D44 and 38s

[mightywhitey_k5]

How well can a Dana 44 hold up to 38" swampers?
whould i have to go cromo shafts and joints because if thats the case i would rather break by balls looking for a D60. any thing you guys may know will help, Thanks.

 

[mudhog]

for light wheeling and easy throtle it will hold up for a little while but it will eventually break. for anything over 35's you really should go dana 60 IMHO

 

[mightywhitey_k5]

yup thats what i wanted to hear and thats what i want. but GOSH i dont see them any where. I would like to buy it new but dont want to fork out over three grand to Boyce or dynatrack even though there 60 do look prety cool. But $3000 plus high steer and hopfully hydro assist is not in my budget, at least i could'nt do them all at once like i would like to.

 

[Poohbair]

I abused my D44 for 2 years w/ 38" TSL's and only broke 2 shafts... and I was not easy on it by any means... but it was also open in the front. I would say run the 44 until you find a 60 you can afford, but leave it open until then too! If you lock it up, you will break alot of stuff.

 

[mightywhitey_k5]

well i am not running a 44 now i hav a 10b i just wanted to know what direction i should go. I dont run my k5 very hard now with stock 10b's but i am working on changing all that once i get my project list all checked off. I know i am going to want to lock the front diff so i guess i prefer the 60.

 

[JDBlazer454]

I had better luck with my stock 10 bolts then I had with my d44 both under different trucks but both with 38's. Out of 5 years of heavy wheeling with the 10b only broke 1 u joint and in the 1 year of street driving on the d44 had all sorts for wheel bearing issues and 1 broken u joint after one time in the mud. Still after owning a d60, d44, & a 10b I would risk breaking a dozen cheaper front ends rather then paying thousands for a d60 Just my 2 cents.

 

[bigrollin76]

my friends runnin a d44 with 38"s lock and he's broken two axels and a hub bu thats cause he's a dumb ass. anyways d44's are all over junk yards you could probably pick one up for a few hundred bucks and it will last you till you can sve up for d60. or just run smaller tires until you can afford the 60. but definetly get rid of the 10 bolt. hope my opinion helps.

 

[Hossbaby50]

Get rid of a 10 bolt front? Do you realize a 10 bolt front and a D44 front are basically the same strength wise? 10 bolt parts also tend to be cheaper and more available then D44 stuff.

Harley

 

[tRustyK5]

Yeah, I'd wheel an open 10 bolt or D44 with 38's while I saved and searched for a D60. They can and do take a fair amount of abuse when not locked...


Rene

 

[AkMudr]

Only differnce between a 10b and a D44 is the axle tube thickness and inner shaft spline count, everything else in the same. You wouldnt gain anything by swapping. Save yer $$ for a D60 and not waste it upgrading to chromo shafts. Run some spicer 5-760's and call it done.

I wheel somewhat hard when I do get out wheeling and Ive only snapped a ujoint, which I hadnt changed since I got the truck so it was somehwat expected.

 

[skelly1]

yup thats what i wanted to hear and thats what i want. but GOSH i dont see them any where. I would like to buy it new but dont want to fork out over three grand to Boyce or dynatrack even though there 60 do look prety cool. But $3000 plus high steer and hopfully hydro assist is not in my budget, at least i could'nt do them all at once like i would like to.

Looks like Boyce is right about 3100 for a front D60 with a detroit. More or less depending on what you want with it. Does that come complete with new brakes too? How about shipping? Is dynatrac more or less than boyce? Is one better than the other?

 

[AkMudr]

I'd say save yer money and find a local D60 to rebuild. You'll save alot more $$ in the long run. If you look hard enough you can even find them ready-to-run for 12-1400 or less

 

[skelly1]

Any idea how much money one would save by getting a used one, new upgraded parts, and paying somebody to build it? Are we talking a couple hundred or a couple thousand bucks?

 

[AkMudr]

Yer in CA, I'd imagine theres alot of D60's to be had there with the amount of crawlers there. The amount you pay to rebuild one comes hand in hand with what kind of condition its in. With a good D60 manual you could rebuild it yerself, maybe get someone to setup the gears but everything else is pretty straight forward. I have seen guys get readytorun d60's for $1k and they had ti change the calipers and seals maybe, that doesn tset you back much.

Theres actually a guy on Pirate with D60's for about $850, I cant remember where hes from but fro some reason southern CA comes to mind. I'll get you mor einfo when I get home..Pirate is blocked from work lol

Sorry to get off topic. lol.

 

[skelly1]

Thanks man. I'll check out pirate too. Websense sucks.

 

[Z3PR]

yup thats what i wanted to hear and thats what i want. but GOSH i dont see them any where. I would like to buy it new but dont want to fork out over three grand to Boyce or dynatrack even though there 60 do look prety cool. But $3000 plus high steer and hopfully hydro assist is not in my budget, at least i could'nt do them all at once like i would like to.

You can also use a Dodge Dana 60 front.

 

[AkMudr]

I found 3 D60's in Ohio, All under $800, complete on Pirate.

 

[supersize75k5]

just run it till it dies!!!!!!!!

hehe I like to get stupid on mine, I'll jump em, bash em, twist um and throttle them till they puke..much cheaper then d-60 parts..

when you get sick of ball joints and you think you are at your wits end with death wobble, swap in a 60...then discover the world of 1 ton death wobble!

I had a 60 but sold it before I got the enjoyment of breaking anything


just carry spares and enjoy, when you start having to replace knuckles or start breaking axel housings..get a 60 and build it your self, or buy one some other sucker already dropped his $$$ in