Early bronco dana 44 swap into a xj

I cannot find the link anymore to the tech article written by Farmer Matt on his early bronco dana 44/ford 9" swap into an xj. Does anyone know where I can find it?

I'm looking at swapping in a early bronco dana 44 into my 91' xj and need some info on how to make it work. I know it has drum brakes and small 260 u-jointed axles that I need to swap out, but what can anyone tell me on how it fits up front and if I should use the Ford radius arm setup or cut these off. I currently have a hp dana 30 with an arb, 4.56 gears, a 297 u-jointed non-disco axles. Will the dana 44 be much of an upgrade for me over what I have in the hp dana 30 with 297 u-jointed axles? Please advise.
thanks...Troy

Big Red said:

I Will the dana 44 be much of an upgrade for me over what I have in the hp dana 30 with 297 u-jointed axles? Please advise.
thanks...Troy

Click to expand...

No. Not that one.

It's not the ideal axle to swap in for strength, but it is one of the easiest axles to swap because of it's width. Here's that write up.


Matt

http://www.naxja.org/html/techarticles/ebswap.html

David Taylor said:

No. Not that one.

Click to expand...

I know it needs some major help, but I read that the coils buckets line up and the width is right. You just have to use those funky radius arms, or could cut them off to use the xj 4 link. I can maybe get 1 complete for $100, I have a hp dana 44 from a 78' f-150 I couldn't bring with me from Il, and I'm not that mechanically inclined. I can bolt stuff in etc, but have never welded etc.

Thanks Matt for the link, I knew I could count on you. :yelclap: Do you still have those bronco axles under your rig? How they doing? There is a guy locally selling a dana 44 cheap so I might get it and then get some aftermarket shafts and convert to disc brakes. How does the radius arm setup work on an xj, is it worth it, or would you convert to the xj 4 link?
Troy

The ford radius arms work great IMO. I'm going to use the setup on my buggy project. The "C" bushings allow for huge amounts of deflection while still controlling the axle position well. It's basically an XJ long arm without the worry of destroying your control arm bushings after each trip. The trick, as with any long arm suspension, is to mount the arms up as high at the frame rail. To do this the radius arms need to be lengthened. Mine are about 10" over stock.

The EB front end is a good base to start with, but it will take money to build. The shafts need to be upgraded, the brakes need upgraded, & at the end of the day you will still end up with a low pinion 44. That being said, my front end has treated me faithfully for the last 3.5 years over some pretty severe trails with only two broken axle shafts which happened on the same trail within a hundred yards of each other. $100 is a good price for the frontend if it's complete. Do some research & price out how much it's going to cost you to build it before you buy. It may surprise you how much it will cost... If you're going to cut of the "C" bushing mounts & convert it back to XJ control arm configuration than don't even consider the EB. You'd be much better off with a waggy 44 that will already have the bigger shafts & disc brakes. The only reason to run a EB 44 would be for the radius arms.

Matt

Thanks for all your help FarmerMatt. So how much do you have into your eb dana 44? Do you think it could hold up to 37" mtrs? I currently have 35" mtrs.

Are the Ford radius arms really that good and work like a long arm kit would for an xj with the 4 link? I really want to do a long arm conversion and swap in a stronger axle at the same time in my xj. How much $$$ would it be to narrow a f-150 or f-250 rev dana 44 to fit into an xj with about a 60-64" wms to wms? I have a f-150 78' rev dana 44 at my folks house in IL that I could have them ship. I hear that sometimes the radius wedges cannot be removed from the tubes. If they cannot, and I want to run the Ford radius arms, can the long side be cut and the tube end with the radius wedges be reused?

I completly stripped the EB housing down & built it up with an ARB, 4:88 gears, warn axle shafts, Chevy flattop knuckles & high steer arms, & everything else to make a front end new including new hubs & rotors. This was done 3 or 4 years ago & I really don't feel like adding it all up right now besides I'm sure prices have changed a lot. The axle will cost you what you want to put into it. For instance High steer isn't a requirement & can cost a boat load. The EB housing & gears will hold up to 37's as well as any other low pinion front end.

The 78 & 79 F150 housings are a great front end to work with for an XJ, but only if you're going to do an extended Ford style radius arm setup. That housing is the easiest housing to narrow. I just finished doing one to put under my buggy project & it took about 4 hours to do. You just narrow the axle on the inside of the cast "C" mounts on the long side. Keep in mind that the coil mounts are located on top of the radius arms so doing this will increase your front lift by about 2.5".

Matt

Not to hijack, but I found a HP 44 housing from a 76 F-150 for $300. Is that a decient price for this axle? I am pretty sure that its got the cast in radius arm mounts but if its going to be kept full width whats the problem?

AARON

Actually if it is a 76 it should not have cast in mounts. Don't trust me on that but I am pretty sure 78 and 79 were pretty much the only years for a cast in mount. I think that price is decent for a very good axle. Put it this way---my local junkyard wants 300 dollars for a low pinion waggy 44 rusted to hell. Luckily my friend has a high pinion cast mounted 78-79 dana 44 housing that he is willing to sell me so I can slowly build it up.====Kyle

Thanks Matt for all your advice and allowing me to pick your brain on a popular topic. I'm going to slowly build my f-150 hp dana 44 to someday reside in my xj. Right now my hp dana 30 is holding up nicely through 2 Con trips and 1-1/2 Fordyce trips this year. Hopefully it can keep holding up for another year or so.
Troy