is the dana 44 out of a 77 f250 a worthwhile axle to pick up? http://77cj.littlekeylime.com/flatop_knucles.html says that the 77's 3/4 ton had larger bearings and lock outs. junkyard wants 150 for it, good price?

also, will the 3/4 ton brakes clear 15's?

If its a 77.5' , it's good. Just look for the high pinion, the oler one were low pinions. You'll have to grind the fat ass dual piston calipers though to run the 15's. I had to grind w/ the 2.75 BS 15x8's

how do i tell if its a 77.5? the tag on the door says 1977, and i cant remember if it was hi or lo pinion

all i remember was the flat top had 3 bolts, the tie rod was underneath the knuckle

F26HEY84209 this # was on the tag (on the ds door)
axle - 24j or 243?? there was a rivet covering the last number or letter

i guess i could run back to double check but its a little bit of a drive, i want to run 15x10 4.5bs rockkrawlers so i doubt the brakes will fit anyways and from what i understand you cant swap out the 1/2 ton brakes without swapping knuckles

would it be worth it just to grab the knuckles and pass them along to someone looking to do an eight lug swap?

i believe Mr. N was challenging someone to find a ford dana 44 with a low pinion, and no one could. that truck will have a hi-pinion d44.

sw99 is thinking of the hi-pinion dana 60. it started showing up in 77.5 in the heavy GVW F-250's.

what did the consider a heavy GVW?

and the knuckles alone should be worth 100 bucks right?

I don't really know, I am more of a GM guy than Ford guy. But the HP60 started showing up in 77.5 in *some* F250s, and showed up in all F350's in '79. Easy way to check is to see if it has kingpins or ball joints.

i think it's camper specials and trucks like that which got the HP60

Alot of ford's came with low-pinion 44's. All 66-77 Bronco's did, and all pre 77.5 F-250's did. These were commonly called high-boys and came with divorced transfer cases and sat up really high. Really odd-ball axles though, had kingpins, huge hubs, and little bitty 260 series U joints. If he's challenging someone to find a LP 44 from a Ford, tell him to email me and take him a picture, I've got two of the boat anchors sitting in the field.

oops my bad, he was looking for LP 1/2 ton 44's, not from EB. here is the post i was confused about...
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=91801

I think you're better off holding out for an F150 Supercab if you want 1/2-ton brakes (clears 15's) w/leaf springs & flat tops. Or a regular F150/FSBronco if you want coils & radius arms.

You can always upgrade to T-bird calipers later.

i believe Mr. N was challenging someone to find a ford dana 44 with a low pinion, and no one could. that truck will have a hi-pinion d44.

sw99 is thinking of the hi-pinion dana 60. it started showing up in 77.5 in the heavy GVW F-250's.


Wrong, asshat :flipoff2: That truck may not have a HP 44 :flipoff2: Gotta love people talking out their asses.

Let me try this again... If it's a 77', look at the pinion and see if it high or low. If it's a HP, get it... Very simple.

Let me try this again... If it's a 77', look at the pinion and see if it high or low. If it's a HP, get it... Very simple.

thanks

Wrong, asshat :flipoff2: That truck may not have a HP 44 :flipoff2: Gotta love people talking out their asses.

Read 2 posts above yours, dickfor. Sue me
:flipoff2:

is there any possibility of fitting a 15x10 4.5 inch bs wheel over the dual piston brakes? ive got the wheels already and would love to use the dual piston brakes

edit: if not which backspacing would work with a 15x10 or 15x12?

Not without some serious grinding. The dual piston claipers are huge, when trying to run a 15" wheel. I had to grind quite a bit when I mounted some 3.5" backspaced 15" wheels. More than I was comfortable with, lets just say that.

Some wheels are made a bit differently, some may require less grinding than others. I had two different 15x8's w/ 2.75 BS and one set required much more grinding than the others... Good luck!

The T-bird caliper swap apparently yields the same force as the dual-piston caliper... and it fits on the 1/2-ton caliper bracket. :eek: Write-up here:

http://www.okcnetworks.com/bronco/brakes/

The dual-piston sounds nice, but I do remember those things being awful for uneven pad wear on my Dad's F350. :evil: