I've got a heavy duty front dana 44 out of a 77 f-250 ranger and it looks to me like the axle tubes are bent on it! Not so much the drivers side, but the longer passenger side tube looks like it is cocked upwards right out of the differential housing. They're supposed to be perfectly straight (or close) right?

Is there an easy way to measure how much it is bent? It's kinda stumping me on how to get a straight edge on it because the diff housing is in the way. Could I just strip the axle down to the housing and look through one tube and try to line up the other?

Also any suggestions/stories on how to straighten this thing out?... we've got a large press to use as well as a few loaders if necessary! LOL

 

Moved to proper forum.

 

Billybob,

It would take quite a bit of effort to bend the housing. I have a feeling it may be more of an illusion (I hope) because where the knuckles mount aren't straight up and down. I think the bottom kicks out a little more than the top making it look like the housing is bent.
The 3/4 ton Dana 44 housings have pretty thick wall tubes and pretty difficult to bend.
Any sign of a possible crack at the housing where the tube slides in?
Any sign of the tube slipping out or maybe spinning on the housing?
Could you place a straight edge next to it to assure that the tubes are straight?
Both sides should be even all the way across
Is the axle still together or is it apart?
Do the axle shafts spin pretty freely?
You should be able to turn the pinion by hand. It will be hard to turn
It will be tight but there shouldn't be any bind point when you turn the pinion or one of the hubs.
May be best to place the axle on jack stands and remove the calipers so that the brakes won't drag to do any of the above work.
Good luck and let us know what you find.
Ken

 

Ken,

I sure hope it's an illusion too... I haven't gotten around to wire brushing and inspecting the housing for cracks yet. Hopefully tonight I can get some more work done on it. I haven't gotten a straight edge on it yet either, but it sure looks bent! If I remember correctly the insides of the tires were wearing too, but that could have been a toe problem as well.

The axle shafts do spin freely and you can turn the pinion by hand with no difficulty and the passenger side axle will spin in the tube. It is the only one spinning right now because I havent gotten the drivers side rotor and caliper assembly off yet. Once I get all the brake hardware, knuckles and carrier pulled I'll take a look through the axle tubes to see what it looks like sighting down them.

The axle is out from under the pickup and on jackstands right now, and I'm planning on a full rebuild of it including rotating the C's to move the pinion angle up, so none of this extra work is too much of a hassle.

 

Lay a straight edge on top of the knuckles, or pull a string over them. Their offset from the top of the tube should be the same from side to side. Then you can just measure down at various points to determine whether the tube is bent or not. The tops of the knuckles aren't flat, so make sure to secure your straight edge at the exact same location on each side. Good luck

 

Have you done axle work before?

Spinning the Cs could be a decent job.
Not really one for a beginner.
There are a couple websites out there showing ways to do them but you need to make sure they are spun equally.

The wear on the tires could be a few things, Either alignment, bad or loose hub bearings or bad balljionts.

With everything spinning freely, I don't think the housing is bent.
I wouldn't attempt to bend it straight if it was bent because it would probably not end up being correct and there is a good chance it will bend again.

Like GreenSubmarine said.
Find something to use as a reference point and run a straight edge on it and measure off it.
Good luck with the project.
Ken

 

GreenSubmarine, good Idea about the string across the knuckles. I'll have to give it a try.

Yeah I've rebuilt a few different front and rear axles before and I've modded 2 of the 3 that I've done, so I don't suppose spinning the c's will give me too much trouble.

As for the tire wear the balljoints are still good and tight, still don't know about the toe, it could have been toed in and scrubbing the inside corner off somewhat.

The housing though is definately bent... bad. With a straight edge on the pass side tube it was off by about a half an inch by the time it got to the end. I'm thinking if I clean the housing up real good inside the tubes I could measure the I.D. of the tube and turn a piece of pipe down on the lathe so that it just slip fits inside the tube. Then throw the housing under the press and start pressing until I can get the pipe to slide through the entire housing. This would ensure that it is pretty close to straight.

Also I was planning on trussing the axle to help with the strengh issue.

I think the 77 that had this axle under it saw some BIG airtime before I got ahold of it. LOL

 

Search the offroad forum. A guy named Ivanribic recently turned the Cs on a D60 and did a good write up on the process. He started out the hard way, then figured out a method to cut his removal time by about 90%. He also gives some tips on lining them up and getting the pinion angle right the first time. It seems like a good resource.

 

Here's my original thread outlining my experience with turning C's: https://www.ford-trucks.com//forums/...d.php?t=358295

It may be of some help. I'll tell ya that first side was the worst task I've ever undertaken on my truck and that's saying a lot. Once you learn the tricks it goes fast.