Danna 44 swap need some help

Ok iv done days of research and iv got almost everythin figured but a few things! i hav a danna 44 hp out of a 78 f250 wit the matchin rear and i hav a couple question 1st how do u get the coil spring mount right for the pinion angle without the weight of the vehicle? Basicly im jus askin how to get the spring mouts and the control arm mounts right wit the pinion angle? Or would it jus b easier to put leafs up front? Its strictly a offroad vehicle n im wantin to do it cheap wit descent flex!If anyone has any pics that would b great! Thanks

Do you plan to rotate the "c"'s? You have to mock up the axle in the position it will sit under your vehicle and then mount the spring perches level from that position. I suggest measuring the difference between the angle of the pinion and the spring perches on your D30 and start from there.

Im not sure? Do i need to? Ok so get the angle of the pinion and perches and pretty much duplicate it on the d44? My concern is that im gonna try to add a homemade lift of bout 4" and i no pinion angle will hav to change from the original stock measurements of the d30 right? Or i may b completely wrong

If you place the spring buckets to give you a good pinion angle the castor may be off giving you bad alignment. If you set it for good alignment you may end up with bad driveline vibes, this is why many people cut the "c"'s loose and rotate them. There should be some writeups on here on what I am talking about. Search "rotating c's"

Beaudean09 said:

Ok iv done days of research and iv got almost everythin figured but a few things! i hav a danna 44 hp out of a 78 f250 wit the matchin rear and i hav a couple question 1st how do u get the coil spring mount right for the pinion angle without the weight of the vehicle? Basicly im jus askin how to get the spring mouts and the control arm mounts right wit the pinion angle? Or would it jus b easier to put leafs up front? Its strictly a offroad vehicle n im wantin to do it cheap wit descent flex!If anyone has any pics that would b great! Thanks

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I have the same axles in my XJ. Here is how I did it.

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f11/rebuilding-front-dana-44-a-397243/

I didn't rotate the inner C's either. Rotating the C's is the correct way, but I didn't think it was worth the trouble. The 78 F250 was a fairly tall truck to start with so the pinion angle won't be perfect but its only a very little bit low. When you are on pavement your front hubs should be unlocked so there is no issue with front vibes. I set the axle a 5 degrees psitive caster using and angle finder on a dowel running through the ball joint holes, then welded the coils mounts level. If you drive on the street in 4wd, maybe in the snow, it is possible you could get some vibes but I doubt it. As for the control arm mounts you need to take a lot of carefull measurements from your stock axle. The F250 axles are full width so mark the center of each axle and measure from there.

I would look at the truss and bracket kit from Treks/T&T, I think they make one for the hp44. This kit was not out when I did my axle swap, I used the Rubicon Express brackets which does not include a truss or any instructions for installation. Good luck.