worth swapping D44

[warrior454]

presently running a GM corp 10 bolt
and have a d44 sitting in garage i was gonna swap in this weekend
any opinions whether its worth the work
thanks in advance for any advise

 

[bigyellowjimmy]

They are nearly identical in strength unless its an old 1/2 ton D44 (1st Gen) then the axle u-joints are much smaller which makes it weaker than a 10 bolt. /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif

 

[warrior454]

actually its from a 76 3/4 ton
either way there is work involved
as i jsut put a 14 bolt in the rear and now have to swap
the rotors and hardware so i have 8 bolt front and rear

 

[ugly_blazer]

If the ratios match I would swap the D44 for the 10 Bolt

 

[stallion85]

Depends, it might be faster to just swap axles than the outers. I swapped a D44 in my front.

 

[jekbrown]

dont really see the point in the swap unless it has a gear ratio or limit slip / locker that you want or something.

they are so similar in strength that its not worth the effort to swap IMO.

j

 

[smprider112]

ya but since its 3/4 it would be easier to swap it in then to pull all the stuff of it, then all the stuff off the 10b then slap all the stuff off the 3/4 ton one on the 10 B....just swap the whole thing...should be easier!!

 

[jekbrown]

ohhh, ok, I missed your post about swapping in a ff14b at the same time. Ok, sure, the D44 swap makes sense... especially if it has the cool flat-top knuckles so you can run crossover steering. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif If it doesn't have em, and the gear ratio in the d44 isn't what you need... I'd prolly go through the effort to just swap the junk you need to be 8 lug on your 10 bolt. If the gear ratios are good in the dd4... go for it.

j

 

[warrior454]

actually one of the reasons i ask is i have run 488s for years and the 14b and d44 had 373 and have already decided after a week of driving the lower ratio in the back that i hate it and thought if the strengthes were near the same i would stick with the 10b as then i would only have to get 1 set of gears ..just wanted to get the opinions of others if the d44 was stronger or not..
thanks for all that have given their ideals on the subject

 

[smprider112]

ohh ya if u allready have 4.88's in the 10B just swap the outers off the D44 to make it 8lug!!

 

[kennyw]

[ QUOTE ]
ohh ya if u allready have 4.88's in the 10B just swap the outers off the D44 to make it 8lug!!

[/ QUOTE ]

Since the 10 bolt has the gears you want, keep it and swap over the 8 lug stuff.

There are two possible ways to go about this depending on what style lockouts your Dana 44 has. Backing plates out including the outer axle shafts swapped onto the inner 10 bolt shafts if your Dana 44 is the small bearing style (external lockouts). If the dana 44 is the big bearing axle you can keep the same axleshafts and spindles on the 10 bolt without any problems and just swap the bearing hubs and backing plates...

Hang onto the flat top knuckles if you are going to go crossover and dont bother putting them on until you have them machined. You wouldnt want to take the axle apart again if you decided to machine them later, better they are sitting on a shelf ready to be machined.