Ok flame away as to how dumb I may be but, first tell me the differences of 6 lug 44 and a 44hd 8 lug?

rotors
backing plates
rotating hubs
lock outs

depending on the year
wheel bearings
spindles
axle tube thickness


everything is interchangable to swap lug patterns if you need to. its been coverd, a lot, search.

well I have a 14 bolt ff 8 lug and was wondering which way to go. Convert a 6 lug to 8 lug or just find a 44hd. I f there are enough differnces in the 44 and 44hd and the hd is substantially better then I would rather just fing an hd. I got time on my side cause I am in no hurry got a decent setup but am looking to upgrade.

its alot easier to just swap the stuff over from a 10b front, it will use the larger spindles, the same internal lock outs as your 6lug[if you dont get them with the 8lug stuff].

get everything from the knuckles out and bolt it to yor axle. it will all go right on.

well I have a 14 bolt ff 8 lug and was wondering which way to go. Convert a 6 lug to 8 lug or just find a 44hd. I f there are enough differnces in the 44 and 44hd and the hd is substantially better then I would rather just fing an hd. I got time on my side cause I am in no hurry got a decent setup but am looking to upgrade.

wtf is a 44hd?


if you find one, could you get pics? Im bettin you wont find one.

its what the older 73-78 8 lug with the external hubs were called, they had the .5" tubes when the 69-75[ish] 6 lugs had .375" tube walls

the earlier 8 lugs were the same rotating hub as the external hub axles but they used a internal hub with a spacer between the lock out and rotating hub. kinda rare these days but youll see them time and again. they also used hte same .375" wall as the 6 lug stuff at the time.

from what I know... all GM front axles had 1/2 inch tubes. the OD was smaller on the earlier versions, at 2 7/8". the big hub meant it had big bearings, and a separate bolt on hub. doesnt make it stronger. normally the hubs on those blow off, or the studs shear off.

the only front that i have seen with the .375 wall is a ford...

hell, i could be wrong.

what does Mr. N say about em?

from what I gather, the Ford version was the only one that had the HD available, in a closed knuckle. Again, from what i have seen, GM 44s with OPEN knuckles have 1/2" tubes. the hub design doesnt mean diddly


check out the site, and the info on it for clarification: Mr N's Dana 44 page (http://77cj.littlekeylime.com/Dana44_2.htm)

I've been told that the dana 44s with the bigger hubs and bearings were HD 44s just because they could handle more weight.....? I also could be wrong though.

the only difference would be the size of the bearing being larger. I can see where the larger bearing would support more weight.

you can also find references to the 3300 lb axle, and the 3600 lb axle, or whatever they call em in the parts books, with the only difference being the size of the bearings and the spindle out assembly. everything else is GM dana 44.

the spindles are thicker to make the seat for the bearings larger, doesnt make a difference they are still held on with the same 3/8 studs any ways