Skool me on D44's

I am considering getting a D44 for my front. It seems that the common swaps are a D44 out of a wagoneer (year???) and a 78 F-150. I know that the waggy is a low pinion and the Ford is a high pinion. I know that the ford uses a radius arm which would be good to just use that on a XJ/MJ. Other than upgrades such as flat top knuckles etc. what mods are required to get either to work? Are there any brake mods, or coil buckets needed? Does the waggy axle need to have control arms brackets etc. welded on?

Thanks

school you? teachers get paid. how much are you paying?


do a little searching and ALL your D44 questions will be answered.

I have searched but still have a few questions I didn't find answers to. I guess my basic question is which would be a better swap, a waggy D44 or a F-150 D44?

the best would be a F150 D44 that has the welded wedges cut down to Waggy width and using Waggy shafts. several Sierra Chapter members have this (CRASH, Jes, Goatman, Capt. Nemo... just off the top of my head)

search a little?

this thread (called dana 44 tech) outlines just about everything....

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?p=425130

i am going to a fw d44 in the next month - complete write ups will be made (knowing me)

oh - and a 78 would not be a good swap unless you wanted to run radius arms...

wether the initial cost of the hp outweighs the advantage of the lp is ur for grabs...

I have just finsihed the first of two D44 that I'm building. The first is a wide trac D44 from an early 80s Cherokee Chief. The second is from a '78 3/4ton Ford that had leaf springs, so no radius arm mounts to contend with at all. Just cut off the leaf spring perches. Not too much difference between to two other than high vs low pinion and the 3/4ton is about 2-3" wider than the Cheif diff which is aprox 65"WMS.

What are you going to run for rear diff as this will dictate a lot about what you do with the front.