Just got me a nice truck- 94 F-150, 5.8, 4x4. A northern truck that happens to have a little more rust on the frame and suspension than the inspecting mechanic let on. So a fella in town was getting rid of a whole Dana 44 TTB setup in considerably better shape for $100. Now that I have it in the garage, the ID tag is missing. I have no idea how this thing is geared or if it has a limited slip in it or not. None of the numbers stamped into the unit show



up anywhere on Dana's website. I'm fairly certain, using some other Internet sources, that the system came out of a 93 truck, based on the spindle setup (unless it was Frankensteined before the po got it).

My question: I want to rehab this rust free TTB system and swap it out for the rusty one on my truck. Is there any other accurate way to bench check the gearing for compatibility with my current setup without opening the diff or should I just swap the ring and pinion out of what I have now? And how compatible were the knuckles on these trucks from year to year? Thanks for any help in advance!

And before the TTB haters jump in, I have no intention of doing a sas. Just not necessary for what I'm going to do with the truck.

94 F-150, 5.8, 4x4, 3.55 rear end

 

if the axles installed, you can jam one in place with a screwdriver through the ujoint, And spin the other one time and count the times the pinion turns. Then divide by 2 and that should get you the ratio.

 

Count how many times you have to turn the input shaft to turn the axles 1 revolution.

 

Picture of the bolts and tag
There should be a tag number under the bolts that bolt the differential to the cover / axle half

 

I’m going out on a limb and say there is no tag based on…

Now is the time to disassemble the axle to replace seals, ball joints, u-joints, inspect the gears and look at the engraving on the ring gear to find out that ratio. Cleaning up the parts and paint wouldn’t hurt either. I think the ‘94 Bronco had different caliper and/or slide pins than the ‘87 and ‘89. You can use whatever style you like better.

 

3.5 or 4.1

no LS on front diffs unless they added it, see if only one side turns easy

 

Agreed Hotshot, definitely the time to clean everything up. The plan was to wire wheel and paint all the parts, new ball joints, u-joints, bushings, dust covers, seals, bearings, etc. Then essentially out a whole new front end on it in one fell swoop. Minimizes down time for the truck. I plan on having this things for the rest of my life so no reason to skimp on anything now. Got it with 96k miles on the odometer so minor maintenance on the engine, then tackle the rusty stuff so it doesn't get worse.

Never really been a transmission guy so the whole gearing thing is a little foreign but I'll start fiddling with the axles and pinion using some of the suggestions. Thanks for all the input

 

Not true. It was a factory option.