Late 70's 5 lug and 8 lug Dana 44 differences

[LOGANSTANFORTH]

What are the differences between the two? We are planning on swapping my 1977 5 lug outters onto my friends 1997 1500 Dodge and we are going to put 8 lug outters on my 77's 44 so it will match the 8 lug Dana 60 in the rear. Is it just the hubs and bearings or is it the spindle also? Will the lockouts work as well?

[1sicbronconut]

Have you tried searching this at all start here. http://77cj.littlekeylime.com/web_rs44.html

[LOGANSTANFORTH]

Originally Posted by 1sicbronconut

Have you tried searching this at all start here. http://77cj.littlekeylime.com/web_rs44.html

Yes, and I get mostly speculation or wrong info. I have read pretty much all that site at one time or another and unless I missed something somewhere I didn't see one mention of the exact differences between the 5 and 8 lug 44's, just that the hubs are wider...

[wyldstallyn73]

I did just the opposite- 5 lug stuff on a F250 housing. You need to change everything from the steering knuckle out. your 1/2 ton stub shafts will work with the 3/4 ton outers if they are the internal lockouts.

[LOGANSTANFORTH]

Originally Posted by wyldstallyn73

I did just the opposite- 5 lug stuff on a F250 housing. You need to change everything from the steering knuckle out. your 1/2 ton stub shafts will work with the 3/4 ton outers if they are the internal lockouts.

Yeah, they are. Once I do this I have to buy 2 wheels to match my rears as I have 15 inch 8 lugs on the rear and 5 lugs on the front, though they do match, just different pattern. Atleast I will be able to swap my 35's and 33's around and not have to worry about wheel fitment, except some grinding on fitting the 15's on my 96 Dodge 60...

[wyldstallyn73]

You could still have fitment problems with 15 inch wheels on the 8 lug Ford setup. That big assed 4 piston caliper requires a lot of space. Someone else could probably say for shure, but seems like I have read that it takes a 3.5 inch backspace wheel to clear that big caliper.

[bryson]

I don't think the '77 outers will fit on the '97 Dodge axle... IIRC, the ball joints on the Dodge axle are captured in the inner "C", and the '77 will have the ball joints in the outer "C" making nothing interchangeable.

[LOGANSTANFORTH]

Originally Posted by wyldstallyn73

You could still have fitment problems with 15 inch wheels on the 8 lug Ford setup. That big assed 4 piston caliper requires a lot of space. Someone else could probably say for shure, but seems like I have read that it takes a 3.5 inch backspace wheel to clear that big caliper.

Oh, I'm not worried about back spacing, I would actually prefer to run 2 inch offset wheels in the front and a set with more offset in the rear (sled puller)...

Originally Posted by bryson

I don't think the '77 outers will fit on the '97 Dodge axle... IIRC, the ball joints on the Dodge axle are captured in the inner "C", and the '77 will have the ball joints in the outer "C" making nothing interchangeable.

Your right, it won't work, oh well, back to the drawing board. Sadly this was stated by a senior member of this board that it would work...

[IROK Cherokee]

Originally Posted by bryson

I don't think the '77 outers will fit on the '97 Dodge axle... IIRC, the ball joints on the Dodge axle are captured in the inner "C", and the '77 will have the ball joints in the outer "C" making nothing interchangeable.

Yup this is true.