[Mugsy]

Just got hold of a 78 F-250 HP 44. I want to get it shortened to approximately 62-60". I've seen the articles about cutting the tubes down 2.75" to be able to use waggie shafts or cutting down to fit bronco shafts, etc.

My real question is:
What if I got a hold of a waggie 44 for a good price. Is it possible just to take the tubes off of that axle and put them into the HP 44? Are the tube outer diameters the same? Would everything line up to where everything would slip into place, etc.?

What about if I want to use a D-300 and not flip it. Could I just get a waggie front that is passenger drop and just weld those tubes in?

Hopefully you get the jist of what I'm asking. I didn't think this was worthy of the jeep or general 4x4 forums. I did do my searching and everything I found was based on cutting and getting custom shafts, etc. Nobody mentioned anything about just dropping in tubes from anothe axle. Let me know.

Thanks,
Mugsy

 

[kpj]

From what I have gathered on doing this, it would be a PITA. Also, you would probably destroy a chunk of the tube when you were removing the spot welds from the housing. You could pull the tubes out of the HP44 and retube so it would be the same width as the waggy front end and you could use those knuckles, shafts, etc... That would seem like the easiest way to me. I had looked into doing this before with a EB 44 front and putting my HP chunk into so it would almost be a bolt on for TJ/XJ, but that is what I came up with for info. .02

Ken

 

[Taylormade]

Have you checked out this topic ?
It helped me out with ideas on retubing my HP 44. Hope it helps.

Eric

 

[Mugsy]

Yup, read it many times. It has a lot to offer if you are cutting the axle down. I've searched alot and have found plenty of topics on narrowing by cutting. I'm more interested in knowing whether or not I can just take the tubes (and everything attached) and just press them into the HP44 housing. Will everything line up.....will it work?

Eric,
What did you do to retube your HP44 and how wide did you go down to?