Full-Width vs Normal (Pros, Cons)

[slravene]

My axle swap is beginning to become a planning stage type of deal. However, i am stumped on the decision between Full-Widths, or not (besides the blatanly obvious). Im looking for some pros and cons of both setups. Im looking at either a FW,HP44/9" or a normal width LP44 (or HP if i can cut one...dunno how much thats gonna cost me) with the 8.8 still out back. Im either going to run 2.5 Air shocks in the front or just normal coils depending on what kind of deals or setups i can come up with in the planning stage. Any help from people that have done the setups (or seen them in action) would be great. Thanks.

 

[jrgaylor]

How hard do you wheel? and how much money do you have to spend on this?

 

[slravene]

well once its SAS'd i plan on wheeling it semi hard....probably not going to beat the piss out of it to begin with since it will still be street driven somewhat. I'm gonna try and spend 3K or less on it (Most of the labor will be done by friends and traded, so labor cost isnt much) How much does it cost to have an axle shortened? I've been quoted two absurd estimates of about $900 to shorten a HP44. Is that normal?

 

[jrgaylor]

Myself if I was NOT going to be beating on it I would go with a 95 or newer Dana 30, it would save a bunch of money because you could keep your rear 8.8, have the same bolt pattern and almost the same width as stock.
the 95+ D30 axles are a pretty decent axle for LITE wheeling.

You can shorten the full size HP D44 by cutting about 6" off the axle tube on the passenger side and using a EB long side axle shaft(stock or aftermarket).There is of course more details to it than that but if you have someone who can weld you could do it for the cost of the EB axle shaft and the welding rod.

There is some detailed write ups for doing the shorten of the D44 and using the EB axles on others sites I don't have them in my favorites anymore so you will have to look for them.

 

[95offroadx]

2.5 air shocks? they are the ones that you can adjust the ride height? i want some info on these

 

[034x4]

2.5 air shocks? they are the ones that you can adjust the ride height? i want some info on these

Wtf?


If its going to be daily driven and you want to stay on the cheap side get the D30, people are litterally giving them away around here.

Or a waggy 44. Got mine complete for 120$. But they are 6-lug but can be coverted to 5x5.5 with ford parts. The 8.8 you can get superior shafts with a 6-lug flange to match the front (225$ I just bought some...) and get the rotor's re-drilled for the 6x5.5 bolt pattern.