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1967 - 1972 F-100 & Larger F-Series Trucks Discuss the Bumpsides Ford Truck
View Poll Results: What axle is better
Dana 44 with 3.53 gears and posi
25.00%
Ford 9 inch with 3.50 gears and no posi
75.00%
Voters: 8. You may not vote on this poll

Rear Axle

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Old Sep 29, 2009 | 10:55 PM
  #1  
Shoestring's Avatar
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Rear Axle

OK guys a little poll question for you.

What is better:
Dana 44 with posi and 3.53 gears

or

Ford 9 inch with 3.50 gears and no posi?

What do you think? And what would be the advantages of either one?

SS
 
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Old Sep 30, 2009 | 04:04 PM
  #2  
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MidMich67
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It really depends on what you are going to use it for. If you are looking for strength and not worried about weight the 44 is good especially considering there readily available. If you are looking for weight vs strength the 9 in is the better option. If you are driving on the street your not going to want the posi because the cornering is going to suck and you run the risk of snapping an axle shaft.
 
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Old Sep 30, 2009 | 09:33 PM
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Originally Posted by MidMich67
It really depends on what you are going to use it for. If you are looking for strength and not worried about weight the 44 is good especially considering there readily available. If you are looking for weight vs strength the 9 in is the better option. If you are driving on the street your not going to want the posi because the cornering is going to suck and you run the risk of snapping an axle shaft.
First off thanks for the in put, there have been a bunch of folks that have viewed the thread but have not made a comment.

Thanks.

This truck is going to be not used everyday. I will drive it around but not a daily driver. Mostly just for a fun evening or car show now and then. I know everyone is all about the Ford 9 inch rear end but this truck will be kind of an anomaly with a 2005 front end and motor from the same 2005 vehicle. I think at most I will be able to squeeze out of the 4.6 motor I will be putting in is 350 with out going crazy with superchargers and turbos. Now that is not to say that down the road I will be attempting to put a larger fuel injected motor in is later. I am just doing a poll to see what people think is a better rear end. I think it boils down to who likes Dana better or the Ford 9 inch better. The main difference is the posi since it would cost around 500 to get the 9 inch to a posi.

Thanks again

SS
 
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Old Oct 1, 2009 | 04:26 AM
  #4  
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SS, Both are good rears. Both have plus & minuses.

There were a heck of a lot more 9s installed over Danas,




John
 
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Old Oct 3, 2009 | 06:52 AM
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There are more gear selections available for the 9", also pumpkins (gear ratios) can be swapped out in less than an hour...
 
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Old Oct 3, 2009 | 02:43 PM
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Great point with the gear swapping. Also if your looking to do rear suspension upgrades or modifications your going to like the selection of upgrades available for the 9.
 
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Old Oct 3, 2009 | 04:07 PM
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I've never heard of a 9" being weaker than a D44, I've actually heard (and observed) the opposite.
 
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Old Oct 3, 2009 | 05:52 PM
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Never suggested it was weaker, about the same in my eyes. The point I was trying to get across was the 9" is lighter.
 
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Old Oct 4, 2009 | 09:29 PM
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From: LAT 46.55501° & LON -122
9-inch is a lot easier to work on. With the 44, you need a case spreader and play around with shimms to get the proper carrier bearing pre-load and ring/pinion backlash. On the 9, you have simple adjusting nuts.

With that being said, I wouldn't mess with either one. For a vehicle like a pickup that does any hauling or towing, I would go with nothing less than full-floating axle such as a Dana 60--even for a half-ton.

Kris
 
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Old Oct 4, 2009 | 10:10 PM
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Originally Posted by Like M. Fords
9-inch is a lot easier to work on. With the 44, you need a case spreader and play around with shimms to get the proper carrier bearing pre-load and ring/pinion backlash. On the 9, you have simple adjusting nuts.

With that being said, I wouldn't mess with either one. For a vehicle like a pickup that does any hauling or towing, I would go with nothing less than full-floating axle such as a Dana 60--even for a half-ton.

Kris
Yep wont be doing any of that hauling heavy loads. That is good to know about the difficutly in working with the 44. I know they are both pretty tough. Many 4x4 clubs use 44 front ends for heavy duty four wheeling. So I imagine that the 44 rear ends are pretty tough also.

SS
 
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Old Oct 4, 2009 | 11:31 PM
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The 9 is the way to go. There's a reason the 44 was only installed (as far as I've seen) in the 6-banger trucks. It is lighter duty. I would go with the 9 and add a limited slip to it.
 
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Old Oct 5, 2009 | 10:03 AM
  #12  
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Originally Posted by jhooch
The 9 is the way to go. There's a reason the 44 was only installed (as far as I've seen) in the 6-banger trucks. It is lighter duty. I would go with the 9 and add a limited slip to it.
The original truck that the 44 was installed on was with a 360 and c6 transmission. I think my granddad ordered it that way for using the truck as a ranch truck. They did not at the time offer a locking differential in a Ford 9 inch. All the lockers were from Dana series rear ends. At least that is what I can find on the fordification site.

SS
 
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Old Oct 5, 2009 | 03:31 PM
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Originally Posted by Shoestring
The original truck that the 44 was installed on was with a 360 and c6 transmission. I think my granddad ordered it that way for using the truck as a ranch truck. They did not at the time offer a locking differential in a Ford 9 inch. All the lockers were from Dana series rear ends. At least that is what I can find on the fordification site.

SS
Limited slip was available in a 9". My '72 has a 31 spline, 9-3/8" inch ring gear, limited slip diff. from the factory.
 
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Old Oct 5, 2009 | 07:26 PM
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Originally Posted by instig8r63
Limited slip was available in a 9". My '72 has a 31 spline, 9-3/8" inch ring gear, limited slip diff. from the factory.
You are right it was offered in 1972, but I had a 1968 and the ford 9 was not available in posi that year. From what I can find they did not offer the 9 inch with posi until the following year, 1969. They did offer the 9 inch in posi for 1967, I guess 1968 was just an odd year.

SS
 
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Old Oct 6, 2009 | 12:26 AM
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I kind of get the ****** when people use the term Posi when talking Ford. Posi is short for Positraction which is a GM (yikes!!!) brand name. Ford called it Limited Slip or Trak-Lok I believe in some instances. We knew what you meant though.
 
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