i broke my front dana 44 with a set of 31X10.5's

Axles are easily broken

If you were looking to run a big engine with alot of tourque then your gonna want bigger than 44's for some reasom in still runnig dana 44's....lol I havn't broke one in years but the one i broke did break real good. lol When i do my sas im gonna slap on dana 60's. The 460 will be here next weekend and im gonna really have fun busting my axles when i race ricers. lol


If you are a serious wheeler. then get rid of the dana44's theres no reason to get rid of them until you actually break them (thats my idea anyways) and then replace them with some 60's or 70's or somethin

 

is there a way to visually tell the difference between all these axles? i just am now able to tell what a 9" looks like... the 8.8" has the dropout cover in the rear right?

 

The 8.8 inch rear axle is a marginal piece, I have not broken anything on mine yet..hopefully never. I have read they are pretty much limited to a 35 inch tire, I am running 33s I don't think I will be going any taller though. I have heard they have been known to bend axle tubes, the other weak links are the C-clips that retain the axle shafts. If I had my choice I would have the 9 inch rear axle, the 8.8 works good for now.

 

i blew out my dana 70 rear end after doing burn-outs in my dually, and i had a dana 60 laying around, so i just threw it in there. right now i have the dana 50 front indepentent axle. im going to order a 6 inch skyjacker kit, and customize it to be a 10 inch kit, but do you guys think i should wait until i find a solid axle dana 60 to put in the front? cuz im definately getting rid of the independent dana 50. but what modifications do i have to do with the steering? what do y'all think about that?

 

i have a 86 f150 i have a 4 inch procomp lift and 33' 12.50's on it. i would say my truck dose amazing for have open difs and all terain tires on it. my truck weighs under 4500 lbs and that one reason it dose so well. O and the mith that you will get stuck once your axels touch the mud is complete bull. i had my axels dig in 4 inch down in the nastest mud ever and my truck was doing great untill i bogged out. my 300 I6 just dosent have the ***** to pull that truck throug the mud, even when its in 4 wheel low and 1st gear.

 

last muuder i run was an 85 xlt lariat with a 302 mpi with a good limited slip in it with 33 khumo mud terrains on it. would do stuff in 2 wheel most open dif chevy's would not do in 4. currently building another 85, but putting a 5 speed in this one instead of the aod with a 4 bbl and minor engine work. but i did rob the axles out of the old one.lol i like the limited slip

 

I have and 81 3/4 ton and currently the only mods are the 35x16x16.5 boggers and a gear t-case i swapped in, and i hacked the body lines for more clearence as well. The truck has no problem with 24" of mud as long as i keep the wheel speed up and the good ol' 400 in it dones't have to much of a problem, even with 3.50 gears . It does have a very well working factory LS rear axle which helps a lot. As far as being compared to the other makes i beat most of the lifted chevs and dogdes runing 35-37" tires even with mild mod to the motor, to date i have 2 wins one second 2 thirds and one 6place and a tie for 5 (the lowest two were on the old goodyear hummer POS tires).

I have a homemade 8" lift sitting on the bench at home (school is keeping it from getting put int) and i have a dana 60 swap and 10.25 rear waiting to go in it as well (the ls from the current rear axle is getting thrown up front with extra clutches thrown in and the rear is getting welded up, and they both contain 4.10 gears as well). And i got some cleveland 4V quench heads for it, will be getting a 4bbl intake and comp cams k-kit (I have the rest of mods alreadly to go with it) to bump power up into the 400-450 range as well .

 

I don't know what's wrong with your truck, you must have tall gears in your axles (2.73, 3.08, 3.55)... too high for 33s. I had 3.08s in my 84 F150 with 33s and the same motor with a 4 speed, and a locker in the rear. I had to use 4 hi/ granny or 4 low/ 2nd gear to be able to spin the tires hard enough to keep momentum. I recently added a a Trac Lok LS to the front and a set of 4.10 gears. Now I run 4hi/2nd gear and have all the power I need and some! If I inch slowly into a mud hole and hammer it the truck almost feels like it jumps up out of the mud and she's slingin mud like crazy...spinnin all 4! The only down fall to this is I get the truck alot dirtier now...I guess that's not such a bad thing. I call em homemade splash graphics!

 

I have just upgraded to 33" super swampers. (i can still smoke the crap out of them)

 

Interesting thread.

My truck, as I recently discovered, previous owner told me he'd replaced the engine(wrecking yard style) with a used 351 turns out to have a 400M block in it.

Other than that it's stock with 31" tires.

Last winter we had a huge snowstorm where they close all major highways, and I was at work. I left 10 hrs after the initial storm warning, only to be welcomed to hood hieight snow drifts leaving work.

My rig is a 4x4 with what I'd assume to be 3.55 rear gears(haven't actually checked, but it revs like it with a C-6 auto)

I hit the end of the road to where I could get onto a relatively clear road(snow up to the axles) and had to push a car through a drift with the spare tire between.

Punched him through in 4lo and then proceeded on, and the drift I pushed him through was about the length of my single cab with 8 ft box. Not to shabby!

One thing about it, driving prowess is the real key to off-roading. Knowing the feel of your rig, knowing when to hit the fuel, crank the wheels, or back off and back up are essential. Sometimes a simple gut instinct takes over, and tells you when to do which.

I run in the rough country with the hubs locked, and in 2wd. 4wd will get you free if stuck in 2, but in 4, you're just stuck that much worse. Any serious wheeling requires a couple or 3 buddies, as more than one of you might get stuck at any time.

Having a come-along, hi-lift jack, and shovels and a plethora of tow straps and chains are indespensible.

One more thing...running deep mud or water...make sure you re-pack your wheel bearings, change diff fluids, and grease all grease points even after a short run.

Cheap maintenance compared to parts replacement, and a normal procedure for hard wheeler's.

 

I'm getting ready to have my axles done. I'm thinking 4.56s due to my 35" tires and the 302. I'm also thinking locker in the rear and L.S. up front.
Anyone running this set up?
It's mostly driven on road, but i want to have the ability to take it off road.
I have manual front hubs as well.
I've heard of people locking one hub, both hubs, no hubs up front. I dont really understand that, maybe that's just if there is a locker up front. I've been considering a locker up front as well.
1980 F150 btw.

 

I have four wheeled in the desert all my life. drove my first 4x4 57 Cornbinder. The limt to ant 4x4 is pretty much the driver, there a plenty of places they won't go but the driver has to know his rig.

 

I have a 2.5 inch suspension lift on my 84 F150 300 six 4 spd 4wd, I am running 33" mudders with 4.10s; and a Trac Lok LS in the front and a locker in the rear. It's a sweet set up, nearly unstoppable on any terrain...until the axles and frame bottom out.

 

well, it's in the gear shop now. 4.56's Detroit Trutrac front and rear. We'll seehow this works out.

 

It should work great for you, I am sure you will like it.