78 front axle questions
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78 front axle questions
A friend and I are each working on 1978 f250 pickups. We are looking for a front axle either a dana 60 or dana 44. It had a dana 60 under it but previous owner sold it and hasn't replaced it. I am having problems finding a 3/4 ton front axle for it and didn't know if a 1/2 ton axle would fit or not. We are located in southwest Iowa.
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From: In Southwest Virginia
Cowboyt, The biggest difference in that a 250 has 8 lugs and a 150 has 5. second is the gear difference. total different setups alot f150s have coil springs were f250 have leafs do to the fact heavier duty truck. Try looking for a f350 4x you could swap that one because its is also HD. Also a lot of salvage yards have acess to what they call a hot line, it goes all over maybe they can get it from some where else if you cant find one locally. Hope this helps
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From: Louisiana
Check junkyards in a 30 mile or so radius from you, someone should have a 73-79 F-250 or 350 4x4. If you found a 79 F-350, all the better, b/c it would be a D60, and most F-250s had a D44 HD, and don't remember what option or package changed it to a D60
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My friend purchased a Dana 44 frotn axle, but its missin the pasenger side hub, rotor, and caliper. He ordered parts for it from local parts store but the rotor was not the right one. The other side has a heavy spacer pressed onto it and not sure where you can get one of those or if there is an interchange we could use. I'll try to get some numbers off it tonight and put on here tommorrow to help us out.
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Items you need to check the rear and front gear ratio.
- Duct tape
- Rope, string, or ribbon.
- Flat driving surface.
Then place a some duct tape at one end of the rope (or ribbon, etc..., or something that will wrap around the driveshaft) and tape it to the very bottom or the very top of the driveshaft. Then drive the truck forward until the tire make one complete revolution. Then count the number of times the rope has wrapped around the driveshaft PLUS the amount the tape has rotated from where you started. For instance, If rope was taped to the very bottom of driveshaft and the rope wrapped around 3 times plus now the tape on driveshaft is facing at the very top of drive shaft (the driveshaft has turned half a turn). 3 rev plus a half turn = 3.50:1 gear ratio.
Check if front axle gear ratio matches the rear axle gear ratios.
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