Well.... where do I start? I was talking here some while back about my front diff piling up and ceased the pinion bearing and blah, blah , blah.
So I put it off untill it got warm out, well above frezzing anyway before I started the overhaul on it. I bought all the bearings, seals, gears, inner shafts(broke that too) etc.
Parked the truck and had a mechanic tear in to it because I was working. Warped carrier, shattered gears, torn seals, dry as a bone inside. Okie dokie, lets rebuild the whole damn thing then since it is apart.
Ordered parts for a 1971 f-250 4x4 front axle. Dana 44 right? WRONG!!! My truck is actually a 2x4 that has been converted, inspected and reregistered as a 4x4. I'm pi**ed!
All the parts show up, huge bill, all wrong parts! Gears are from Richmond Gear and for a Dana 44 but they are too small. My pumpkin looks small compared to the back which is a Dana 60 so that got ruled out. Almost all the bearings were wrong and seals wouldn't work either.
The only thing I can think of is I was sold gears for a 8.8" diff and bearings for a 73-79?
I got a new carrier and shafts from a reputable autowrecker in the lower mainland and they all match up so truck is back tomorrow.
My question is what the hell happened that everything was wrong?

Must be my luck, it put my engine build back a couple weeks now too.....

 

Found out the diff is from a '65 so that explains why all the bearings and seals won't work. Axles are almost in with a new carrier, gears, bearings you name it it's new.
Now for the motor....

 

Well, at least you found what the deal was and got it solved, sounds like a bummer though. Hope you did not lose too much on the S&H.

 

So, was it still a D44? Sounds odd that the D44 gears wouldn't swap over to the earlier axle...

 

Yeah, it is a d44. The gears sent were too small. Mislabeled box....

I am planning on finding a front diff from a newer(80's-90's) 1 ton and modify that in there. Get rid of the old drum brake closed knuckle garbage. I like original vehicles but I use mine daily so there are some things that need to be upgraded.