High pinion 44 what should I do.

[nblehm]

Picked up this 79 f250 hp44 a few days ago. Was a good deal, hard to find these anymore. Question is what should I do with it. I think it will pretty much bolt into my truck perch width wise. Swap over my chevy knuckles and e locker (need to confirm gearing) run it for awhile under the j10, would be nice because it would help my front driveshaft angle. I need to measure WMS width because I think it might be wider than a j20 axle which wouldnt be great.

Wild idea.
So at some point here in the future I'm building another crawler. Light weight, nimble, 37" tires hopefully <3000 pounds. Probably based on a cj2a.

Narrow this thing to 62-63", dana 60 outers. 35 spline spool, jana gear set. I figure, close to dana 60 strength and the ground clearance of a dana44. And it's different
Only thing I'd have to figure out beside custom shafts is i think the axle tubes are 2.75" and all dana 60 inner knuckles come at 3". I have a bunch of time in my hands to think about stuff

[freerider15]

Honestly, unless it were going under a general rec wheeler...not worth the effort.

Definitely wouldn't put the effort into it in any dedicated crawler.

I'd go RS housings and Toyota 3rd's long before that.

[Hoofmann]

I’m with Justin on this, but if you’re going to build light weight and you’re stuck on building a 44, it seems RCVs hold up just fine even with 40” tires. Vehicle weight will be the biggest factor in that 44 surviving.

That housing is probably the strongest housing you can get for a 44. Truss it still.

[Hoofmann]

Oh and going with fabbed housings and stuff is really expensive.

[freerider15]

Originally Posted by Hoofmann

Oh and going with fabbed housings and stuff is really expensive.

You might be surprised.

I could put together a fabbed housing with goodies for cheaper than I could my current D60.

If not going fabbed housing, just buy a super60 for cheap and be done.

[6DoF]

good score on the axle!!! my vote would be to either use it as-is, or find some other hated version to cut up. please don't cut up a leaf spring HPd44 (unless re-tubing it to pass-drop). so yeah, i like swapping the gears/locker and GM knuckles out onto this axle for the J20.

that said, i'm obviously all about making a crazy custom axle. i'm also digging the lightweight mid size crawler. there is a class-1 rig that i have wheeled with a few times and it's a riot. sub-3000lbs, 4cyl/auto YJ, d30/d35, 33's, rear LSD, front lunchbox. class-1 only gets one locker, so he has cutting brakes to simulate a rear locker if he get's hung. works amazing. and very streetable! he'd follow me anywhere i went. obviously good skids n sliders.

the d60 stuff is SO much heavier, i can't vote for that. specially after watching guys compete against me crawling on 35's with a d30. the only time i ever broke the d44 in 16+ years was when my mindset went to "make it or break it". got a buddy doing something similar right now and we are building a new front axle for him. went thru a similar decision process and ultimately we landed on a 944 with all stock parts. i am cutting the knuckles off a ****ty d44 and having them bored open to 3" to fit a stock 9" housing. it's nice to have friends with mills to who will do that stuff free. he's going to stick to 31spline to keep a stock 9" center, and do custom inner shafts with GM chromo outers and yukon super joints. gm knuckles/spindles/brakes, but a ford 5x5.5 hub.

[nblehm]

Originally Posted by freerider15

Honestly, unless it were going under a general rec wheeler...not worth the effort.

Definitely wouldn't put the effort into it in any dedicated crawler.

I'd go RS housings and Toyota 3rd's long before that.

More I think about it, it will probably end up under my truck. Spring perches are pretty close to bolt in. Just depending on what gears are in the hp44 I can swap everything over and not really have to buy anything. It will also help my crappy front driveshaft angle.

Im still awhile out on building anything (moving etc etc) but doesnt mean I can day dream a little bit. Of course the easiest thing to do would be to slap 60s under a crawler and go with what works. That is boring to me and been there done that kind of thing. But I also want it to be reliable and durable. It will have sticky 37s and v8 power that is for sure. Dont want it to always be a trailer queen so will have some dot tires too.

Dana 44.
Pros: Cheaper to start, more ground clearance, weight savings (slight lots of aftermarket stuff
Cons: Small steering u joints, Small ball joints. Small hubs
Dana 60
Pros: Not much worry about breaking it. Aftermarket support
Cons: heavy, ground clearance, hard to find cheap
9"
pros: strong, aftermarket support, better ground clearance, light
cons: could get pretty expensive, the pinion is really low. hp is $
Toyota axles
pros: light, good aftermarket, good clearance
cons: birfields, not great turning angle, birfields.

