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dana 44 highsteer?

bigbadchev84

bigbadchev84

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i am looking into going crossover on my 44 and have read that if you get a flat top pass side knuckle, you need the drivers also because of the tierod, what if i go highsteer? can i just get the pass knuckle and be fine? i am running 8" springs in the front and 1" zero rate, i am considering some 52s up front in the future in the 2-4" lift range to keep this thing big and possibly some 64s in the back, will either of these spring combos work with highsteer?
 
With the zero rates, you might have problems with the highsteer unless you get tall arms. And for highsteer, the passenger knuckle will be fine as long as its out of a chevy.
 
would some 10-12" springs minus the zero rate be ok? i have several different options im trying to explore right now, just want to get some info before the $$$ goes out the door
 
bigbadchev84 said:
i am looking into going crossover on my 44 and have read that if you get a flat top pass side knuckle, you need the drivers also because of the tierod, what if i go highsteer? can i just get the pass knuckle and be fine? i am running 8" springs in the front and 1" zero rate, i am considering some 52s up front in the future in the 2-4" lift range to keep this thing big and possibly some 64s in the back, will either of these spring combos work with highsteer?
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Highsteer is possible on D44's, but you'd have to do crossover at the same time to get the arms that high, i.e. above the knuckles. May as well do crossover since all you'd need would the draglink and steering arm, and if you're that high, push-pull is gonna suck anyway.

8" springs is a lot of lift to be running, be crazy to go any higher ... what kinda tires are you running on a D44 to need that kind of lift?

When you go 52"'s you'll HAVE to go crossover, btw, so then highsteer is an easy option. I did it -- admittedly with a hell of a lot less lift, i.e. stock 52"s on custom hangers for ~4-5" lift.

-- A
 
i wouldnt do highsteer on a 44 with big tires/ fullsize rig. its just asking too much of the knuckles...thats alot of stress...
 
your 44 knuckle isnt already a flat top? i thought most 44's were flat tops and it was the 10 bolts that werent?
 
79k20350 said:
your 44 knuckle isnt already a flat top? i thought most 44's were flat tops and it was the 10 bolts that werent?
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No 10-bolts are, that's correct.

D44's through ~'75-76 (for Chebbies, donno 'bout Heeps, Dodges, Frrds) are flattop. My '74 had flat-tops and my '77 doesn't. 10-bolts didn't happen until what, '79ish, so there are a bunch of later D44's with the not-flat-top knuckles.

-- A
 
Do lowsteer crossover. Highsteer puts alot of extra pressure on the balljoints and upper area of the steering knuckle. With 39.5s and hard wheeling it will probably just lead to problems. I would keep the tierod low and beefy honestly.

Harley
 
bigbadchev84 said:
it seems like everyone has a pass side flat top but the drivers is hardly ever mentioned
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Cause all drivers side knuckles are flat top.

And dont get those arm on ebay, you need the arms with the camber correction built in.
 
Hossbaby50 said:
Do lowsteer crossover. Highsteer puts alot of extra pressure on the balljoints and upper area of the steering knuckle. With 39.5s and hard wheeling it will probably just lead to problems. I would keep the tierod low and beefy honestly.

Harley
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I would agree, I kept low crossover and went 1.5 3/8 wall DOM tubing and it is BEEF. With the flat-top knuckles, your tie rod will stay high anyways (because they come in from the top), I had to get zero rates for my springs to clear my tie rod it was so high.

DSC00856.JPG
 
Some 10 bolts came with the knuckle that comes in from the top, you just have to look around. Or get a set off an older D44. One problem you will have if you run spacer on your crossover steering arm is you will break the studs that hold it in place. Its really not a big deal since you usually break them one at a time just have extra studs handy so you can switch them out for the drive home
 
Get a full set driver and passenger side knuckles from a flattop D44. Put new balljoints in them and install them. Your tierod will be top mounted and with a beefy tierod you should never have a problem with bending tierods unless you are doing some uber crazy **** in which case you will destroy the D44 anyway.

DO NOT use steering arm spacers. You can get taller steering arms from Sky Manufacturing and other companies that will have the spacer built in. I ran a spacer and I snapped steering studs and stretched Grade 9 (not 8) bolts. I now run a tall steering arm and no problems at all.

Harley
 
Hossbaby50 said:
Do lowsteer crossover. Highsteer puts alot of extra pressure on the balljoints and upper area of the steering knuckle. With 39.5s and hard wheeling it will probably just lead to problems. I would keep the tierod low and beefy honestly.

Harley
Click to expand...

Amen.
 
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