Hp 44 Ball Joint Vs. Hp 44 Kingpin

Alright I decided to start this thread just because there isn't alot of info floating around about the Kingpin 44. A big thank you to Mr. N for helping me identify this axle, as I never knew it even existed.

Basic Info:
In 1966 Spicer supplied this revolutionary Reverse Spiral axle, the Dana 44RS, for the new front coil sprung suspension on the Ford F100 4x4. The axle debuted with 3.54 or 4.09 gears, drum brakes, open king pin knuckles and running Spicier 5-260x U-joints. (Straight from Mr. N's site) This axle ran from '66 - '70, with a few finding their way out in '71 as they cleared out the stock.

This axle has two major differences over a Ball Joint, but in affect, everything else is the same. The first being the housing itself. The pumpkin for the kingpin has noticeably less material in the cast.





When Ford upgraded to the Ball Joint Style, the housing was slightly redone. Previously the surround for the differential cover had tied into the cast via "gussets" which angled slightly back in line with the center of the tube. When the housing was redone the surround was pushed forward slightly, then making room for and adding more support to the housing. An second "surround" was put in, adding alot more material to the cast. In additon, the "tube mount" was slighty enlarged with a "lip" on the end.





The only other Major difference between these two housings is of course the Knuckles. I will assume, for lack of time to explain, that everyone here knows the difference............ :laugh3:





I hope this little bit of info helps anyone on choosing the right axle for your swap. And also to maybe identify what you are looking at in the yard. The parts of these axles with the exception of the R&P are not interchangable, ie outer knuckles, brakes, etc. If you wish to run disc brakes, ball joint knuckles must be swapped on. A disc brake conversion may be possible, but in the interest of not getting into it right now. It cannot be easily accomplished.............. :repair:

Any feedback or corrections are welcome............ :lecture:

Good information. Nice pictures too. Jeff

Just to add a bit to this topic -- I picked up the above kingpin 44 from DJ, and have been doing a little research on the topic myself.

Disc brakes aren't so tough, the outer kingpin knuckles are the same as those found on EB D30's, and ebay conversion kits are common for $2-500. It looks like it could be done cheaper with salvage yard parts, as any 6 bolt disc spindle for a D44 conversion will also work (aka chevy parts), though this might require a custom caliper bracket (haven't looked this deep yet).

The shafts are the same length as later 70's F150 D44's, so you could swap in 297/760 jointed shafts for cheap (I did some rough measureing, and it appears that the kingpin inners have sufficient clearance for the larger yokes).

This would be a good axle, if you plan on running full width -- the inner knuckles are not attached like a conventional balljoint inner-c. They appear to be butt-welded, but may have some sort of inner sleeve (still looking into it). So if any narrowing is going to be done, it would probably have to be from the pumpkin end.

I'll add more as I learn more about this oddball axle... :wave:

Thanks, I forgot about this thread. Although I switched image hosts, so all the pictures are long gone............ :gag:

xj-grin said:

The shafts are the same length as later 70's F150 D44's, so you could swap in 297/760 jointed shafts for cheap (I did some rough measureing, and it appears that the kingpin inners have sufficient clearance for the larger yokes).

Click to expand...

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I have no direct experience, but I've read somewhere on pirate/link off of pirate that the king pins knuckles cannot fit the 297/760 yoke axles.

Take a measure with what you have and see what you can tell us.

_nicko_

I never even tried when I had the housing, never crossed my mind........... ig:

Grant has one of those. His uses larger ujoints than a 297. IIRC, they're actually the same as in a TTB D50, though the outers are only 16 spline and the stock shafts are basically not replacable. Alloys and CTM's?

The lower kingpin on a 60 is the same part as the upper kingpin on this 44, or dang close to it.

JJacobs said:

Grant has one of those. His uses larger ujoints than a 297. IIRC, they're actually the same as in a TTB D50, though the outers are only 16 spline and the stock shafts are basically not replacable. Alloys and CTM's?

The lower kingpin on a 60 is the same part as the upper kingpin on this 44, or dang close to it.

Click to expand...

I thought Grant had a closed knuckle 44............... :dunno:

91 Jeep Project said:

I thought Grant had a closed knuckle 44............... :dunno:

Click to expand...

I guess it helps if I look at the pics. Yep, it's closed knuckle. Ignore my blather.

Went out and measured last night -- 297 yokes are roughly 3 1/8", inner knuckle on the kingpin is 3 3/4", with the outer being much bigger since it sits outside the inner on both the top and botton with the kingpin style -- larger shafts shoud fit without any issues...

that's kinda neat. And J Jacobs said the upper kingpin is about the same size as the lower on 60. I'd say that would beat out 44 ball joints any day. I would like to see close up pictures of these knuckles assembled, un-assebled, etc. I'm sure a lot of others would like to as well since there isn't much info on them. _nicko_

That's all I've got, I have an assembled version, but it's not close up, so not much detail at all