Is the spindles and hubs and etc.. from a drum brake dana 44 from an EB interchangable with a disc brake dana 44 from a '79 f150? A buddy of mine just bought a EB and was wondering and since I have the f150 dana44, I figured I could help him out if it would work.

 

I don't see why it would not work but I'm new at the EB stuff so don't take my word for it. pull some measurements or take the axle ends and put them next to each other and look at any differences. Good luck and let me know how it works, I may do the same swap on mine.

 

Since the '79 is likely a disc brake setup, I doubt that the EB drum brake spindle is interchangeable if you are going to stick with the disc brakes on the '79 or the drums on the EB.


I upgraded my EB from drum to discs using the well documented "Chevy" conversion setup. Do do this you need Chevy spindles for disc brakes, so I am using that as my basis for my explanation.

 

No the spindel bolt pattern on the Drum 44 is different than the stud bolt patern on the Disc 44. The entire nuckel would need to be changed out. The Ford disc spindle stud setup is stronger than the Cheb setup.

 

IF you take everything knuckle out, it will work, but then you need either tie rod shims, or F-150 tie rods, becaues EB stuff is smaller

 

If you are only wanting to do the disc brake swap- Some things to know...

If the entire knuckle is swapped, then the previous reply is correct, the tie rods won't fit because the tie rod is smaller in diameter. Get some inserts from Jeff's Bronco Graveyard and they'll fit right in.

I just did this conversion, and altough I'm a Ford guy, I'd suggest the Chevy conversion. This is only because the tie rod location on the knuckle is about 1 1/2 inches lower on the F-150 knuckle. This really sucks for a lift and off-road. James Duff has a high tie rod location knuckle available, but I's sure that it's not cheap.

The price to do either conversion is about the same. Hopefully this information helps.

 

what about say a 77 broncos disc setup to a 74 with drums? change knuckles then too?

 

You should just have to change everything from the steering out, but if you have a 77 Dana 44 with discs, why not just put it under there?

 

I agree stroker. If you have the axle just swap the whole thing.

 

what about the rest of the 77? What happened to it?

 

ok, here's the deal, i just bought my third bronco on saturday. its a 74, and i have two 69's in parts. earlier this year i picked up a d44 from a 77. the 77 44 is in a million pieces, but it has an arb with 488's.

neither of the 69's are running, but the 74 goes. just has manual brakes. and that sucks. i have been gathering parts for for a year and a half, and might be able to wheel the 74 this summer.

anyone use a sidewinder winch? cause the one in the 74 needs some help.

it would be easier to just swap the whole front, but i would have to put it together.

 

so I would do a Ford nuckle out just like you started this thread for.
Never mind the chev week *** hack disk juryrig job, go with the Ford setup and buy the tie rod taper bushings that work for the converion.
The Ford spindle stud setup is much STRONGER than the chev Unit.

 

I'd like to see your proof that the Chevy setup is a jury rig job and is weak as compared to the Ford setup. Have you had a problem before or just relaying what someone has told you? I've wheeled the snot out of my trail rig with GM brakes for over 10 years. And had a tough truck Bronco with GM brakes and spindles that had more air time than most passenger jets with over 50 races on it before it was retired. Made 48' of a 50' jump which didn't quite cut it. (I have pictures, but no scanner to post them) Over the years, we broke hubs, axles, and bent housings, but never had a spindle come apart.

I've personally done several of both the Ford and the GM setup. The only advantage I can see is the Ford using studs to hold the spindle on instead of bolts. If thats the case, adding studs is an easy fix as an upgrade. But, there are hundreds of thousands of Broncos and early Ford pickups running around with bolts retaining the spindles. Many of them have served well for over 40 years. It's not as if changing to disc brakes is suddenly going to cause the bolts and the knuckles to fail.

OK, OK. I had one failure. But it was due to my inexperience and not knowing any better. When I did my first disc brake conversion and changed to a 44, I found that the threads in the knuckles were not in very good shape. After running a tap through them, I decided that if the bolts tightened, I would run them without any further repair. After a few years of changing axles on the trail and having the front end apart numerous times, the threads got worse and worse. It came to a head when I broke an axle at the Dunes. When I pulled it apart, I got a lot of sand into the threads. When I got back home and pulled the front end down to pack the bearings, I found that a couple of the bolts had pulled the threads completely out. I drilled them all out and heli coiled all of the bolt holes and haven't had an issue since. Blaming the knuckles and bolts as a poor design would be like putting wheels on with stripped studs, and blaming them for the wheels falling off. Same as if you put nuts on stripped studs holding a disc brake spindle in place.
This is common practice that all of the Bronco suppliers are doing with the kits they are selling that include knuckles. The helicoil threads are much stronger than the threaded holes in the soft knuckles.

I know we've had this discussion before, but I have to laugh every time I see you post this information.

Jason

 

did the ford knuckle swap. all i need now is the caliper brakelines, and pads. woo hoo

 

Gee if the chevy/dodge/jeep spindle conversion is so bad, why would Ford go back to using the same spindle from 66-75 drum models on 80 and newer trucks?