OK, newbie has a question,
I'm looking at a 78 Bronco...I'm pretty sure its a 78 anyway...and wondering what axles it may have? I've only seen it once, so I don't know much about it, and don't know much about broncos in general so any help would be most appreciated...I'm just curious, cause I think the truck would come real cheap!:eek:

Thanks,
John :smokin:

Front is a solid 44 rear is a 9" if it is a 78

OK, Thanks...now that I have that, any opinions on these? Good, Bad, Ugly? I'm now wondering this because I'm curious if these axles would be better for usage than the axles off of an 86 1/2 ton Chev Silverado. (I've heard those axles...corporate 10and12 bolts...are no good?:confused: ) I'm trying to gain some knowledge on what to use...those are just two trucks that are readily available to be raped and pillaged...:mad2:

Thanks again! ...:beer:

John (Spoon)

The D44 and 9" axles found in 78/79 Bronco's are pretty stout units. Axles upgrades are available for both and you can easily run tires up to 36" in stock form.

Originally posted by John Witherspoon
OK, Thanks...now that I have that, any opinions on these? Good, Bad, Ugly? I'm now wondering this because I'm curious if these axles would be better for usage than the axles off of an 86 1/2 ton Chev Silverado. (I've heard those axles...corporate 10and12 bolts...are no good?:confused: ) I'm trying to gain some knowledge on what to use...those are just two trucks that are readily available to be raped and pillaged...:mad2:

Thanks again! ...:beer:

John (Spoon)

Dont know how they compare to the Ch*vy axles but the D44 and Ford 9 are a pretty good axle for starting out and if you dont get to hard core. Plus those years are easy to upgrade if you ever wanted to you can esaly go to a rear D 60 and with a little fabrecation you can get a D 60 up front to. IMO those late 70's F series and broncos rock, there are parts everywhere and there not to hard to build up. Hope that helps
Justin<><

if the headlights are round chances are that it is a '78. If square then '79. Doesnt really matter though as both will have the D44 front and ford 9" in the back. The D44 will have cast in C wedges so you cant really move them. Also the D44 will have a drivers side drop and the chevy will have a passenger drop. Depends on what you are building I guess.

The '78 and '79 Bronco's had disks up front, right??

And they are 5" on 5.5"??

I've got a six lug chevy 44 laying around. I may use the tubes out of it for the rc44 ('79). Or I may just use the outer stuff. If I just swapped the knuckles out from the chev44 would I still be able to use the rc44 axles?? Anybody know the rc44 wms??

Originally posted by convertiyota
The '78 and '79 Bronco's had disks up front, right?? Yes

And they are 5" on 5.5"?? Yes

I've got a six lug chevy 44 laying around. I may use the tubes out of it for the rc44 ('79).

What do you mean tubes? Swapping the pinion to the pass side?

If I just swapped the knuckles out from the chev44 would I still be able to use the rc44 axles?? Why do you want to swp the knuckles? For the disks? If it early GM D44 the ford rotors will slide right on the GM D44 spindle.

Anybody know the rc44 wms??

65 inches

Know I want to keep it driver-side, just get rid of the hollow cast on crap.

Originally posted by John Witherspoon
OK, newbie has a question,
I'm looking at a 78 Bronco...I'm pretty sure its a 78 anyway...and wondering what axles it may have? I've only seen it once, so I don't know much about it, and don't know much about broncos in general so any help would be most appreciated...I'm just curious, cause I think the truck would come real cheap!:eek:


As has been answered, 78&79 had a Dana 44 front and 9" rear. Both axles can handle up to 36's open. The 9" can do a locker to the same size.. Locking a d44 with 33 or larger is not highly recomended. Yes people do it, some dont even break much, but they are the exception, not the rule.

A 10.25, D60, 14bolt is an easy swap for the rear. A d60 can be swaped in the front, but takes some fab work. The hardest part being mounting the rad arm points to the new axle housing.

Somebody mentioned that if it has round headlights it is a 78, very true, but it could also have square head lights and be a 78.. the XLT model came with square headlight in 78.As for what you can do with a 78...

Look at the link below