[gigolo]

Is there a ford (or other driver drop) dana 44 housing that I can get that will take tj d30 knuckles? I've got a 44 housing from a '79 ford, but the ball joint mounts are an inch closer together than on the d30. I don't have $500+ dollars to spend on a rubi housing, and thought I could use the knuckles/brakes/outers and brackets of my old d30 to put a 44 together. I saw elusive's where he pressed the d30 tubes into a 44 center, but my tubes are slightly bent, not to mention I don't have access to the equipment to do all that. Any other way to use this stuff?

 

[WILL]

Full size dodge rams from 1994 on have a driver drop dana 44. Measure ball joint spacing on it to make sure though.

 

[general420]

I thought that only the older style CJ and Scout 30 knuckles were useable on a 44. I could be wrong though.

 

[WILL]

I think when dodge changed to the drivers side drop in 1994 along with the unit bearing like the jeep's dana 30, they also went to a greater ball joint spacing. I don't know if it is the same as the jeep's but I'm pretty sure it is bigger than the older dana 44's.

 

[445]

I think i remember you saying you had a bent housing a while back. If you are just trying to get rid of the housing why not just get a non disco xj 30 front. They can be had for good prices at the junk yard if you look hard enough. It's a whole lot easier and cheeper than building a 30/44 hybrid.


BarrelRoll

 

[gigolo]

Will, thanks for the info. I'll see what I can find out about the dodge 44's. I don't suppose you know where I could get those kind of specs?

Andy, I've already replaced that bent 30, twice actually. Replaced it completey, then swapped that with one from a buddy's '02 tj that had 4.56's. I've had the bent one sitting in the corner, but we're trying to clear out some space, so I stripped it down. I thought I remembered it being discussed that there was a 44 housing you could use, but with everything from the knuckles out off a tj d30. I figured if I could get the right 44 housing, then all I'd need is the inner shafts, gears/carrier, and the one control arm bracket that goes over the pumpkin. The sale of the d30 with 4.56's should recoop most of that cost. Am I dreaming all this?

 

[jamgood96]

Maybe I'm not thinking clearly, but the only D44 I know of that will take D30 outers from a TJ is a D44 from a Rubicon. CJ D30 outers work on D44's I believe. Hope that helps.

 

[pontiac58]

Im just wondering why you would want to keep the tj outers. Get away from them unit hubs and go with earlier parts. Then just run an adapter for the bolt pattern on the back.

 

[gigolo]

Pontiac, mostly I was thinking cost and parts already available. I'm not on a mission to put a 44 in soon, basically I was going to fiddle around and take my time putting a 44 together with parts that I already have, or could aquire cheaply. I figured it would be easier to find just a good housing, and use the good parts I have. The hubs/brakes/axle u-joints all had less than 1k miles on them when I pulled the axle, so that's a lot of new parts to reuse if possible.
So my best bet would be to get a 44, and use CJ stuff from the knuckles out? I really would like to have manual hubs, except for some times in the snowy season when "shift on the fly" is nice. Plus those unit hubs only seem to last me about 10k miles with 35's. (good thing for o'reilly lifetime warranty

)
I would probably use wheel adapters on the front instead though so I didn't have to change wheels right away.
Thanks for the input everybody. I just didn't want to get rid of all my good parts if I was going to end up trying to buy them again later, and I was hoping to have a cheap project to work on in my spare time.

 

[pontiac58]

In reply to:

So my best bet would be to get a 44, and use CJ stuff from the knuckles out? I really would like to have manual hubs, except for some times in the snowy season when "shift on the fly" is nice.

[/ QUOTE ]

Id stay away from the CJ stuff, yeh its cheap and there is alot of it around here on the net from the boards and all. But out in the yards, there arent alot of CJ's left around. Ford parts are much more plentiful and can still be bought at the parts houses. Also with the cj stuff you are still stuck buying warn outer axles or try to find some scout outers. Then you still have ok manual hubs if you get the 6 bolt hubs, the 5 bolt hubs are known to be weak. With the full size parts, you get into a much better locking hub. If you still want to be able to shift on the fly, all you have to do is leave the hubs locked, when you think you will need it.

In reply to:

I'm not on a mission to put a 44 in soon, basically I was going to fiddle around and take my time putting a 44 together with parts that I already have, or could aquire cheaply.

[/ QUOTE ]

I know that feeling, ive been collecting parts for two years now to put a trail only jeep together. I need something i can beat on and not care if it is broke for 6 months.