D44 and 9" questions

[JoshC]

Can someone point me to a page that has a list of ratios i can get for my 78 D44 from an F150? I can't seem to find one anywhere. These are 31 spline right?

9"-Are these 31 spline? What are the lengths of the axle shafts, anyone know?

 

[CodePoet]

i dont' remember exactly but according to http://77cj.littlekeylime.com/images/Dana44axleshafts_Ford.gif

they have 30 spine inners and 19 spline outers. There are different 9" versions though. Some like the eb 9"s have 28 splines. However, a fsb should have the 31 spline big bearing version. The 31 spline version is what i have, which i picked up for only 75 bucks. You can determine what version you have by the shafts's flange so you don't have to take the 3rd out...i found it once on pirate but am unable to locate it right now.

 

[james t]

The D44 is 30 spline at the carrier. List of ratios for a high pinion D44? Well, starting out with wheelable gears there is-

4:09
4:56
4:88
5:13
5:38

9" depends. If it was from a 78 truck (same as your front) it will be 31 spline big bearing and beefier non-banjo style housing.

 

[JoshC]

Thanks alot fellas. That helps.

Can i upgrade ujoints on the stock D44 shafts?

 

[RockRanger]

Ctm, longfirld, randys all make upgraded d44 Ujoints. You can run them in stock shafts if you want. You will brake the shafts before the u joint. I would upgrade the shafts at the same time though.

 

[CodePoet]

What rockranger said as far as upgrades is good. Seems like most d44's have 3.50 gears in them from the factory there is a carrier break though so to go deeper than i think 3.93(?) you need a new carrier.

 

[bmxking5]

You can upgrade the 297x u-joints with 760x's. That's what I'm running in mine. They're only ~20 bucks each compared to 200 each from CTM (but CTM's are obviously at a whole other level of quality and strength )

 

[CodePoet]

I've also heard of tack welding the caps into the ears on the shafts. I know that would have saved the long side shaft that came in my 79 d44

 

[JoshC]

What's a decent price for a 9" out of a donor vehicle.

 

[james t]

Around here $60-90.

 

[JoshC]

So i've got my 44 apart except for the pinion nut, sucker is tight! And i can't seem to get the ball joints to pop off the axle. Looks like there is some kind of a funky nut holding the upper joint in, is that true? If so how do i get it out?

Also picked up my 9" today and i'll be taking it apart this week

 

[bmxking5]

Here is a great thread on the rebuild (but it's a 78-79 d44)

http://www.off-road.com/ford/bigbroncos/tech/dana44/

The upper ball joints should just have a castle nut on them with a cotter pin. Knock out the cotter pin, take off the castle nut and the nut on the lower ball joint, hit the upper ball joint, and it should fall to the ground.

 

[JoshC]

Thanks very much! Maybe i saw the shim, don't know, i'll have to go back out and look.

Is the 9" hard to work on? It's still it the back of the truck, waiting for my buddy to call me so we can drag it out. I took the 44 out of the truck by myself, like to killed myself.

I was surfing on ebay for spools. I'm assuming that if i got a spool for the 9" that i'd need a full steel?

I had thought about a spool for the 44, but i've been reading a lot of breakage stories on pirate about snapping shafts at full lock just taking off from a stop. So i think i may go with a locker of some type.

 

[bmxking5]

No, the 9" is an EXTREMELY complicated axle. It's darn near rocket science! The 9" is basically: housing, axle shafts, third member, and brakes. I think it's one of the simplistic(if not the msot simplistic) axle there is. The closest I'd gotten to stripping down an axle (before the 9") was pullling off a brake drum...and I've been able to rebuild a 44 and 9" without any problems so far (just reading a couple of good write-ups)!

I wouldn't ever spool the front end, but that's just me. For the rear, I'd probably buy a steel one compared to aluminum, etc. If you keep an eye out, you can find a completely rebuilt third, geared and spooled, since it's popular for drag racing. That's where I scored mine for 175 shipped (rebuilt, 4.88s, and a mini spool)

 

[JoshC]

I've never heard/seen a mini spool except for on ebay, how does that work? Looks kind of wierd from the pictures.

 

[bmxking5]

It's basically the same as a spool (always locked) but it's the size of a lunchbox locker...only replaces the spider gears

 

[JoshC]

Well the axles are all apart. I've got a friend check on sand blasting them for me, but they don't really need it. Couple of quetions. What is the best way to inside of the axle tubes? What rotation is the 9"?

 

[bmxking5]

LP = Standard Rotation
HP = Reverse Rotation

So your 9" comes stock with standard rotation. You can upgrade to a HP 9" center section though, but it's $$$$$.

The inside of both of my axles were pretty clean. The outside was nasty tho. For the inside, I just soaked it all with brake fluid and used a jack handle covered in rags to clean it all up. Worked fine for me.

 

[JoshC]

Why couldn't you just flip the axle since i'm going to have to weld on new perchs anyways?

 

[james t]

Because then it would run backwards.