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d44 can handle 44's if'n your keeping it on the street. locked up 35's are going to be the max to keep it anything wheelable.
44 might handles 39.5 boggers in the mud and snow but no way will it hold together on the rocks. which comes down to what are you planning to do with your vechile. How is it goign to be driven. how hard are you on the gas?
My 44 had warns and ctm's, welded carrier, 4.56's and after the 10th trip the axle completly destroyed it's self. Just about everything needed to be replaced, not to mention I went thru like 8 sets of hubs. Yes I am hard on the go juice in the rocks, I was running 38.5 sx's. Now I am running 41's on 1 ton gear. it's really nice not to worry about whats going to break next.
I live in the flatlands on South Dakota, it will see alot of mud and snow action. I will mess around with rocks every once in a while, but nothing hardcore like you guys I'm sure. I'll just get bored and climb up an over a few (we have no rocks here anyway).
This is going to be a hunting rig basically. It will be on the gas hard at times, it will have a built 390 in it when its all completed.
that may break his D44, but who cares? He'll beef what needs beefed and keep running it. Way cheaper to fix a 44 than buy a 60.
I SERIOUSLY doubt you'll have many problems w/your D44.
i completely and totally dis-agree with you on this. i found me a D60 front for $1000 and yes that may seem a lil steep to some ppl but look at it this way. It came out of a dually truck so it has the shafts that neck up, it came with tires and wheels (still good), shocks, steering linkages, previously rebuilt kingpins, 4.10 gears, manual locking hubs, trac bar and mount, and the guy lived about 10 minutes from me so shipping was null (i have a nice trailer). so after you buy all chromoly shafts for $1000 (sounds like a good est price to me) and $20 in u-joints every time you bust one, and the shafts are 1.5 in the 60's and 1.3 in the 44's, everything will start to add up....it will nickel and dime you to death!!
you can pretty easily find one for about $750 or so if you look in the right places and talk to the right ppl!
I don't know what you do for a living, but the cost of living here is so high and the paid wages are next to nothing so giving up $1000 at one time is near impossible (for a toy). That and it's gotten to the point that people with D60Rs know what they have and can name their price. I mean, people put ads in the paper that say "Farmers: Tired of that old 78-79 Ford 1 ton sitting in the field? Paying cash for non-running trucks...."
I'm not saying that D44s are the cat's meow, but I do know that with straight line mud-bogging, they can hold up. Rock crawling is a COMPLETELY different story. No rocks here. Just mud and snow.
I'm not saying that D44s are the cat's meow, but I do know that with straight line mud-bogging, they can hold up.
Cody
Thats WAY too general of a statement. It depends on terrain (not all mud bogs are created equal), driver style, level of horsepower, tire size, etc. I'm not saying that your buddy didn't manage to get his to live, I'm sure he did. But myself and several buddies couldn't get our D60s to live untill we went to alloy shafts...d44s are out of the question. Just had to comment...
I run a moderate fuel injected 302. 35's with a truetrac on the rocks, glacier, mud, and sand, and have never had a problem. I only spent 4 bills on my Curries axles because I upgraded from dana 30 and bought an empty 44 housing to build. As long as you dont spin the wheels up or bounce your front end alot you wont have a problem with the 44. The advantage with the 44 is you get to keep your ground clearance. Dana 60's use up alot of clearance if your going to run 35's. As long as you understand you limitations you can follow a guy running rockwells and not have a problem. 4 wheeling is suposed to be a challenge the more you modify your truck the less the challenge is. If you need 60's you probably need a buggy not a truck.
If you need 60's you probably need a buggy not a truck.
Dude...have you even read the specs of some of the trucks we are running in here? Some of us NEED the one ton axles. We run trucks instead of buggies because it IS more of a challenge, and blows guys minds when they see a fullsize rampaging down trails they swore only jeeps/buggies could make. My truck started with a Dana 44...as things broke they get upgraded...from a Dana 44 to a Dana 60 to a Dana 60 with alloy shafts, etc. I just don't follow your logic...
Last edited by proeliator; Jun 11, 2004 at 05:35 PM.
I agree. It was funny I was deer hunting one time and got my truck way back there in the woods on this 4x4 trail with all my gear and this jeep rolls up and says, "damn you got that big truck all the way back here?!"
I'd run a 60 if I had the $ for it, but right now my 44 ttb will have to do. My buddies I wheel with all run Jeeps and Toys so they get a kick out of a 9" lifted f250 on 38's running through the trails they were scraping their sides and roofs on. I just use my bumpers to try to open the trail up wide enough for me. A little body damage adds character. They are all glad I make it up the trails when someone needs pulled out of a mud hole. I have had no problems with my 44 ttb but I would never put in any type of locker for fear of grenading the whole thing. Oh, I like not to drink while wrenching because that means taking a break and taking a break means taking a longer break and taking a longer break means etc...
The offer still stands to anyone, all the beer you can drink! I'm ***** deep into this project now, and an extra set of hands would be awesome right about now. I ran out of acetylne (sp) so my blue wrench is out of commission till tomorrow.
I wanted to get the F250 to the frame today but the cab is still left. I ran out of ambition for the day, going fishing now!
Does anyone need any parts from a '75 F250, anything not drivetrain related is up for grabs, free of charge, you pay shipping!