should i change the ifs front end,should i ditch the 8.8 rear,not trusting the clips inside the rear,can i make it a full floater?cost? there is not much to upgrade in the front is there?

What do you plan on doing with this? What kind of mechanical ability do yu have and what kind of budget are you working with?

That twin-beam front axle has great potential, contrary to what most here will believe. It has a HP Dana44 differential and is plenty strong for 33-35" tires (38s if someone starts making 4340 shafts for it). The big thing is if you ever lift it, use a kit that has good sturdy brackets that won't bend or crack (or crack the frame, too). This can be a bit tough, though. The Skyjacker Class II (4") is one of only very few decent kits. It would still need a few tweaks outside of just bolting it on though (softer coils and extended shock towers, to name a couple).


The 8.8's biggest weakness is the carrier. Swapping in a Detroit Locker will easily take care of that. The C-clips are a non-issue unless you break a shaft, and then its only AFTER the shaft is broken that it becomes an issue. They have no significance in how strong it is. Some have mentioned the axletubes can spin in the centersection, also. I have yet to experience that, but a few welds laid next to the housing and the tubes can be a good preventative for that.

well I do like the truck,as to my ability,couple of my friends say my right foot is to heavy,as to the bugget,well not much ,but saving money is my option,what i have done to the truck is change the gears to 456s,put a detriot trutrack in the front,kep the factory slip in the rear,the truck has a 6 in skyjacker sus liftand a 3 in body lift,37 in swampers,flowmasters,87000 miles, I do agree i have a heavy foot ,

Hey bro....I would at least swap in a straight d-44, at least.... If you are good at saving money, then save your money for a d-60 and swap that in... I have seen a few people that were able to beef up the ttb, but with the money involved with that ... You could build a nice d-60.... It is a super easy swap to go to the straight axle too. I do agree that the ttb ((can)) be made to handle some abuse, but there are to many other issues....camber, alignment, etc... D-44's are a dime a dozen and can be built to beat on...A d-60 can still be found and with a little building is pretty much hard to break.....
Second: The 8.8.........(((crap)))!! They might be great for jeeps, but they dont have any bussines in a full size... I would start hitting the junk yards and stuff a D-60 or a 70 in there... I was at our local (( pick-n-pull this weekend and I found countless d-60's and some d-70's even....for a $165.00 and a cheap rebuild...Thats hard to beat......Just my opinion....Jeremy

Take out the 3" body, cut your fenders up and swap in a sterlign 10.25 rear, very cheap and strong find a solid d44 out of 78-79 f-250 and put that in and have at it.

With 37s (or bigger) and frequent use of the stupid pedal, any money spent on swapping it out will be wasted if its not on a Dana 60.

A D44 really isn't up for that, doesn't matter if its solid or TTB (why go through all that to replace a D44 with another D44 when you'll likely find yourself replacing it yet again (with a 60) when you find out the little shafts still snap & break just the same :rolleyes: )

Agreed on a 10.25" (or D70) rear.


I'd say continue running it as is (but try to restrain your right foot a bit) and start putting the $$$ aside for some real axles.

Thanks for all the info, measuring for a dana 60,inside tire to tire is around 57 in ,a no i should stay around the same size ,are the 60s from other trucks around the same size?wider or narrower?same question for the rear of the truck,does the 70 come full float,with disks?another problem ive heard on the front axle swap,the radius arms ,the ease of remounting these?THANKS FOR ALL MIKE D{billybronco}

A front 60 probably would be easier to sling on a set of leafsprings on your Bronco, but coils can be done. Due to the size of the axletube and location of the diff, you'd probably have to custom fab the radius arms (but by you being on this site, I'm guessing you'd have no problem with that?)


Yes, the D70 & 10.25" are full-float. I believe they are about 2-3" wider than your stock half-ton axles, but not real sure (they will be 8-lug)
A search probably would find a lot of this info.

swapping a 60 is no tougher than a 44.
you just have to weld some C-wedges onto it, and a track bar mount, and bolt it inplace of the 44, after that is allready swapped in.
and ohh yeah, some spacers between the radius arm and cap.