With that much lift on the truck, and the low pinion axle, a custom driveshaft is really your only option. I'm going to guess your probably running a driveshaft angle around 18 to 20 degreese......? with tha much angle your going to need a CV joint at the top of the drifeshaft and possibly one at the bottom too if you want it to be smooth at anything above 15 mph. You might be able to do away with the lower CV joint if you could re-index the pinion to the correct angle, but with that much lift that will involve pulling the tubes out or cutting the nuckles off and rewelding them in a better position. Not something I would do to a Dana 44 low pinion axle. Maybe if it was a Dana 60, I would have it done. But since putting a CV joint on the bottom of the shaft would be a lot cheaper and easier, thats the way I would go so you could have something that would be able to live with your high driveshaft angles. You also will want to get an extended slip shaft, since with a lift that high and angles like that theres probably a lot of length changes in the driveshaft from a compressed spring to a drooped spring.


That won't be that cheap, I'm talking about a driveshaft hitting as high as $600 here, but it will work, work good, and be stronger than what you have now. If that much money is worth it to you to not have the problems you have now, or to not have to worrying about it, cough up the cash and get it done.

 

Why not go with a divorced 205? Lots cheaper than axles. Keep what you have and add to it.

 

To be honest if I had it to do over I would have went to a divorced case and saved myself a lot of hassle and expense. My front driveline is 27º at the t-case and there's not room for a regular 1410 CV because of the pan on the C6 so my driveline will cost over $700 from Jesse. And that's with my C's turned and the pinion angle at zero. The other plus is not having to drop the t-case every time you need to work on your tranny.

 

I think many of us can say that

 

I had the driveshaft angle issues with the current trailrider I am building and ended up going with1410 yokes at both the axle and t-case, in addition I also ordered the offset u-joints from Tom Woods driveline, but only used them at the T-case, where the angle was at its worst. Those special joints are 75 bucks apeice but they have a lifetime warranty as long as they are lubed regularly (at 75 each, your damn right I will keep them greased!!) The design of the u-joints gains a pretty sizable amount of additional angle before binding but the downside is that they cause vibrations-- the more angle the worse the vibrations. My rig isn't finished yet, so I cant give a full report on them, but they look as if there will be adequate room to move. My wheelbase is same as fullsize Bronco (116??) driveshfts were both in the 33 inch range, with about 22 degrees of angle sitting level at rest.

 

reweld the nuckles and the C's, or pull the tubes out and re weld them to raise the pinion

 

I'd have to call a double CV driveshaft a bandaid fix in this case. It's just covering up the obvious problem elsewhere - the low pinion axle. That's an aweful expensive bandaid too.

You can get another 1/2 or 3/4 ton D44 COMPLETE to swap in there and use with the CV shaft you already have for way less then 500 dollars. Including rad arms if 1/2 ton or linkages and such. A bare axle would be probably 250 or less. If you know a buddy that has one maybe even cheaper.

Or, you could pull the tubes and reweld them as Dave said, or go through all the trouble that Ivan did and cut and turn the C's. But if you do that, you still have the weaker low-pinion setup in the diff. I don't think the ring gear will be the first thing to break, but its still a weakness.

Or, you could swap tailshafts on your transmission, get a new transfer case, and go to a divorced setup. You'll still have the LP, but the angle will be a little less. The rear you can just cut and remount the perches if your rear shaft gets a little too short. Then you have another driveshaft, but I doubt that would be the first one to blow out.

As I asked earlier, how much money do you have into this current axle? Like lockers, shafts, gears, etc.

 

I turned the C's. That's the "easy" way to do it, much less hassle than trying to turn the tubes.

 

Yes you can turn the C's, but if you weld them back on so the pinion is raised up for the CV shaft you will also have the wheel caster dramatically off. A few degreese off is acceptable, but when your talking about a 27* driveshaft angle (maybe 20* with the pinion raised up) thats going to make the truck impossible to drive safley at speed. Thats why if you don't pull the tubes and just cut the C's off, you will also need to cut the nuckles off and reweld them in the correct position.

 

Uhhh, thats WHY you turn the c's, so that pinion angle is optimal without fubaring up caster. Not sure what your talking about. Ivan's truck rides like a caddy on the hwy, even at unsafe speeds

 

Sure it will. That's why everything is coming apart here: http://www.supermotors.org/vehicles/...704&original=1

That's why it was also impossible to make the almost 400 mile highway trip in it from Spokane to Portland.

Sorry if there's a hint of sarcasm there but this axle was engineered very carefully and I spent a LOT of hours on it to make everything work right. From the sound of your post I would say you've never done this, never attempted it, and almost wonder if you've ever worked on a steering axle period. You speak of welding knuckles . . . uh, what is thee to weld on a knuckle? The knuckle pivots on what is known as a "C" so the only way to change the angle of the knuckle is to turn the C's. And you don't cut them off as you describe, unless of course you plan to have an axle that's about 5" narrower than it was to start with. There's a very involved process involving a sledghammer, sweat, beer and patience to get the C's off and then some precise measurements involved to get them back on properly. The whole reason for doing this is to CORRECT the caster problem caused by turning a pinion upward. I don't know where you're coming up with this theory of screwed up and dangerous caster because I turned the C's. I set my caster at 6º: https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal...=72507&width=0

If you want plenty of reading on how it's done check this thread out: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...d.php?t=358295

I may be just a dumb redneck but please don't assume I don't know what I'm doing when it comes to my truck.

 

OK I understand what your talking about now, don't need to get all defensive. When you guys were refering to C's I thought you were talking about the wedges welded on to the axle tube that the C bushings and radius arm mount on to. I have never heard the inner nuckle reffered to as a C before. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

 

Dana 60's don't use radius arms.

 

Yes but the 78 F150 that the original poster has does have radius arms (or at least it did)

 

I'm playing around with about $1200 But i have numerous other things on the truck i need to do, so about $600 or so on the front end is about all i want to spent. The tire size is 39.5, Right now the pinion angle is 25 degrees. I thing I will try to find a 76-79 D44 High Pinion. Because If the low pinion is weaker thats not good, and then I'm dragging my $500 drive shaft through the mud and the last thing i want to do is screw up a $500 driveshaft. As for money stuck in to the low pinion there isn't much just new seals, the axle was free.