I have a 1968 f-250 4x4 and the front axle howles whenever you it is moving and not having power sent to it. It does not do it in 2wd. How would i fix this? Is it a dana 44 or 66? If the axle is not worth fixing what would be a good replacement or upgrade. It would be nice to have power stering and brakes.

 

its a 44 i dont think there is such thing as 66..maybe bearings not sure thses truck usually have great drive train not much fixing required.......sorry coudent help more

 

The howling could be a number things including bearings or brakes dragging. The dana 44 in that truck is pretty much garbage though. For starters, they are a closed knuckle drum break design. Some guys don't mind drum, but I personally despise it. The closed knuckle design uses a very small trunion bearing which makes it very undesirable also. The axles used in those housings use a small diameter, 19 spline axle (which is very weak) with a small u-joint (they are called a 267-x) which is also very weak compared to newer models. In my opinion, your best bet would be to upgrade to a dana 44 frontend out of mid to late 70's ford truck. You get an open knuckle design with ball joints (much stronger than the closed knuckle, trunion design), disc brakes, 30 spline inner alxes with 297-x ujoints, and the axle has a lot more mass around the ujoint cap area making it far stonger. You will need to take into consideration though, that for the most part, early 70's trucks had 4.10 gear ratios, and in the newer trucks they went to 3.5 and 3.8 quite frequently. So, if you do not know how to set up gears, or don't want the added cost of having someone do it, you might want to make sure of what gears you currently have, and what gears are in any potential axle you might get.

Good luck,
Trevor

 

hmmm..I dont think all the early 70's are weak mine has ball joints drums and 31 splines....its 1970 F-250 4x4 highboy

 

Well pretty soon i am planning to take it in to have the axle looked at. This is my first vehicle and i am getting pretty impatiant waiting to get this trucks road worthy. The sound is only when i take my foot of the gas. Does this point to bad bearings?

 

Actually, it should be 30 spline, not 31. In my first post I thought I was starting to ramble on a bit, so I didn't go into all the specifics. Ford did try using an open knuckle drum brake design, but it didn't last very long. They had tried several different versions of it, so finding parts to interchange with them is difficult. Several things still make that front end considerably weaker.

They usually had 2.75 in. diameter tubes vs. 3 inch
They had small spindles and wheel bearings on most of them (that was one thing they kept changing)
They still used a 267x u-joint
And the biggest downfall- still drum brake

Keep in mind, all of this is relative to what you are using your truck for. If this is a daily driver, then what difference do any on the strength issues make? Probably none, with the exception of wheel bearing size. Now if you are wanting to run a 35" tire and go wheeling with the rig, then all of these differences are something to seriously look at. Like I said before, it's just my opinion.

 

well I wheel all the time i use 33's and used 35 once i have never had any trouble I have had many complamints on my strong driveline and i was told buy a man who was going to put in my lockers that it had 31 maybe some upgraded them along the way...i didnt get the locker just have manula front locks and my rear is locked....stock i am prety sure never had any traction probs.....i dont mind the drums that much....cause they stop like there brand new.....

 

How easy is it to change the backlash on the axle. After reading an article i think this might be the problem. 3 weeks ago it was an unseasonal 35 degrees out and there was no sound. The temp dropped to 10 and on came the sound. Would the gears contract enough a cause a noise?