I have thought about a 8"/60 combo, not sure what diameter the shafts are but biggest carrier for a toyota axle is 32 spline. Probably the most clearance and lightest, have hp third members. Lots of pluses there. I am fairly confident I wouldnt have problems with a hp44 gear set in the front, but have broken a bunch of dana44 u joints, that is where the thinking of the hybrid axle came from. You can also get a bunch of steering angle out of dana60 shafts (remember light and nimble). You can get 35 spline spools for a dana 44. The more I read about the jana kit the less I like it, I guess worst case you can cryo treat gears A fabricated axle would be cool, but can get expensive quick, I dont really like how low the pinion is on 9".

Part of all of this is I want to build axles, I want to chop something apart, narrow it make it something different. The 44/60 isnt for everyone for sure, I get that and I would probably be polishing a turd. Maybe thats the fun in it. I also kind of want to find a hp60 and turn it into a rear with the diff offset to make the front. Would be interesting figuring all that out.

Matt Im not really sure what hp44 I could start with and not cut up a good axle. The cast wedges axles I guess you could re tube.

[Hoofmann]

Originally Posted by freerider15

You might be surprised.

I could put together a fabbed housing with goodies for cheaper than I could my current D60.

If not going fabbed housing, just buy a super60 for cheap and be done.

I'm looking on the Ruff Stuff website and their bare housing starts at $785. You could pick up a complete D44 front end for half that. Hell, $800 and you could have a late model Super Duty front Dana 60.

You might start pointing out that you'll end up with after market gears, axles, lockers, etc. but you'll be doing the same with an after market housing, too. I don't disagree that you'll end up with something stronger and lighter with the aftermarket option, but for the money, a junkyard axle seems to be where it's at, especially for a front end, which is twice as expensive to build than a rear.

What did you pay for that HP44, Nate?

[nblehm]

Originally Posted by hoofmann

what did you pay for that hp44, nate?

350.

[nblehm]

Reading more about it. Toyota axles turn 30 degrees stock max of 35 degrees if you want to smash the felts. That is the major down side to toy axles. Everything else would be good

[6DoF]

i'm real interested to get some chromo shafts able to take 45deg and open up the d60 ... i feel like that would be crazy.

[Sir Sam]

Originally Posted by nblehm

Reading more about it. Toyota axles turn 30 degrees stock max of 35 degrees if you want to smash the felts. That is the major down side to toy axles. Everything else would be good

I’m also sick of swivel ball axles now. I want open knuckle from here on out.

[nblehm]

Im just going to put this thing in my truck. Need to verify gears and width first though. The tires fit really nice into the fenders now, wouldnt want to mess that up.

[freerider15]

Originally Posted by Hoofmann

I'm looking on the Ruff Stuff website and their bare housing starts at $785. You could pick up a complete D44 front end for half that. Hell, $800 and you could have a late model Super Duty front Dana 60.

You might start pointing out that you'll end up with after market gears, axles, lockers, etc. but you'll be doing the same with an after market housing, too. I don't disagree that you'll end up with something stronger and lighter with the aftermarket option, but for the money, a junkyard axle seems to be where it's at, especially for a front end, which is twice as expensive to build than a rear.

What did you pay for that HP44, Nate?

You're overthinking it

Believe it or not, some of the top rigs out there are running stock toyota drop in 3rds and more, just in better housings

Doing it all over again, I'm not sure I'd build the typical D60/14b combo. For what I've got into my front D60, I could likely have a portal'd front axle with the goodies.

[nblehm]

Originally Posted by freerider15

You're overthinking it

Believe it or not, some of the top rigs out there are running stock toyota drop in 3rds and more, just in better housings

Doing it all over again, I'm not sure I'd build the typical D60/14b combo. For what I've got into my front D60, I could likely have a portal'd front axle with the goodies.

how do you have so much money in a front 60. A portal axle will have all the same parts plus all the portal stuff.

[nblehm]

Well now I have this thing too.

[Cobound]

Was that sitting at the bottom of an ocean

Or sunk in the mud after the vehicle stopped moving

[Hoofmann]

Yeeee!!!

[nblehm]

Originally Posted by Cobound

Was that sitting at the bottom of an ocean

Or sunk in the mud after the vehicle stopped moving

Just outside for 2 years in the dirt

600 bucks for a high pinion kingpin 60. Not sure what i will use it for. Might sell it.

[xj_man_646]

Originally Posted by nblehm

600 bucks for a high pinion kingpin 60. Not sure what i will use it for. Might sell it.

I would flip it. Super duty axles are cheaper and the 05+ axles are better than the KP60 in nearly every way. OEM 1550 shafts are neat.