D44 length info

[stevenf]

Been considering a SAS instead of the D35 and just trying to do a little comparing. I dont want to lose to much of the stock look and therefor have turned down the idea of a SAS because of length. Further searching has re-brought up the idea. I have seen some D44 BII's that looks like the tires stuck out 12" each side. I have also seen others that looked damn near stock. Are there two different length options for the D44's? What vehicles/years were the shortest ones made?

[clem]

Early broncos ('66-'77) had the narrow axles, they started with a Dana 30 which had king pins then went to the Dana 44. The width is a bit wider than stock but with the right rims it can look close to stock. These d44 ALMOST bolt right in and there's lots of info on doing it.

[vabronconut]

the early bronco axles are close to stock width like clem said.

the 78,79 bronco dana 44 is a full size axle and will stick out allot.

the axles you have seen may or maynot have been a eb, the rims have allot to do with the apperance. with no back spacing a full 44 can look like a eb 44 with full back spaced wheels. if you see pics that look funny email the guy and ask what the axle is from and what the back spacing of the wheels are. my eb axle sticks out about 6" both sides because i have 15x10" rims with 4" back spacing and 16" wide tires, so it would look like a full size axle with 15x8" rims with factory back spacing and 12" wide tires.

steve i think you have asked about every imaginable axle swap there is with this thing, which is great to get allot of info first, but i have to share my life saying with you---- shit or get off the pot!

[stevenf]

The two things that were stopping me were availability and width. I now know of somone with about 5 and was trying to research them a bit. How universal are diff parts? He doesn't know what they came off of so I was planning to pick the one with disk brakes if I did.

[vabronconut]

The two things that were stopping me were availability and width. I now know of somone with about 5 and was trying to research them a bit. How universal are diff parts? He doesn't know what they came off of so I was planning to pick the one with disk brakes if I did.

universal is sort of a funny deal with the dana 44, yes they are all the same center housing, carrier, and factory spline count but thats about it. a few things that make them different-

sas 44- the solid axle has a few variations- high or low pinion, and this is exactly what it means, the pinion gear sits high or low in the case. this makes for a different ring gear commonly called the standard or reverse cut. if it is a low pinion it is a standard ring gear thus if it has a high pinion it has a "reverse gear" this is true for all dana 44's and the gear sets are universal regardless of who's truck they are under ie ford dodge chevy, you just have to make sure which "cut" they are.

the sas also came in allot of brake variations, all sas brakes are interchangeable depending on how uch work you want to do. you can swap the chevy set up onto a ford 44 if you change the caliper bracket and out, you can swap the brakes off a full size ford both the 44 and 44 hd (8lug) by changing the knuckle and out. the eb's mostly came with a drum brake set up but ebay sells a complete conversion kit for like $450 and i have used that one and it is well worth it rather than trying to piece together a kit, remember don't go cheap on the brakes!

then there is the ford IFS or TTB, the carrier group is universal to all high pinions but that is it, nothing from the brakes to shafts, or knuckles are interchangable with anything else

hope this helps

[stevenf]

Thanks Vabron.That does help alot! I guess a SAS it is. Only thing I was worried about was finding parts but it should be easy just basing it off of high or low pinion carriers. I may attempt to make my own disk brakes at first. I know someone with a plasma cutter for the brackets, and I have a set of new 5x5.5 rotors and 95 mustang GT calipers and pads sitting around.
What is a common gear ratio to find in these? My rear is 3.73 so I plan to match one axle to the lowest ratio of the other to save a little money for the time being.

[vabronconut]

Thanks Vabron.That does help alot! I guess a SAS it is. Only thing I was worried about was finding parts but it should be easy just basing it off of high or low pinion carriers. I may attempt to make my own disk brakes at first. I know someone with a plasma cutter for the brackets, and I have a set of new 5x5.5 rotors and 95 mustang GT calipers and pads sitting around.
What is a common gear ratio to find in these? My rear is 3.73 so I plan to match one axle to the lowest ratio of the other to save a little money for the time being.

the eb and 78-79 most common gears are 3.50 and 4.11.