I looked at a set of axles yesterday that were suposed to be out of a 78 1-tom gm pickup. the owner said they were a 14bolt & a dana 60 front. they were both 8 lug, but the front pumkin looked real small in comparison to the 14 bolt. I could not find anything to ID the axle to see if it was infact a Dana 60. my supsions are it is a dana 44. the passenger side spring perch was molded into the differential housing. Is there anyway to tell the difference between an 8 lug dana 44 or an 8 lug dana 60?

TIA
Corey W.

How many u-bolts did it have on the passanger side? If it was one, it was a 60. Also, most 60's have a casting ID on the front driver's side of the pumkin. Take a look at
http://coloradok5.com/gallery/albun64/aag this is a pic of my recently installed D60.
Hope this helps.

derf00,
It wasnt bolted up, but it appears to have 2 ubolts. unlike yours it has a ubolt saddle cast into the diff housing for a ubolt on the pumpkin side of the perch, so I assume it has 2-ubolts. this axle also looked smaller than yours although it kinda hard to tell scale in the picture compared to what I remeber. i'm pretty sure the axle I looked at was a dana44.

Originally posted by sixty
derf00,
It wasnt bolted up, but it appears to have 2 ubolts. unlike yours it has a ubolt saddle cast into the diff housing for a ubolt on the pumpkin side of the perch, so I assume it has 2-ubolts. this axle also looked smaller than yours although it kinda hard to tell scale in the picture compared to what I remeber. i'm pretty sure the axle I looked at was a dana44.

I bet it was a 44HD.....The best thing you can look for is if it had "ball joints" which is 1 large nut on top and bottom. The dana 60 would have "kingpins" which has a little 4 bolt square cap on the top and bottom.....Good luck...

Shaker,
I think your right. I do remember seeing ball joints & not a 4-bolt cap. Is a 44HD a good axle or is it far inferior to a dana60? what would one of these be worth if the knuckles needed total rebuilding & one of the knuckle steering arms are broken off?

TIA

Originally posted by sixty
Shaker,
I think your right. I do remember seeing ball joints & not a 4-bolt cap. Is a 44HD a good axle or is it far inferior to a dana60? what would one of these be worth if the knuckles needed total rebuilding & one of the knuckle steering arms are broken off?

TIA

They are a very good axle. You can rebuild the whole front end minus gears/carrier for about $150.00. I am building 1 right now for my 4 Runner. As for the steering arm broken-no sweat just do X-over steering on it......If you get it for $250.00 or less you will be doing ok......Good Luck....:D :beer:

Dodge dena 44 axels are built that way.I put one of those in a land cruise a few months back.

I'm considering swapping this & the 14bolt into my SOA fj60. from a strength stand point is the 44hd any stronger than the existing toyota pickup/ fj60 front end? what does the crossover steering setup cost? its also missing an outer hub/ selector on one side. I think i can get them for about $350. don't know if I could justify the work & $$ just to install a 44 though. let me know what you guys think. I' running a TBI350 w/ a 700r4 & the toyota offset split tranfer case. I think an offset rear drive shaft might be ok.


one other thing. How difficult are they to cut & turn to raise the pinion aprox 10- 12degrees? I've done on toyota axles but danas are totally different.

dana 60s (http://community.webshots.com/album/26127166SwclRTBvgY)
pic stolen from the net as well as some of my own

This is what a hub will look like on an HD D44. They are external hubs.
http://images.freepichosting.com/2001-11-27-6-34-48-5073.jpg
A HD D44 is kind of misleading they are the same strength as any other D44.
The only difference is the external hub and the tubes are a 1/2" thick.
Found on 73-76 rigs.
The hub in the pic is an after market one, I believe that the original ones do not have the removeable end cap and
the bolts go all the way through from the end of the hub

I'd be willing to bet that you're dealing with a d44hd front, or maybe even a 10-bolt 3/4 ton front. After 1976, I think, they went to internal hubs, so that isn't a tell-tale sign. If it's a 1978.5 or newer axle the bill of materials number would help you identify it by going to my web page and looking it up.

BTW everyone, wasn't there a day when, if someone asked this question, they would get the hell flamed out of them? I mean, I can tell the difference between a d44 and d60 the instant I see one. It would be like telling my children apart.

