I have a dana 44 that was made to fit in a third gen f-body im wondering how much abuse can these take it has no c-clips thick axles and a 8.5 ring gear. This thing looks pretty stout. Does any body have any expirance with one of these and do they hold up well.

 

It was never offered in a production third gen. The SLP Firehawks used them and GM offered the diff from the GMPP catalog.

Yes it has an 8.5" ring gear which is very strong. That's similar to the larger 10 bolt diffs. The bolt in axles means there's no c-clips to worry about similar to a 9 bolt or the ford 9".

Personally, I doubt you could break one for a long time compaired to the tiny 10 bolts under so many third gens. This is the ultimate diff for the third gens that was offered by GM. The only step up from the Dana 44 would be a 12 bolt (only slightly stronger) or a Ford 9".

The Dana 44 is a popular 4x4 diff so there's a big aftermarket source of parts.

 

well a have a 89 iroc with a gm performance parts 454 ho rated at 425hp over the winter i added a single plane intake and a big shot of nitous going to spray 200hp. On motor the car runs 11.80's i figured it would run in the tens on the n20. Well i have a choice of the dana 44 or a 9 inch i bought off a friend. I would rather run the dana 44 over the 9 inch. The car will be on a drag radial do you think that this will be pushing the limit of the dana 44

 

if you have both rear ends i would sell the dana 44 and pocket the money rather than chance breaking it. Especially since you said you had a ford 9" rear end as well. The Dana 44 rear ends sell for 800 to a grand easily. I've used a lot of Dana 44s in fullsize chevy off road rigs and break them just as often as the 8.5" ten bolt axles, so I'd push the 9" for better durability at the cost of a little more weight.

 

Is the 9 inch set up for a thirdgen though?

 

thanks for the replys the 9 inch is in the car now just got done bolting it in. Im thinking about selling the 9 inch to run the dana 44. My car is a cruise night slash occaisonal trip down the track type car I torn bewteen which one to part with. The reason IM pushing towards the dana is ive have a set 5.5 backspacing pro stars and the 9 inch is set up for a wheel with 4 1/2 backspacing and also would have to change gear ratio in 9 inch The dana has a perfect gear for me a 3.54 the 9 inch has a 4.30 just weighing the pros and cons of each

 

The Dana 44 is a very strong axle. The Ford 9 inch is stronger, but it absorbs more power than the Dana 44.

 

so figure $1000 for a nice dana 44 vs. $2000 for a 9"...

i got a built 10 bolt, but i know thats gonna go, id like to upgrade to something that will take a bit more of my abuse.

 

also a ford 9 inch will eat up roughly 3 percent mor ehp than a dana or a 10 bolt,so you loose there,also you add about 80-90 with a 9 inch,.again going backwards arent we???loosing power and adding weight???..i got a daana 44 and keeping it.its all redone.the guy who had it befor eme ran a big block in the 9s w/o a problem so i think youll be able to

 

i saw a car mag run a ford 9", chevy 12 bolt, and dana 60 on the same car and it ran within .1 of each different rear end in the quarter with the same gearing. So I don't know if I believe the 9" uses more power than a 12 bolt or if it's even a marginal change.

 

all of those rears would eat up more power than the 10 bolt or a 44....PLUS YOU ARE TALKING MARGINAL LOSSES BUT IF YOUR ARE LOOKING FOR EVERY ADVANTAGE WHY GIVE IT AWAY BUT RUNNING A REAR YOU DONT NEED.PLUS FORD REARS SOMETIMES HAS DRIVESHAFT ALIGNMENT PROBLEMS DUE TO THE LOWER PINION EAR SET UP AND SOMETIME THE BIGGER REARS HAVE CLEARANCE ISSUES ON THE FLOOR PANS