I have a dana 44 out of a 75 chevy with a matching 14 bolt. After doing a disc brake conversion on the 14 bolt I end up with a width of about 62". I have to shorten the dana 44 to match. I don't have a lathe that's big enough and was wondering if someone had some ideas on how to get the knuckles lined up straight after chopping them off and shortening the tube(s).

I have searched quite a bit and still have not found a home-grown solution or any pics. I was also wondering if it is possible to just cut the long side and use a stock axle out of something else to get to the 62" mark in the front.

Thanks much. David

Well I found a pretty good post:

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=23580

I hate it when that happens, I guess I just needed to look a little longer

newbie.....

I just set the housing on a level surface (two jackstands) then you can just use an angle finder and rotate the axle on the jack stands as needed.

i would put the knuckles on the houseing where you think they will be close but do not weld them on. then put the housing in you jeep. now with the housing in you jeep and the jeep sitting level you can rotat the knucles to the desired castor angle . this way the caste ris set to your jeep. if you set it on jackstands with the spring perches level to the ground, you are just assuming that the housing will sit exactly like that in your jeep. put it in the jeep before setting the angle.

IMHO......what high5 said is the best way to do it.

The Chevy housing has the spring perches ~31.5" apart right? The CJ is 27.5". If you cut 4" from the long side, you don't have the outboard springs & you can use an '80 - '84 Waggy shaft. With 8 lug outers it will still be a few inches wider than the back, but it'll work well.

Originally posted by CJ-Jeeper
The Chevy housing has the spring perches ~31.5" apart right? The CJ is 27.5". If you cut 4" from the long side, you don't have the outboard springs & you can use an '80 - '84 Waggy shaft. With 8 lug outers it will still be a few inches wider than the back, but it'll work well.

Thanks for all the help everyone. I am going to put the axle under the jeep and set the knuckles that way, makes sense.

I was planning on moving both spring perches to change the pinion angle because I have some 4" trailmaster springs that added more castor than stock [moved the axle/pinion angle pointing down a little] and I thought I would do a SOA and shackle reversal with these springs...my transfer case at the yoke actually points down towards the back wheels a little because I had to tilt the motor some for the rear drive line angle[well I thought I did], so what should my pinion angle be in the front? Obviously I don't want to match the yoke angle, should I keep it flat, relatively and keep the chevy spring pad [the one side as you said]?

Hmmm. If you put it under the jeep, then bolt knuckles onto the yokes, you could easily set something in place where the tie-rods go and check it for level/straightness compared to how level the axle is. If one yoke were at a different angle, that would be reflected in the knuckle where the tie rod goes.

Make sure your knuckles are equidistant from the springs, though.

Just a thought.

Bryan