J. J.

if you look at a corp 14 from the back it looks off center, because they put the pinion in the middle. so if you take out the long axle and replace it with another short one you will center the cover, that way your pinion will be 3" off of center and you will have a 62 1/2" wm to wm 14 bolt! oh yah , you will need to shorten your axle toob on the long side. thats how i did my 63 scout rear housing. maybe that will help yor drive line angle with your off set transfercase?? my .02

Originally posted by patooyee

BTW everyone, wasn't there a day when, if someone asked this question, they would get the hell flamed out of them? I mean, I can tell the difference between a d44 and d60 the instant I see one. It would be like telling my children apart.

J. J.
Took the words right out of my mind....:flipoff2: newby's :flipoff2:

Okay Mr Granite Guru, I suppose you knew exactly what a D60 was the first time you saw one, and nobody told you what it was? I got your "newbie" for you.....:flipoff2:

Originally posted by Derf00
Okay Mr Granite Guru, I suppose you knew exactly what a D60 was the first time you saw one, and nobody told you what it was? I got your "newbie" for you.....:flipoff2:

LMFAO!! good try :flipoff2: newby :flipoff2: I was runnign 2.5 ton's 12 years ago. How old were you then?, probably still sh!tting yourself!!

"38*45.859N 120*34.534W"

is this to your house?
brave man.

Aggro,

If that is the case, adjust your bi-focals and read what I said old man, you missed the point I was making. You ripped "Sixty," for not knowing the difference between a 44 and a 60. How did you learn the difference? Some one tell you, or were you just born with the knowledge?

So being a newbie and asking what you consider "dumb" questions on this site assures you of getting roasted?

just a point for you, if you have to do a lot of work on the housing (turning the diff up, repairing it, ect) you will probably be better off in the long run looking for a 60. ground clearance isn't really an issue as your 14 bolt hangs down furthur anyways.

Originally posted by Derf00
How did you learn the difference? Some one tell you, or were you just born with the knowledge?

Uh oh! Looks like we have another newbie rising on our hands! :p I learned the difference mainly by looking at one. A d60 is fricking huge compared to a d44. But if that isn't a big enough clue, they all say what they are on them in big, bold, cast-in letters. You just have to get down on the ground and look. Beyond that, a little experience will tell you that a Chevy d60 will have kingpins whereas a d44 will have ball joints. A 60 will also have 3 u-bolts and 2 studs, as oppossed to the d44's 4 u-bolts.

Originally posted by Derf00 So being a newbie and asking what you consider "dumb" questions on this site assures you of getting roasted? [/B]

Yes. :flipoff2:

He catches on quick!

J. J.

patooyee,

You are right, and thanks for at least reading what I said. Since you have obviously been up close and personal to a 60, can you tell me what the "fish," symbol in front of the id markings on a 60 would mean?:)

I have never noticed a fish on my, or any d60's, that I have ever seen. There is the standard Dana diamond which, I guess, could look like a fish if it had some grime covering part of it up. I'll go check on my d60 front tomorow.

J. J.

You had me so intruiged that I had to sneak upstairs right away and go into the frozen garage in my boxers to look at my 60. I couldn't find any fishies. Where am I suppossed to be looking?

J. J.

patooyee,

I bought a D60 off a '85 CUCV. When I sandblasted the axle to clean it before painting, I found numerous numbers stamped in the tubes. When facing the front of the axle, to the right of the pumkin on the tube I found the build spec stamped in the axle, but it was preceeded by the fish symbol. If I hadn't sandblasted the axles I would have never seen those #'s. I just thought it was interesting and wondered what it might mean.

Hm. I don't know. I don't have my bill of material catalogs on me right now, but I'll check tomorow night when I do have them. I have cleaned that part of my axle well and can plainly see those numbers, but do not see any fish. So I'm pretty sure that mine doesn't have one. Maybe it was unique to military vehicles. Does anyone else have any idea?

J. J.

Originally posted by Derf00
patooyee,

I bought a D60 off a '85 CUCV. When I sandblasted the axle to clean it before painting, I found numerous numbers stamped in the tubes. When facing the front of the axle, to the right of the pumkin on the tube I found the build spec stamped in the axle, but it was preceeded by the fish symbol. If I hadn't sandblasted the axles I would have never seen those #'s. I just thought it was interesting and wondered what it might mean.

The 1'st set (close to diff.) of #'s is the date of manufacture. The 2'nd set of #'s is (Bill of Material) it will give you what vehicle the axle came from and will be able to give you all the Part #'s to rebuild it if needed.......:D :beer:

Shaker,

I know what the #'s mean. My question to patooyee was does he know what the fish symbol that preceeds my set of #'s mean.