CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

Dana 44 front axle 8 lug ID ?

eagle mark

1/2 ton status
- In Memoriam -
Joined
Nov 18, 2004
Posts
3,287
Reaction score
5
Location
North Idaho!
Looking for ways to ID the 3/4 front end I have for caster pinion angle specifacations and parts ordering.

It's been traded around but here's what I think I know...:deal:

Dana 44, 4;10 gears, Lincoln locker, flat tops all drilled, broken inner and outer axle, no hubs, some poorly welded brackets removed (not factory) shock mounts welded to knuckle...

dana44.jpg
 
Thanks but I have all the brake parts and there in good shape. Everthing looks good except the broken axle. :-(
 
eagle mark said:
Thanks but I have all the brake parts and there in good shape. Everthing looks good except the broken axle. :-(



Front axle Lincoln Locker = BROKEN AXLES SHAFTS

I would at least swap the carrier out for something that won't break your new axles.
 
divorced said:
Front axle Lincoln Locker = BROKEN AXLES SHAFTS

I would at least swap the carrier out for something that won't break your new axles.
It's coming out while I go through the axle. May go Lock rite.

hmmm . . . chuck it and buy mine. :D out of a 73 or 74 chevy 410s complete rotors, calipers, etc.
So do you think this is 73 74 as well or just yours? Ultimately I'm tring to see what camber this has and if I should twist it also while it's out getting a rebuild...
 
No it's not a Scout Axle. I know them. :D


Someone told me the Chevy 3/4 ton Dana 44 front axle has two differant axles. One with a lot of castor and one with a little. Don't know what I have or if maybe I should find another?
 
I've had 6 lug and 8 lug 44's and never noticed a difference.... But a good way for you to find out what you have is to clean the axle tubes and find the BOM stamping. I think it should be off to the drivers side of the pumpkin. :thumb:
 
All the open knuckle disc brake GM 1/2 or 3/4 ton front Dana 44's I've ever had or seen were all the same with the exception of some spindle changes, knuckles and some outer stuff (but the housings all are basically the same... I think pre-'77 housings had a slightly smaller axle tube diameter). From the early '70's up to '80. Should be a date code stamped on the ring gear, which will at list tell you the year and month it was made (assuming thats the original ring gear). What sort of 8-lug hubs were on it? The necked down internal style? Or the 6-bolt external style ("big hub").
 
Emmettology 101 said:
I've had 6 lug and 8 lug 44's and never noticed a difference.... But a good way for you to find out what you have is to clean the axle tubes and find the BOM stamping. I think it should be off to the drivers side of the pumpkin. :thumb:
Usaully on the front too! But not there, still cleaning other areas.

All the open knuckle disc brake GM 1/2 or 3/4 ton front Dana 44's I've ever had or seen were all the same with the exception of some spindle changes, knuckles and some outer stuff (but the housings all are basically the same... I think pre-'77 housings had a slightly smaller axle tube diameter). From the early '70's up to '80. Should be a date code stamped on the ring gear, which will at list tell you the year and month it was made (assuming thats the original ring gear). What sort of 8-lug hubs were on it? The necked down internal style? Or the 6-bolt external style ("big hub").
I'm not fimilar with these at all to know but I do have a picture! One knuckle has been drilled for couple differant spindles? One has not...

3-4-disk.jpg

knuckle-holes.jpg
 
Those are the external style hub assemblies. I would guess that if those are the factory backing plates and hub assemblies, that the axle is a 1976 or earlier GM Dana 44. In '77, they went to the necked down internal style hub assembly (so that both 1/2 ton and 3/4 tons used the same locking hub) and they changed to the full-round one piece steel backing plate. Yours is the style that would have had a tin dust shield spot welded to the backing plate. Did you get the locking hubs themselves too?

I wonder what kind of spindles they were trying to bolt on to those knuckles. I'm assuming that you'll be swapping the outers to a 5 on 5.5" pattern? Or are you going to 8-lug in the rear as well?
 
the old ih axles used a 8 stud setup and thats what it looks like thay tryed to do. and those backing plates are 10 bolt style but will work.
 
I was thinking the IH pattern as well, I have a IH spindle here somewhere I'll try to line up.

Trying to figure out if this whole set up is worth rebuilding and using.It was assembled and has new pads with the groves from the rotor already. But when I got it, no hubs and broken inner and outer.

I wonder what kind of spindles they were trying to bolt on to those knuckles. I'm assuming that you'll be swapping the outers to a 5 on 5.5" pattern? Or are you going to 8-lug in the rear as well?
Dana 60 :D ! Look fimilar? Mr Dana 60 dude!

And a set of Hummer wheels, check out the high steer!

high-steer-arm-hummer-wheel.jpg

dana-60.jpg
 
Last edited:
The backing plates are the pre-77 style Dana 44 ones that he has. Then they began using the full one piece backing plates in '77 and up to the mid 80's on 44's (through '80) and 10-bolts (through '87/'91). Then somewhere in the mid-late '80s, 10-bolts began using backing plates that were similar to the old Dana 44 ones... with a lighter tin dust shield attached to a backing plate that wasn't fully round.
 
Yes eight lug Hummer wheels all around. Probably a 36 Swamper...

I wanted the open disc brakes. A freind had the newer style you mentioned with the full backing plate and his brakes got hot and stayed there, inside the Hummer wheel. I'm going to use the PVC pipe machined to fit as the inner bead lock, not the big run flat inner. Double bead lock...

rock-flex.jpg


The wheels are off this truck.
 
eagle mark said:
No it's not a Scout Axle. I know them. :D


Someone told me the Chevy 3/4 ton Dana 44 front axle has two differant axles. One with a lot of castor and one with a little. Don't know what I have or if maybe I should find another?

I meant goin under the scout not scout axles.
No one has the castor&camber specs.
Thanks
 
Yes they are going under my Scout II.

Just got done with a TBI conversion with IH/GM distributor. Full cage going in right now. Then the axle swap.

So it looks like these hubs are going to be harder to find. Are they a good hub?

Are the axles still the same or are they specific to the external style hubs?
 
Top Bottom