• NAXJA is having its 18th annual March Membership Drive!!!
    Everyone who joins or renews during March will be entered into a drawing!
    More Information - Join/Renew
  • Welcome to the new NAXJA Forum! If your password does not work, please use "Forgot your password?" link on the log-in page. Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] if we can provide any assistance.

Need help identifying a used D44 with no donor info

Vince

NAXJA Forum User
NAXJA Member
Location
England
I have located a used D44 rear axle in the United Kingdom that was imported from the USA. The owner does not know what the original donor vehicle was. This info would be handy for replacement off the shelf shafts but I guess I can pull the shafts and compare measurements with catalog data afterwards.

The owner says that he thinks it came off a 'Loadbeater'. I have never heard of it before and it doesn't mean anything to him either. Does it mean anything to you? Initially I thought it could be an XJ axle but it is spring under not SOA.

I haven't seen the axle in person yet, but I have the following info:

- Approx 60" wms to wms
- 5 stud, PCD not measured, could be 5-1/2"
- Spring under leaf spring seats
- Asymmetric underslung shock eye mounts. Left shock in front of axle, right shock behind. Bracket takes a separate bolt to attach the shock.
- Two rectangular seats on top of tubes about 4" from diff housing, assuming these are for a swaybar
- Drum brakes, size unknown
- 4.56 R&P with a clutch pack LSD, with stamped ratio and LSD oil tags attached to cover bolts
- The steel Dana cover still has remnants of a white paper bar code label attached to it.
- Brake backplates are attached to the tubes with bolts inserted from the shoe side with nuts and lock nuts on the tube side.

Any ideas what the donor vehicle could be?
 
Has the owner searched for the BOM stamping on the axle?

Unless a P.O. has ground them off (not hard to do--stamping is pretty shallow) there should be a series of numbers/letters that can be cross checked with a Dana BOM table. That code will give you a vehicle platform, date range and original gearing. That will probably be far more useful than our best guesses.

Best way to find the BOM is to take a piece of 100 grit (or so) sandpaper and start cleaning up the axle tubes. Do this by hand. A grinder may take them off just about as soon as you find them. Once you encounter a bit of that code work on that area just enough to make it out and then check it against Dana's tables. Note that it helps to have young eyes. I have Varmints who I can task with reading these numbers. If you need cheaters to read smalll print, bring them along.
 
Thanks Anak, that is very helpful advice.

I completely forgot about the BOM. I have an old BOM list up to 1999 that I saved around about that year and haven't looked at it since.
The link I have for BOM data is way out of date, is this info still available on line?
http://www2.dana.com/expertforms/deabill.aspx

I will ask the owner to check the axle again. He is in lockdown until the first week of December so I can't check for myself.
 
I think I have the BOM and axle general information book saved on my computer, but if the width and offset is right, the rest is just parts.

A spring under “XJ” axle would be right for MJ, except, I think I am still remembering right that the shocks were both on the same side of the axle and the mounts were studs off of the spring plates.
 
Back
Top