71 d44 shaft??PIX!!!

[down4thakrown]

i got this shaft which i believe came from a 71 d44 maybe drum setup. but not to positive bout the year ethier. i bought back a while ago and it didnt work on the truck.but cant remember why. i think the outter shaft wheelbearinng seall is differant or somthing with the outter shaft but splines fit. could i just swap out outers shaft??? it has a 30 spline inner/ 19 spline outer, shorty. i might of boght it on here a while back but not sure was a couple years ago. totally forgot i had it.

 

[down4thakrown]

its goin into a 77 d44??? are the ujoints the same?? what about inner seals??

 

[LVJimmy]

Check the length

According to the Dana website the 1970 (drum) used a different axle shaft than latter D44's

 

[down4thakrown]

that sux, but im not sure if even came outta a drum set up. i tried goin through my pm's to see if i bought it off here but couldnt come up with anything. do u have a link to the site?? does it give a spline count??

 

[LVJimmy]

D44

Same spline count. I'll see about the link

 

[LVJimmy]

d44

http://www2.dana.com/pdf/X510-8.PDF

 

[down4thakrown]

i wonder if the inner seal is the same???? if it is i think it will work...

 

[Beast388]

Here are a few pics if a '71(disk brakes) and a '77 D44 axles. The ones you show in your pics look like they could be from a disk brake axle......not sure.

The thicker axle with the painted yoke is the '77. You can see that the seal surfaces on the axle are different and the seal on the end of the spindle is different as well.

Don't forget that the older axle has the small 260x u-joints and your '77 axles have the 297x u-joints.

 

[down4thakrown]

thats funny the outter is still differant??? if some one could can u take some calipers and measure the where the inner axle seal rides and post it. the one i have is 1 5/16" thx

 

[JDNobodi]

I was able to put the later model axles in an early model housing that had drum brakes. I had to change the inter seals and swap out to the knuckles out to put modern brakes and axle shafts on it.
The reason why I did that because I blew out a 78 Dana 44, and found the early housing (69 I think) with 4.56 gears and a power lock. So I took all the brakes and axles and put in the early axle so I didn't have set up the ring and pinion. I still had to pull carrier to put the new seals in.

It work out for the best because the axle and seals are what different, and you can't get seals for the early axles, but the later seals will fit the housings therefore the later and better axles shafts.

That early model axle shaft is now just a paper weight, and you didn't have the pleasure to blow it up.