since it already needs rebuilding anyways(tires are toed out pretty good). i figured instead of dropping the $$$ to rebuild the TTB with all new tie rod ends, ball joints, etc then turning around and spending the $$$ on a TTB lift kit i can probably do the SAS for a little more money and be better off. or at least i'm hoping..

If i do the SAS then what do i use for the lift it? a lift kit for the 1979 Bronco is what i'm assuming.. Thanks guys for any help. i'm going to read up on some other ppls SAS swaps to see what is involved.

 

Wow, that seems like a pretty steep price for those.....I'm doing the same thing on my '87. My 8.8 blew out last year so in went the 9" and I'm building my D44 before I do my SAS. For front and rear gears (4.56), an ARB locker, a Superlift D44 Ring-gear guard, and a D44 gear installation kit, the total cost was only $1200 on broncograveyard. The only other thing I want for mine is Yukon HARDCORE Chromoly Shafts.

As far as what gears to put in, if you're going to use and abuse 'em I suggest Yukons. They're tough, quiet, and if they do break the Yukon Customer service guys have always been easy to deal with for me, plus at least their HARDCORE line stuff comes with a lifetime warranty.

Yes, you do get the lift kit for the '79, or at least whatever year the axle came out of. Also, when you're done, you need to have it aligned to 1979 F150 specs, that way it works for the new axle.

Check out 9.ford.5's D44 SAS thread over in the offroad forum, he did a pretty good writeup on how his went

 

thanks for the info Nick. i'm new to this game completely so anything i can learn is great. the stuff i looked at was at 4 wheel parts, that's why it's so high. i will check out bronco graveyard tomorrow. what do you think is a good price on complete from hub to hub axles? the guy wants around $550 for both with all the stuff for the SAS swap included.

 

For a complete and functioning hub-to-hub axle WITH the SAS stuff included, I think that $550 is a steal. At least in my area up here in the NW, unless you do some long and hard looking, its tough to find an axle that needs parts that you have to take out of the old truck for around $300-$400. It took me 4 years of looking to find one for $100 that is complete, but I'm rebuilding it anyways. If I were to find something like that up here, I'd be expecting to pay around $700, and then see if I can't bargain my way down.

 

cool. I guess i'm going to plan to go get them then!! Another question was your 9" a direct replacement or was there things to change up on that? i haven't seen any write ups on that one, i was just assuming it would swap in pretty easily

 

What year are you throwing this in? Reason I ask is because if the VSS (vehicle speed sensor) is in the rear end (electrical plug on top of the rear end), depending on the year, you will need to put in a replacement somewhere else. Sometimes it's in the rear end, sometimes its in the transfer case depending on the year.

On my '87 it was a direct replacement, but now I just don't have working rear antilock brakes (little light on the dash is on) until I get a tone ring for it....I believe they make a tone ring kit that goes on the yoke that easily fixes this problem.

 

It's a 1994. i haven't really looked at the axle thats in the truck, but i'm sure it has the VSS in the axle housing. the 9" won't have that? How would i go about fixing that? can the 8.8 be made strong enough for some trails and a heavy footed driver w/ a hopped up 302 under the hood?

 

No, the 9" won't have it stock....it's beyond their time..remember, Ford stopped putting the 9 inch in rigs in the mid 80's....as far as fixing it, I believe the VSS was a tone ring setup made for the ABS system (somebody correct me if I am mistaken)...so to fix that you can either have axles made with tone rings installed (like Moser Performance makes) or you can get a universal tone ring kit that installs on the pinion yoke.

About the 8.8.........in a word....no
Not without some HEAVY MODIFICATION....biggest weak points of the 8.8:
C-clip axles, so when the axle breaks, it falls out of the housing leaving you stranded...fixed by a c-clip eliminator kit and different hub styles

Pressed in axle tubes (fixed by welding the tubes to the housing)...otherwise, they have been known to pop out and twist inside the housing...binding everything together and leaving you up the proverbial creek without a paddle lol

Both can be fixed, but running a heavy pickup with a few more ponies under the hood and bigger tires on trails is begging for 8.8 breakage. I broke mine out last year with a stock 351W and 35s. Spider gears ate themselves then each other and the carrier and ring/pinion...that was a fun trip. Even with fixing up the 8.8, I think you're going to be time and money ahead to find a substitute for your VSS and ABS and have the added strength of the 9"

 

i ran a quick search on trying to fix the VSS, but i didn't find much.. i'm dying to drive this truck and so far it's looking like i woulda been money ahead by getting another F-250 or an older truck to do all this with. by the time i got all the stuff for the engine bought, trans, clutch, now looking at the drivetrain.. this entire truck needs different parts in order to be a reliable truck that can hit the trails a time or 2 a year.. this thing is a PITA to fix up.. ok i'm done with my rant.

Does anyone know exactly what i would need to do to fix the ABS and VSS to put a 9" in this truck??? i need both as this truck will be a daily driver and the engine isn't exactly stock so it seems that the 8.8 will hate it's life from the day i get this truck running. Thanks Nick for all the help so far. i will continue searching as well.

on the front axle. am i going to be using all the parts from the 79 to make it work as well??? like the radius arm brackets, steering, etc?? thanks again Nick, your the only one who has posted on this thread and you've been a great help. I appreciate it. rep sent, btw..

 

You won't hurt an 8.8 with a 302... I don't care what you do to the motor it won't ever produce the TQ a 351 does. Big tires will put more strain on it than anything else but if you get to the point of buying new axles just swap in a 10.25 semifloater and buy 5-bolt axles for that, then you have an even bigger ring gear for more TQ transfer and maintain the VSS for the speedo.

 

you can get 5 bolt axles for a 10.25???? i never knew that!!! glad you told me that. may come in handy for my PSD. so maybe i will try sticking with the 8.8 for now and just put a locker in it or an aggressive limited slip and just do the D44 high pinion for now. thanks for your input Paul. if i bust the 8.8 then we will try to find another route or maybe i will get the C clip eliminators and stuff now..

 

Thank you, and you're welcome....for a D44 SAS, if you have a 4" lift, you can use the stock radius arm brackets from the 79, if you have bigger, suggest a drop-bracket kit. Also, depending on how much lift you have and what brackets you end up using, you may need 4* or 6* degree C-bushings.

As far as steering goes, yeah you'll use the tie rod ends, tie rods, and drag link from the 79. You can use the trac bar from the 79 as well, it just requires some fabbing OR you can custom make one. Either way, you have to build a mount on the frame for the trac bar to mount to. I'm in the process of doing my D44 SAS right now as well, I'm just building the axle and gathering the parts and research before I start.

As far as suspension goes, you have some options there as well. You can use the upper coil buckets from the '79, then you have to buy springs for the '79 too...OR...you can fab up a different style lower coil bucket that can use the TTB spring. The main difference between the two is the width, the TTB springs are a bit wider than the older springs.

Thats all I can think of right off the top, so hopefully I didn't leave too much out.

Paul, thanks for hitting in on this, I hoped you might show up and have some insight. Does the VSS only function for the speedo? I thought it was for the ABS too.

 

i appreciate y'alls help on this. i'm still awaiting a response from the guy on the D44 though. anyone know where to find the upgraded parts on the 8.8's???

 

Randy's Ring and Pinion, Superior Gear and Axle, Moser Engineering, and a couple others all have some great upgrade parts for the 8.8.....for looking at pickup stuff specifically, I'd check out Randy's first

 

What axle is under the rear of a 2002 and newer Expedition? or Supercrew for that matter?

Someone is parting out one here and I thought of installing a bigger newer style rear end too.