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Front dana 35 solid axle?

RockRanger

Elite Ranger
Elite Explorer
Joined
January 14, 2001
Messages
6,266
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288
City, State
Fresno CA
Year, Model & Trim Level
86 ranger no more
Callsign
KK6TDL
Yeah yeah they dont exist but an interesting idea with an axle out of an f250. Might have to give it a try before i rip my 35 out and swap a 44 in. It may not be the best solution but seems like there could be some possibilities in it.

Hey Bill you got a spare dana 35 laying around you want to loan me? :D


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Robb said:
HEHE...................the ol' "welded ttb" trick!!!

Seems like a cleaner job of the person who ran that ol blue lookin ranger w/ the welded up 35 front end, but used the orignal axle front end, as is... I dunno bout it Rock, but it does look cleaner than the old booty fab versions....
 






I was driving around in my SAS'd ex today thinking about this very procedure and wondering if it would work. has anyone run this set-up in actual off road situations. Is it worth it??
 






How in the hell would you go about doing that? Not a bad idea I guess if you don't care about your D35.

Where no shock mounts and where would the coil springs go??
 






I do have seen a few of the boogerwelded together messes a few people have done. This one seems by far the cleanest.

For some one who already has gears and a locker in a dana 35 it could be a possibility. I bet if you built the housing right the long side axle could come from something stock like say a longside waggy or something else could be put right in.

Granded you still have the crappy wheelbearing setup, hubs and aluminum centersection.

you could even reuse a good chunk of your stock suspension if you really wanted to. Build a track bar mount on the frame toss a trac bar on it and rework the steering and you could make it work. Maybe toss some XJ coils and f250 shock mounts on it. I bet you could get it to flex pretty decent on the cheap.

This might be something to try for no other reason then to just try it. What would be the worst that could happen? it doesnt work and you toss it just like you would do anyway with the dana 35 when you swap a 44 in it.

This would probably fall in the class of polishing a turd but I kind of like the idea in a sick twisted kind of thinking. So many project opertunities so little time money and trucks to try it on.
 






just thinking about this I dont think a stock 44 shaft will work. The dana 35 is 27 spline and the 44 shaft would be 30 spline. Gues you could have the shaft resplined but thatgets away from doing it totally on the cheap. I still think there might be some potential to polish that turn up though :D
 






Maybe I'm missing something, but why would you have to swap out shafts? why not just keep running the stockers?
 






you wouldnt have to except it will be hard to get that inter axle into the diff with that middle ujoint in it. Depending on how the housing is built you might beable to reach past the diff and help guide it in from there. I haent even looked at the dana 35 to see what it would take. Just saw the pics posted on pirates and thought it might be able to cross over to the dana 35 some how.
 












Jefe said:
um, wow. . .

Sorry that just seems like its more work than its worth. :confused:

Right?

Rock, i respect that you're trying to look to do something different, and be cost effective... but really, d44 sounds great!
 






I have about a 2% chance I would ever even try it. I already have a 44 at the house and I dont have gears and lockers in my 35 anyway. I just found the pics and thought it was interesting.

Seems more like it would be something fun to try to do when I have nother better to do.
 






Thats a D44 TTB in the pic and under the F250 :)
I dont like it, its huge!
 












I think that is Rockware's new axle huh? I heard that it was a Dana 50. They are here in Town. They helped me with the steering on my SAS. Seems like a lot of work, I agree. I will have to go see it in person and let you guys no how it looks.
 






wow that thing looks beefy thats for sure... probably heavy as hell... whats up with the camber on the ball joints though, when they turn the wheels are they going to rotate with extreme camber... and good luck replacing the long shaft's middle ujoint now if it ever broke. looks like its totally boxed in...
 












OK. I went and saw it. It was actually very cool. He now has it in the front of a YJ. It is a Dana 50, and he changed out the shafts so they are stronger. Apparently, that 50 has 30 spline shafts like a 44 and that is the weak link. He also eliminated the extra ujoint in the passenger side. I asked him why, he said because it can be built to any width, all the parts are Dana 60 tough (outers, etc, ), it has a removeable center section and the shaft issue is fixed. Not to mention there are plenty and they are cheap and it looks cool. Contact Rockware.net if you are interested. Sounds like he will build them to your specs.

Kirby
 



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That's pretty crazy Rock :confused:

I was think of doing somthing like that and making my cener section able to work like a solid axle.

Then I came to me senses ;) I just need to find a D44

ppsssstt...I found one in the recyler for $300. out of a 78 bronco comes with all the susp. too. I can't have though because I just bought my locker :rolleyes:

O'well :(
 






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