After an idea from Casey at Wagoner Machine Shop, i got to work, here is what I came out with. Centerline to bottom of diff is 5.625"

THAT'S WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT.

Cut the plate for the hole

Weld it in from inside and out and grind the outside welds so it looks like it was made that way

sweet!

very good job, hope to check that thing out at mounteagle

i'm not :rainbow: but i have wood! that looks great. shit thats a 1/2" more clearance than a stock 60.:D

whats the centerline to bottom on a 44? isn't it 5.25"?:beer:

:eek: damn, got clearance?:D

Fullsize,

Yeah I'd like to know too. I used to have an awesome chart that listed centerline to bottom of the commonly used diffs but I can't find it. I think the D44 is wither 5.25 or 5.75, something like that. Anyone know for sure?

CJ

I just found some stuff:

Dana 44: 5.375
Dana 60: 6.25
Ford 9": 5.875

NICE! how much clearance do you have to the ring gear? what thickness of plate did you use for the bottom plate?:beer:

I only used 1/4" on it because that is what I had. It is fully welded the entire circumfrence, if it tries to bow up it had to pull the edges in which it can't, i think it will be fine.

Clearance to the ring gear is CLOSE.

CJ

THAT IS FAWKin BADDD!!!! Nice work CJL

Daniel,

That has some clearance! Only prob I see is that it would have to be made real strong cause it runs so close to the gear.
Sweet !

I am not convinced on those pinion brakes though!

thanks for the info.:D

Sweet!!!

did you pull both of them out to do this recently?? mmmmm...
you're still makin' me jealous dude!

Well I took all the control arms and tie rods to be powder coated(may regret that)....so I'm painting everything and assembling the axles for good so when I get them back I can put it back together for good.

CJ

I bought the steel plate to do this exact same thing literally eight hours ago. :D I have one question. . . I don't see a drain plug on the side anywhere. Are you going without? I was going to put one on the side of the housing facing the rear of my vehicle, but I hadn't made up my mind, since that location only gets you a couple inches lower than the fill hole, if that. If you go without, do you just pump the oil out to change it? It looks great. I hope mine turns out that sharp. Also, when you cut out the circle, how did you mark it? Did you use a compass, or just measure up from the seam all the way around, or some other method? I want my circle to be nice and level and true, and I was trying to figure out a good way to mark the cut line. Anyway, looks great!

Aceguy,

I used a compass to scribe the circles. Then cut it with my plasma cutter. I beveled the housing and the plate so that there was plenty of welding to do on the inside(actually, i did the beveling with the plasma while I cut it and grinded the bevel onto the plate). The outside gap wasn't very much at all, so I turned the welder down pretty low and welded it up which left a very small bead. Then it wasn't hard to just grind it flush and then i sanded it down so it was all smooth.

As far as the drain plug, I dunno. I figure with as often as I drain the oil in my diffs I can just pull the axle out and give it a good cleaning and paint job. I might drill and tap on one side of the ring gear and make a drain plug that is flush, I'm not too worried about it.

Good luck,
CJ

that is damned clean! makes me feel real good bout an earlier conversation :D

Nice job man!

OUTSTANDING!!!!!

I know I bust your balls about never having any wheeling pics, but your fab skills are SICK :eek:

I'm jealous. :beer:.. All I know is "Open box....Bolt on" :D

*shrug*

Thanks for the info. I'll give the compass a try. The only reason I kinda wanted a drain plug is I'm not sure how watertight those axle seals are and I end up driving through a lot of water, which means somewhat frequent gear oil changes. It sure does look clean without one, though. :)

Yeah CJ, get it!

Hmmm looks familiar, I did mine a few weeks ago but I used 3/8 plate, and a sawzall. I took one of our dinner plates, put it on the inside and drew a line around then cut it out. Gotta love the clearance!

http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/coiled1977/vwp?.dir=/My+Photos&.src=ph&.dnm=P1010125.jpg&.view=t&.done=http%3a//photos.yahoo.com/bc/coiled1977/lst%3f%26.dir=/My%2bPhotos%26.src=ph%26.view=t

Originally posted by ECF
Hmmm looks familiar, I did mine a few weeks ago but I used 3/8 plate, and a sawzall. I took one of our dinner plates, put it on the inside and drew a line around then cut it out.

Lol. I was trying to think of things that already were round and convex for just this use and all I came up with was a plate and a frisbee. I figured I would never find either that was exactly the right size, so I gave up on that line of thinking. You should sell the model # of that plate as a rockwell clearancing template! :D

Haha. I can see it now "Porcelin Rockwell Clearancing Template - Microwavable"

I put the center of my compass in the drain hole and scribed a circle about 8" in diameter.

CJ

How about welding a nail or something to your drain plug, loop a thin wire around the nail on one end, and looping the other end around your torch/plasma cutter, and not even worry about marking a line. This would make sure you got it perfect, and not have you sweating while you are cutting hoping you dont slip and screw up your axle housing.

Sean

You could do that, I just freehand my stuff and touch it up with the grinder.

CJ

Well i normaly don't post this stuff but GOD DAMN! nice job that thing is really clean, i am jelous of that!

After seeing that....... How much are rockwells? That is really NICE work..... That is truely impressive....

I was gawking over it last night and have to give you props......that is some REALLY clean looking work. Hope your right about it being strong enough, that would be a shame to mess that thing up now.....;)