blakbird89

I'd like to upgrade my rear end from the 10 bolt to a Dana 44. I should mention that I've been doing quite a bit of research on rear end options, and I'm well aware of the aftermarket route for a rear end upgrade because I know that's the first thing that will be said, but I don't mind the challenge of the inevitable fabrication. Plus I'd also like to keep along the historic lines of having one of these rear ends specifically as they were offered as a dealer upgrade. Of course I also know that a thirdgen specific D44 is next to impossible to find which brings me to my questions: Has anyone done this swap before, and what would be a good vehicle to pull a D44 from that would be the same width/offset that might work?

big gear head

Fabricating a torque arm bracket that will hold up is the most difficult part of a rear end swap in these cars. The center casting is made of cast iron which is very difficult to weld correctly. Anything that you try to weld to the center casting is most likely going to break off when put under stress. You can use some type of after market suspension, such as ladder bars or a 4 link, but this will require floor modifications. The 9 inch Ford or 8 3/4 Chrysler rear ends are easier to swap because the housing is all mild steel and much easier to weld.

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

I've been being harassed by a Dana 44HD aluminum case, in a Cheep, a 97 Bland Cherokee specifically, for the last couple of weeks. What a total PITA getting parts (well, the RIGHT parts, anyway... had to physically GO TO Ratech to get some of them). But, maybe easier to fab up something to attach to an aluminum center section, than a cast-iron one. I don't know about any of that myself.

skinny z

You may have seen this.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/engi...00r4-full.html

It would be a royal pain to fab up something to attach the torque arm(as has been mentioned).

skinny z

Is that for an independent front or rear suspension? I'm not too familiar with Jeep parts.
I've been sourcing my Dana parts from Drive Train Specialists (DTS) in Michigan although I've never seen anything pertaining to an aluminum housing.

http://www.drivetrainspecialists.com.../dana/dana-44/

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

It's a regular solid-axle setup; 4 parallel links, plus a Panhard bar. Uses C-clips. Aluminum center section, steel tubes. No idea why somebody thought it was "A Good Idea" to do that, but hey, there it is...

Go here http://www.4wheelparts.com/AxleBuilder.aspx and start entering the above vehicle, you'll see what it comes up with.

skinny z

Hmm. Interesting. I'm not sure I see the point either. I also see that you mention c-clips were in my Dana 44 there are none.
You learn something every day.

skinny z

Didn't mean to steal your thread but thanks.
I can't say I've seen any Dana 44 swaps other than the 3rd gen specific rear axle and one IRS from a Vette (which was also D44). I HAVE seen several other swaps though. Mostly 9" Fords and a 12 bolt and they all involves a 4-link style suspension and the torque arm and it's requisite mount isn't used.

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

Well here's a pic... not the greatest in the world, but for just walking out there and snapping it with a phone, it'll have to do.

You can pretty clearly see that the tubes are rusty and the center is not, and that the center is some kind of silvery looking metal instead of cast iron.

I can most definitely assure you, I had to remove C-clips to get the axles out, and they slid RIGHT OUT as such axles do, and the bearings are the usual C-clip style. In fact some goob had been there before me, and had broke off the little screw in the cross shaft, and I had to drill into the end of the cross shaft to hold the remains of the screw still so I could drill the last thread or 2 off the end of it, to get it apart. And THEN, after ALL THAT, turned out the carrier is fornicated; the bearing on the ring gear side was farkled, and had been spinning both in the housing and on the carrier, and the carrier is now over .002" too small for a new bearing to fit tight on it like it's supposed to, so it's carrier time. Yuck.

I'm not a welder and don't know much about it, but "they" all say aluminum is easy to weld, with the right eqpt; so maybe this would be a swap candidate. Not something I really know about one way or the other. But the Bland Cherokee being a REAL SMALL vehicle, MUCH smaller than it "looks" like, I'd be afraid that it's too narrow. But I'm entirely too lazy to measure it at this point.

abray1

Go to autoweldchassis.com and see how they made there torque arm attatch to the ford 9 housing. It mounts to the very top and the very bottom not like the factory bracket style in the middle of the housing. If you are going to make a bracket you might could purchase there torque arm and adapt it to your project. I have there ford 9 rear kit and it is the best design I have seen. Look at there website and you will see what I mean. The aluminum housing makes the welding part of it much easier but that also adds the possibility of warpage. I looked for a dana 44 and after a year I went ford 9 from autoweld and couldn't be happier. A dana 44 from a 89-96 six speed vette IRS would be a fun mod and would have the same brakes as the 89-92 camaros came factory with.

blakbird89

It looks like Atilla figured out a way to mount a torque arm without welding to the housing: https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tran...-60-under.html Granted this was on a Dana 60 but the principle should still apply right? If so, I may have found the perfect candidate:
-D44 from a 98+ Isuzu Rodeo/Amigo
-63" wms to wms
-stock disk brakes
- Trac-Loc
not to mention it's supposed to be stronger than a regular D44 as it used a larger ring and pinion!

And yes a C4 IRS would be sweet. but I read the thread on it and while I like a little bit of fabrication, that's waaaaaay to much for me!

big gear head

As far as I know all Dana 44s use a 8.5 inch ring gear. I've been wrong before, but someone is going to have to prove this one to me.

sailtexas186548

iTrader: (2)

there is a regular d44, and an hd-d44 (heavy duty)

the hd version uses a dana 60 pinion, not sure if its a bigger ring gear as well. the only place I have heard of the hd's being is in the higher end c4 corvettes

blakbird89

From what I've read the Isuzu D44 doesn't use a standard dana/spicer gear and it looks beefier than a normal D44. Check out post #5: http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/isuzu...a-44-axle.html

blakbird89

This is a pic of an Isuzu D44 rear end, which I shopped to show the torque arm mount. I'm taking some cues from customblackbird's mount which I attached for comparison. Although it's not drawn in (I got lazy in my drawing lol) there will be a matching piece underneath where it's mounted to the webbing that will be welded to the piece that goes around the snout (also not drawn in) Plus there will be reinforcements inside the 3 sided rectangular piece. Shagwell had mentioned in that thread that it would provide good strength to bolt through the housing and I don't think I'd be hitting any internal parts by putting 3 bolts through the side as shown, but I could be wrong... constructive criticism/feedback is definitely welcome!