How Do i tell the difference in the dana 30 and a 44 on a 69 bronco??? the one i have looks like a 44 when i look at the pumkin but i had a ford guy tell me to check the bolts uptop. can any one help me im not to sure....
tnx

How Do i tell the difference in the dana 30 and a 44 on a 69 bronco??? the one i have looks like a 44 when i look at the pumkin but i had a ford guy tell me to check the bolts uptop. can any one help me im not to sure....
tnx

a dana 44 will have ball joints. a dana 30 will have a king pin.

Some early 44's in 71 also had king pins...rare but a few did. In 69 all stock EB's had Dana 30's. He is correct that the easiest way to tell the difference is at the steering knuckles. A 30 will have a cap with 4 bolts on top of the knuckle where the knuckle attaches to the axle tube in. A 44 will have the ball joint.

It must be swapped, as EB's came with ball joints and open knuckles. Heavy duty D44s ran kingpin closed knuckle D44s until ~1975 IIRC and pre-1971 1/2 ton D44s ran kingpins.

Never seen an EB D44 with closed knuckles or open knuckles and kingpins...but I'd love to see one if it does exist.

It must be swapped, as EB's came with ball joints and open knuckles. Heavy duty D44s ran kingpin closed knuckle D44s until ~1975 IIRC and pre-1971 1/2 ton D44s ran kingpins.

Never seen an EB D44 with closed knuckles or open knuckles and kingpins...but I'd love to see one if it does exist.


I've seen two out of hundreds. I'm not sure why ford did it but when they changed from the 30 to the 44 a very few came out with king pin knuckles. One of them that I saw was from an orginal owner and he assured me it had not been changed as he bought the EB with 10 miles on it.