ok 2 weeks ago we started building our 78 f150 351M, d44 HP front, 9 inch rear, 8' bed. we shortened the wheelbase to 113", flipped the rear shackle, reveresed the rear springs for a better departure angle, chopped off everything but the hood and cab, installed 36" SXs, spool in the rear blah blah blah. anyways yesterday we took it on its virgin run and it did great but i have a few concerns. the control arms got stuck on everything where they mount to the frame so im thinking a tube arm with a mount that will slide over the rocks. any pics, specs, advice on those would be appreciated. we toasted the rear driveshaft so i'm considering square driveshafts, so what size and thickness do you guys think is necessary? also the front is still open but i really wanna lock it, i also wanna run bigger tires as front diff hung up on stuff all the time. i drive with a very very heavy right foot and so i don't think that the stock d44 would hold up to much bigger tires if it were locked. what do you guys run(keep in mind i am very very hard on the truck, if you baby yours then your tire size won't apply)
the truck still has stock 3.55's too, what gears are available at the junkyard?

You can get 4.10s at the junkyard for a D44. Lock it and put chromo shafts and ctms and it will be nice on the 36s. I ran 36s on a stocker and the only thing I broke was a ring and pinion (4.56).

You can get 4.10s at the junkyard for a D44. Lock it and put chromo shafts and ctms and it will be nice on the 36s. I ran 36s on a stocker and the only thing I broke was a ring and pinion (4.56).

what year/truck did the 4:10's come in? i need a set for my 44 so it matches the 14b if i dont find a 60

what gears can i get in both the 9" and the 44. and will the d44 hold up in stock form to 36's locked?

4.10's were a factory gear option, so you should be able to find a set in a junkyard. However, there is a carrier change on the D44 for 3.92 and down gears, so you need to grab that as well (unless your going with a full locker). As for the D44 strength in stock trim, I wouldn't feel comfortable running anything larger than 33's with a locker and heavy right foot. Throw some 760x u-joints in it, and be a little easy on it and it'd do fine with 35's and a locker, 36's is pushing it though IMO.

For what you want to do, I would either 1. Run chromoly shafts & joints, 2. leave the front open, run smaller tires or be easier on the skinny pedal, or 3. drop in a D60.

I chose 34's cause I don't feel like the axles will hold up to any more considering how I like to wheel, foot-->floor.

thats disappointing about the front axle, i knew it was kinda lame but i thought it'd be better than that. i guess keeping it open is gonna be the choice since this is just a temporary wheeler til i finish my other rig. i don't wanna go to smaller tires either since ground clearance sucks as it is. vertical i checked out your buildup a couple weeks ago, looks good

what exactly are the weak points of the stock axles? i'm guessing the ujoints or hubs? and what trucks did the 4.10s come in, how can i identify them?

u-joints are the weakest link. put some of the 760x joints and weld the caps to the ears on the axle. also the stub shafts are weak too. 4.10 came in lots and lots of trucks in the 70's. you have to either look at the tag on the diff cover if it is still there to identify the R&P. if that isnt there, you have to pull the cover and count the teeth on the ring gear and divide that by the teeth on the pinion gear. it should be something like 41:10.

yeah, i'm a suzuki guy and the axles i'm familiar with all have dropout third members. i forgot how easy it would be to check the gear ratio on a dana axle lol. where do i buy the 760x ujoints?

napa should have them

The exact part number you need is Spicer 5-760x, they can be found at any Spicer dealer, which I believe most napa's are. When you install these I would also run full-circle clips, since spitting out the caps are another common problem. As Donahue said, you can weld the caps to the ears, but then you can't easily change the u-joint in the future. Search on here for a thread on the 760x/full-circle clip mod.

As far as factory gears go, I know the rear 9" will have a 37 tooth ring and 9 tooth pinion, for 4.11 gears. Not sure on the front.

i can count the teeth and do the math for the front, no biggie. does anyone know the price off hand of the spicer ujoints? i looked on the longfield site and they have the d44 ujoints for $135 but it doesn't say if thats for a pair or for one ujoint. that price seems very reasonable for what they are, especially if it's for a pair

i can count the teeth and do the math for the front, no biggie. does anyone know the price off hand of the spicer ujoints? i looked on the longfield site and they have the d44 ujoints for $135 but it doesn't say if thats for a pair or for one ujoint. that price seems very reasonable for what they are, especially if it's for a pair
the spicers should be like $30 each i think. havent bought D44 parts in some time...

i can count the teeth and do the math for the front, no biggie. does anyone know the price off hand of the spicer ujoints? i looked on the longfield site and they have the d44 ujoints for $135 but it doesn't say if thats for a pair or for one ujoint. that price seems very reasonable for what they are, especially if it's for a pair

If I had to guess thats $135 for one, that would put them in line with some of the other 'super joints' for the D44. My local drivetrain place sells me 5-760x u-joints for $19 ea, most places are about $28 a pop.

so has anybody done square driveshafts on one of these trucks? how bout custom control arms? i have a pretty good idea of what i wanna do for the control arms, but i wouldn't mind seein pics of what you guys have done anyways

I built a set of extended radius arms for mine, see my build-up thread for pics (I'll try to get some close up pics next week). They were extended 12" making them just under 4' long total, really improved flex a lot. I might also wrist one of them in the near future, extended + wristed = obscene flex. See Halogrinders Cheap Truck Challenge thread for some good wristed arm ideas.

As for the square tube D-shaft, I'm getting ready to build one. They are pretty easy to make, I'm using 2"x2"x1/4" and 1.5x1.5x1/4" box tubing. Grind a slit down the inner tube so it will clear the weld on the inside of the other tube, weld the factory yokes from you front D-shaft on, install and go. Should take less than an hour to build. If you feel thrifty you can tap in a grease zerk, but from my experiences they just get busted off on rocks. Just slid it apart every once and a while and grease it up real good. It helps reduce wear on it, and also dampens the vibrations some (square-tubies are good for high-speed use though).

Mine is going to work out to be just the right length that it will fit for either the front of rear D-shaft, so if I gernade a rear I can swap in the front, and drive it home without having to use front-only drive.

(square-tubies are good for high-speed use though).


Dont you mean "No good" for high speed use??

i would imagine thats what he meant. i have a suburban driveshaft laying around and i'm gonna use the tube for that til i destroy it, in the meantime i'll try to find a spare and build a square driveshaft

Dont you mean "No good" for high speed use??
Yup thats what I meant, no good for high-speed use.