Front axle question
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Senior User
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 320
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From: Southeast Idaho
Front axle question
Hey folks,
I posted this in the 87 to 96 forum but haven't had any luck yet.
Is the front drive axle assembly on an 80 to 86 the same as on the 87? I'm looking for a donor truck for parts and have located an 85 and an 86. Just need to know if the parts are usable for me. I realize gear ratio needs to be the same.
Thanks for any help you can give me.
I posted this in the 87 to 96 forum but haven't had any luck yet.
Is the front drive axle assembly on an 80 to 86 the same as on the 87? I'm looking for a donor truck for parts and have located an 85 and an 86. Just need to know if the parts are usable for me. I realize gear ratio needs to be the same.
Thanks for any help you can give me.
Moderator
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 56,993
Likes: 2,741
From: Virginia
If the 80-86 truck is a f250, and has the dana 44, then yes it will be the same. It could also have a dana 50, which will bolt in as a unit, but some of the individual parts off the unit will not interchange, because the 50 is a little bit different than the 44.
No f150's are going to work for you, no matter what year. They had coil springs.
No f150's are going to work for you, no matter what year. They had coil springs.
Senior User
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 256
Likes: 0
From: Good old Oswego.
Is there any way to tell the difference between the d44 and d50? I always thought they used the d44 in f-150 and d50 in the f-250. Only reason i'm asking is I found someone near-by that has a d44 they say is out of a f-250 and I thought I had a d50 in my f-250. Anyway, are the axle shafts interchangable? That's all i'm looking for.
Elder User
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 673
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From: Maryland
"The Dana 44 and Dana 50 TTB units can be hard to tell apart. Here’s a quick way to tell them apart. On the left is a D50 u-joint with its external snap ring. On the right, the D44 has an internal snap ring."
As seen here:
Off-Road Adventures Magazine
As seen here:
Off-Road Adventures Magazine
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Lead Driver
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 5,491
Likes: 16
From: Kuna ID
The F-150's have a D44 but a HD D44 was standard on the F-250. It's just a D44 with 8 lug hubs. The D50 was used on the HD F-250's and on the base model F-350's. The D50 is basically a D44 center section, but the outer axle sections are D60 components. The ring gears however are not interchangeable between the D44 and the D50. Another way to tell the HD D44 from the D50 is the size of the hub. The D50 hub is much larger and fills the center hole in the wheel while the D44 hub is smaller and looks more like a hotdog in a coffee can.
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