Measuring to Narrow a Ford HP44 Front End??

So I have a 1977 Ford HP44 front end in my garage and I have been trying to determine the best way to measure it and cut it down for Waggy shafts. I attempted to cut the short side inner knuckle off without cutting through the axle tube, but I wasn't able to get through just the welded area and had to cut it off completely through the tube. Originally I was going to reference the end of the axle tube and cut back the difference between the Ford shaft length and the Waggy length. I can't do that anymore because a portion of the axle tube had to be cut off with the inner knuckle.

Being that I have the long side inner knuckle still on the axle, I took some measurements and wanted to run an observation by the guys that have been through this to see if I can get some confirmation. Based on the information on the Warn website the longside inner axle shaft on the Ford frontend is 33.91" from the spline end of the axle to the center of the u-joint on the axle. This seems to be a difficult measurement to utilize when determining how much axle tube to cut, especially when the inner knuckle has been cut off already. I took a measurement from the inside of the side gear to the outside edge of the axle tube and it measured 31.93".

So my question is this, is it safe to say that the measurement from the inside of the side gear to the end of the axle tube is gonna be approximately 2" less than the axle measured from the end of the spline end to the center of the u-joint????

If this is the case, I can take Warn's measurements for the Waggy's axles, subtract 2" and know what dimension I need to have from the inside of the side gears to the end of the axle tube.

If anyone one has confirmed this, or has a front 44 axle apart and can confirm this, that would be great. Sorry if it seems like I am rambling, I just wanted to try and get my idea across.

Ben
2001 XJ

are you going for the 1980 and newer Waggy axles?

I have an 80 Waggy axle under my MJ and I could take some measurements for you... and actually i have the short side taken apart right now changing the balljoints...

Seeing as how you've completely cut the knuckle off of one side, my method may only be able to be used for one side. If Brett can get you some measurements off his axle, it would probably be your best bet.

What I did was take the carrier completely out of the axle. I then ran a tape measure down the axle tube and took a measurement from the end of the tube to a straight edge which I had placed vertically across where the carrier bearing seats. Using the Warn axle chart, I took the difference between the original Ford axle, and the Waggy axle, and subtracted that difference from the measurement that I had taken down the axle tube to the straight edge. I then cut a very straight dowel to the length of the new measurement. I then placed the dowel into the axle tube and gently seated it against the straight edge. From the outside of the tube, I ran the tape measure into the tube until it touched the end of the dowel and took a measurement from the end of the dowel to the end of the axle tube. I then transferred that measurement to the outside of the tube and cut on that mark. You don't have to be dead-nuts perfect, but I would say at least within 1/16" (I've even heard within an 1/8", but that sounds excessive to me...)

Confused yet? I tried my best to explain. When it came to figuring out how much to cut, I couldn't find any info on how people (who had done this before) had figured out where to cut on the axle. I did what I explained above and the axle came out perfect. Hope this helps. Good luck.
Eric

Well when I cut mine down, I already had the donor 86 waggy inner shafts to base my measurements off of. I then mocked up the carrier and measured from the spider gears out the tube for reference. I then measured the inner waggy shafts from the end of the spline to the little flange like thing before the ujoint. That gave me a rough measurement, I added an inch and cut both sides off. There are pics in my sig of some of the process... I then fine trimed and remeasured about 7 times before doing my final cuts.. Its a lot of measuring but worth it in the end, don't cut off too much and even mock up the inner and outer knuckle a few times too get it right... I hope this helps.

Scott.

Brett, if you could take measurements, that would be great. I am going to be using the 80 and newer Waggy shafts.

It seems that most individuals take the difference between the two axles and cut that length end of the axle tube. I was just curious if there is some magic number to reference from the center out. It seems that the lengths on the shafts from Warn's site minus roughly 2" might be the measurement from the inside of the side gears out to the end of the tube.

Initially I was concerned that if I didn't get the measurement right, that the u-joint wouldn't be on the same axis as the ball joints. Although, after thinking about it, I realized that the u-joints relation to the ball joints is set once you set the axle up in the hub. The real issue with axle tube length ends up being proper spline engagement in the side gears.

hook the tape measure on the far side of the side gear splines and it's 13 13/16 to the end of the tube, butt the tape measure up to the close side of the side gear splines and it's 12 3/8 to the end of the tube. My knuckle doesn't sit quite flush with the end of the tube, it (the knuckle) sticks out about 1/16-1/8, but I cut and turned them and don't remember if they came from the factory flush or not.

Looks like thats gonna work based on your measurement Brett. Using the Warn length of 15.8" minus 2" that gives us 13.800" compared to your 13.8125" measurement puts me withing 12 1/2 thousandths. I am happy with that.

Are you guys with me on this???

BTW, the axle tube does not sit flush inside of the knuckle. It's set 1/16" or so back.

seems like you can still do it the same way everyone else does. take the old axles lay them next to the new waggy ones and measure the difference that is how much you have to cut off. measuere the piece you got out of the knuckle 2" or so, figure on adding the thickness of what ever your cut off wheel was and remove a little more off the tube.

I considered that, but I had to sand the backside of the knuckle to get past the weld, so I could press the old portion of the tube out. I estimate I had sanded anywhere from 1/16" to 1/8" but I have no way of knowing at this point.