BMXking's Axle Swap 1st gen. Coils/Radius Arms!!!

[j602]

Sucks, but cool you've still got a lead on one. Good luck with it.

By the way, with that discount, what is a set of 37" Creepy Crawlers going to cost you?

 

[bmxking5]

Sucks, but cool you've still got a lead on one. Good luck with it.

By the way, with that discount, what is a set of 37" Creepy Crawlers going to cost you?

It'll be roughly the same price as buying 4 31" Mud Rovers at full price (assuming I buy a set of 5...since the 10th ann. run requires to have a FS spare) Not too bad for competition equivalent rock crawler tires.

 

[j602]

Freakin' sweet. Umm, could this friend of yours get the discount for anyone else, or another set through you?

 

[Creager]

Yeah dude i second Nissanboy, on comming to NC. I've found 4 places within my city (charlotte) that all had a full assortment of 4x4 77's, 78's, 79's with everything. Most common was F-150's with 3.50 gears.

One yard in Rock hill SC (10 minutes from me) had a '77 that was just the housing, gears/carrier/caps, and knuckes. He wanted $75... cant beat that.

 

[bmxking5]

Josh, I'll have to talk to my friend and see what all he can do. Long story short, he does landscaping/lawn maintenance for some big Maxxis employee. The Maxxis guy said that he could get him 50% off on the Maxxis tires. If I am able to get the tires through him, I will pay my friend and/or the Maxxis employee some extra money for giving me such an awesome deal.

Creager and Nissanboy - I'll let you guys know if I get the Dana 44 today. I'm about to leave to pick up a complete one (what I was told over the phone) for 200 bucks, already pulled for me. If this one doesn't work out, I'll definitely talk with you guys. Also, if there are so many Dana 44's up there WHY IN THE WORLD DON'T EITHER OF YOU HAVE ONE!?!?! This is the perfect time to start building a nice 44 for a winter project.

 

[Creager]

Creager and Nissanboy - I'll let you guys know if I get the Dana 44 today. I'm about to leave to pick up a complete one (what I was told over the phone) for 200 bucks, already pulled for me. If this one doesn't work out, I'll definitely talk with you guys. Also, if there are so many Dana 44's up there WHY IN THE WORLD DON'T EITHER OF YOU HAVE ONE!?!?! This is the perfect time to start building a nice 44 for a winter project.

hahaha.

I was VERY VERY close to picking up that one i was telling you about, i didnt because at the last second a skyjacker 6" lift crossed my mind hehe. I should have just done it, and if i never get around to swapping it then i'd just sell it to you.

i dont know why ATL has nothing, 5 hours up the road and BOOM...

i just did a quick search and found two of them about 45 minutes from me... (otherside of charlotte)

1977
Front Axle Assy.
Ford Truck F150 3.50,DANA 44 980347 $350 LWP, Inc. USA-NC(Concord) E-mail 1-800-785-9571
1979
Front Axle Assy.
Ford Truck F150 3.50 RATIO 980348 $250 LWP, Inc. USA-NC(Concord) E-mail 1-800-785-9571

When i was looking for axles back in august, they were everywhere. Obviously if this same yard has two, there HAS GOT to be others around.

 

[bmxking5]

I've found several here, they're all just stripped and/or rip-offs. Well, pics will be coming (as proof) but I got one today!!! "Coda" told me to find a "mom and pop" yard, and man, this one was the exact definition of that. It was literally an older man, his wife, and a guy at the counter. Last night, they told me that it would be out in time for me to pick it up at noon today...they pulled it last night. Extremely nice people, and he had everything and more that I needed. He included stock coils, shocks, hubs, R/A brackets (which most likely won't be used), trac bar, etc. Only 200 bucks! Pics are coming soon.

 

[bmxking5]

Some pics. First is when it's nasty, second is a little more clean and R/A's, etc already taken off. Tomorrow I plan on stripping it down some more and cleaning it more.

 

[j602]

Yay for the little red wagon! Looks good man! Time to get a move on!

 

[bmxking5]

Indeed. Still think that the 37" Creepy Crawlers will look a little too large on Big Red but I know the full widths should really make it a stable wagon.

