i have a question about a purchase i might make. someone offered me a complete dana 44 with 3.4....something gears for 700. now i have yet to look at it; but it's a trusted friend that claims it's in good condition and has all the necessary brackets and essentials to bolt my brakes on and go.

i'm doing a major drivetrain swap and i'm worried ( i know ) that my stock rear won't hold.

where can i go to find more information about such a thing so i know what to look for?

are these good rearends for street/strip applications more street than anything?

it seems like a decent price but i have no idea whatsoever. i do know that to go with a 9" setup for everything i would need i was told roughly 2,000 even so this seems like a great and cheap way around it.

what do you guys think? by the way i'm looking at a 600/600 at the wheels area so it must be strong.

 

if its the real deal id buy 10 of them for that price, definitely get it!
actually now that i think about it u better just let me get it so i can test it out for ya seriously though im pretty sure those rears came in the 89 TTA`s and probably some of Slps firehawks, im not sure what kind of power that rear is capable of handling but i know its a whole lot more than the 9 or 10 bolts. For that price you cant go wrong either way.

 

dana 44's are right up there with 9" and 12 bolts...they're stout ****'s, not sure about parasitic loss in'em (12 bolt is more efficient than a 9", but a 9" can take a slight amount more power than a 12 bolt)...if you pass it up, i want his number, i'll buy it in two seconds, cash.

 

I have dana 44 in my car. The Dana has a 8.5 ring gear with 30 spline non c-clip axles. The bolt pattern for the brakes is the same as a 10 bolt and you will need a new U-joint to go to the 1310 yoke on the front of it.

One of the good points is ring and pinion kits with bearings and install kit is $175.00 The factory Trac-Loc posi is $ 215.00

The dana was only in Firehawks.

Jerry

 

One more thing you can get lots of gear sets for them.

2.72, 2.87, 3.00, 3.07, 3.23, 3.31, 3.42, 3.45, 3.54, 3.55, 3.73, 3.92, 4.09, 4.10, 4.11, 4.27, 4.33, 4.55, 4.56, 4.78, 4.89, 5.13, 5.38, and even 5.89.

Jerry

 

if you want to know all about dana 44s all you have to do is look at 4x4 jeep sites they love to use them in there mud machines and rock crawlers.

 

Jeff,
To make sure it's the real deal look for the torque arm mount cast into the housing. If it has a fabbed up torque arm mount system then it is a converted Dana 44 from a truck, Jeep, etc. in which case you better check the axle width (among other things) to be sure its correct for our cars. Did your friend actually have it installed and operating in a 3rd gen Camaro or Firebird?

To the best of my knowledge all the GM/SLP Dana 44's (true bolt in) for 3rd gen f-bodies came with 3.54 gears as originals so this may be an indication it is not 'the real deal'.....then again gears can and are changed so..... hehehe

Best advice.....look for the cast in torque arm mount. If it is there then you got yourself a gem!

Mike

 

anyone know where i can find a picture to know what to look for in this cast mount problem?

what do these things go for typically on the market...you guys seem to make it sound like it's a deal so i think i should definately look into it.

i know i'm only getting it cheaper because of some of the work i do for the guy so it has it's ups and downs, but if it saves me from paying 2,000+ for a new 9 then i'm happy.

sorry for my ignorance, i appreciate all the suggestions and any helpful hints you can give me.

so far i should look for:

1. no fabbed up torque arm mount.

2. check for 3.54 gear...if not it isn't to big of a deal

3. ?

will these bolt up relatively easy or do i have to modify my chasis?

 

Here is a picture of one torn down. It shows the cast in torque arm mount and all the necessary spring, panhard, shock and LCA mounts to be a direct bolt in to a 3rd gen F-body. You can also partially see the differential cover (10 bolt cover) behind the axles.

This is the real McCoy!

BTW....this one was on eBay over a year ago and if I remember correctly one of the stipulations was it was bent. You can see how the axle tubes are not straight across from each other. Anyhow I think it still fetched over $500!

Mike

 

If it's the real deal it will all just bolt up, as long as you have a 10 bolt brake setup to put on it.

 

i have the stock rear........is that a 10 bolt?

i know nothing about this part of the car so i appreciate all the help.

i was told it's for a 3rdgen specifically, it's in good shape, and will bolt up no problem. it already has brakes on it. i was told if i wanted to that my brakes would bolt up easily.

 

It is out of a 93 corvette, 3.45s right now but I think I will put 3.77s in it when I get it rebuilt.

 

Jeff,
Your '91 will have a 10 bolt for sure unless some one at some time before you owned it changed it out for a 9 bolt. If you don't know then get under the car and count the number of bolts in the differential cover.....9 or 10.

The picture I posted is the GM/SLP Dana 44 that directly bolts into the 3rd gen F-body. If the one your looking at buying is identical (less the tear down and bent axle housing....LOL!) then your getting one hell of a deal......believe me! I take it you have not seen this Dana 44 your talking about? The one Trux posted is an independant suspension setup and will require some timely and skillful fabrication techniques to get it to fit and work in an F-body.

Mike

 

thanks mike!


i'm going to look at her monday morning....i hope it works out well as that will save me alot of money and headache!

 

Here is a picture of what the differential looks like... $700 is a good deal.

 

thanks for the picture!