My truck is a 1977 F100 Shortbed and currently has a Dana 44 in it. I want to switch over to a 9". Will the driveshaft work without having to change yokes or shorten/lengthen the shaft? Is it a direct swap?

 

What axle are you swapping? Front should be a 44 rear a 9".

 

It's not very common but Ford did use the Dana 44 for the rear axle in some applications.
I think the OP wants to swap a rear D44 for a Ford 9".

 

This is a first for me.. ill be watching this one

 

That is right. It is the rear axle.

 

From what I've been able to learn, it was pretty much limited to the '77 model year and had the axle code 46 on the warranty plate.

 

My '79 F100 also has the D44 rear with 2.72 gears. good for highway cruising with no overdrive.

 

Ah, so it was more than one year, thanks for the info.

 

You'll probably need a different U joint.

 

Good luck at the parts counter asking for a combination ujoint lol!! (If youll even need one) They have them but both times I have asked its pretty much left them confused and me digging through the stash in the back

 

According to the parts catalog, the D44 rear takes a 1310 u-joint. There are a lot of 9" rears that take a 1310 also.

 

What about the length from the center line of the axle to the center of the yoke?
Are they the same?

 

This is just an educated guess but I think the Dana driveshaft will be about 2" shorter than the Ford.
I'm taking a guess on the specs of your truck. I used '77 shortbed 2WD w/ 302 automatic. The parts catalog shows the Dana driveshaft to be 53 9/16" long and the Ford driveshaft for the same specs is 55 17/32".
That's a 1 31/32" difference in length. The catalog also shows that the both shafts use the same u-joints and slip yoke.

 

No help to the OP, but I have the same thing in my '78. Love the 2.72 gear for mpg. Haven't driven enough since the intake/carb swap, but I used to get about 20 mpg. I also have a '77 parts truck with the 9", not sure of the gears, but have thought about keeping the axle around as a spare. I assumed it was a direct swap.

 

My '77 has a Dana 44 rear end too. 302/C4/Dana 44.

Anyone know why these rear ends were used instead of the more common 9" rear? Fuel economy? Cost? Short supply of 9" at times?

Just curious.