I'm going to Pep Boys (got a friend who can hook me up with stuff for cheap) tomorrow to get quite a few things like gaskets, c-bushings, seals, etc. My dad changed his mind from just buying me the coil buckets to getting the coil buckets and paying for all the fab work for lining them up with the full width.
Dad: "If you didn't have the coil buckets lined up right, you could cause a lot of problems with alignment, etc and it's worth paying for."
Me: "I can get it all figured out dad, trust me, unless you want to pay for it with the coil buckets."
Dad: Ok
Me:

The progress should be happening pretty quickly and *hopefully* going in around Thanksgiving.

 

[j602]

Haha, way to work the parentals. So basically, you're gonna do all the prep/maintenance work, and have the shop hang the axle? You're hoping to have the shop start the work around Thanksgiving? Did they give you an estimate for how long it's going ot take?

 

[bmxking5]

I'm doing all prep work other than regear. I am strongly considering not regearing the front for a month or so, so that it'll be in quicker, and just not run a front d-shaft for the time being. (Not to mention locked in rear with 37s and 4.88s would get me a lot further than what I'm doing now. ) I'm having other things done before the whole swap as well, such as shock mounts in rear and spring perches...so it will go in the shop, I'll take out all suspension/axles, bolt up the rear axle, and then we'll start setting up the front end. I really don't want it in the shop long and obviously don't want a huge bill, so I will be doing as much as possible (unless my dad wants to pay some more ). Haven't gotten an estimate on everything yet, but have gotten some numbers on some little things. The radius arms will be getting wristed, and probably extended a bit too before the swap. There won't be a ton of fabbing to be done while the truck is in the shop, just the R/A brackets (which will be similar to svande's w/ heim'ed R/A's most likely), trac bar mount, mounting coil buckets which I'm not paying for , and steering. Those are the major things, and I know I'm missing some stuff, but like I said that's the major stuff. Other than just to have a smaller bill, I really want to do as much as possible so that I know what's going on. I don't wanna have a break down on the side of the trail and be confused as to what thing broke, etc. I want to know all about my truck.

 

[bmxking5]

Picked up a few gaskets and other small, random pieces for the 44 today from Pep Boys. Also, I did some more tearing down on the 44 today. I pulled off most of the things that will be painted because I take an Auto Services class which just so happens to have a sand blaster in the shop. Most of the stuff should get sand blasted tomorrow.

 

[bmxking5]

Popped the cover off today and brought the axle inside. Today brought back memories of how dang bad old gear oil smells, well, any age gear oil for that matter! I seem to have been lucky again. The 9" was in awesome shape inside, and so far, this one seems to be too. Notice how it's actually looking like a front axle instead of a grime covered piece of metal.

 

[splodo49]

Man i bet that gear oil is gonna smell nice in your parents basement. Should Clean it up. That stuff stinks Imo. How you gonna do your steering.

 

[bmxking5]

Man i bet that gear oil is gonna smell nice in your parents basement. Should Clean it up. That stuff stinks Imo. How you gonna do your steering.

Yeah, it's still dripping a little bit, so I promised them it'd be outta there by tomorrow. I have a feeling it will stink in there though for atleast another week or so. It never goes away. I plan to build the steering outta DOM prolly. Do something similar to the BulletProofSteering setups, but without the high cost.

 

[ohe_boy]

Glad to hear that you finally got your D44 BMXKING, I know you were looking for one for a while now! Hope you get all the things you need and GET-R-DONE!!!!

 

[bmxking5]

Got lots more taken apart today. The passenger side is all gone. Probably getting a rebuild kit for the seals, bearings, etc so I'll replace all of that after I finish taking apart the axle and cleaning it up. For anyone looking for a great D44 rebuild write-up, check out this... http://www.off-road.com/ford/bigbroncos/tech/dana44/

 

[CodePoet]

looks good man, i had a ***** of a time getting the spindles off my 79...that is UNTIL i got the chisel out bwahaha Other than that my axle came apart pretty darn easy, yours lok to be in about the same condition as mine with the exception of one foobar'd rotor and long side shaft.

 

[rookieshooter]

I hope you keep posting pics of that axel buildup as you go. That was a great write up on the D44, I saved it under my Favorites.