My buddy is upgrading his CJ axles and offering his dana 44 front and rear axles to me. The only cost is I need to drive my lazy butt over to tampa for the install. He said I should install front and rear, since they are the same width and have same gear ratio's.
My original plan was to wait around for a good Toy SFA to magically show up, but no such luck down here. I wanted to stay toyota for the simplicity of interchangable parts, and I know the dana's will become a headache. I've read so many threads, here and especially pirate4x4 thinking about the dana route, the good and bad, but is it worth it in the end?
Should I pass them up or give it a shot?

 

wait for a toy. Unless you plan to convert to 5-lug, cobble together steering, change your front spring width to 27.5" on center rather than 29", etc

 

for no cost?? are you kiddin...do it now!

 

those cj axles are probably shorter width than toyota axles, i wouldnt waste ur time on those unless u want to put them underneath a volkswagon beatle or a minicooper. just get a toyota axle

 

The axles are not stock CJ. We picked them up a year ago in Daytona for $100, a killer deal from some weird dudes. Pretty sure they were from a truck.

This is how I see the situation:

Buy a toy axle (not cheap down here), fits with minimal fabbing, same joints, all toyota parts etc...

Use FREE D44's, fits, but with a lot of modification, headaches with driveshafts, mixing domestic parts headaches etc...

I'm leaning towards the dana's since I already have them, and I can't find an afffordable stock Toy SFA. The 'FREE' is what's really attracting me. The money i'm not spending on buying a axle could be used to beef up the D44's. Junkyards are charging ridiculous prices around here, and i'd rather pick one up locally (than shipped from far away) so I can inspect it.

I'll probably go through with the dana's, but i'm kinda waiting for a seasoned SAS'er to chime in. What would you do given the situation?

 

If your friend has the knwoledge to hook up the steering I say go for it. Any SFA is better than an IFS Plus FREE!

 

what i would do then since you dont know what type of axles they are, i would try and get the Bill of Material# that should be on the ring gear and goto the dana site and look up what model those axles went to, so u can get the right parts for them, for all i know they could be closed knuckle from an f150 or they could be off of a wagoneer

heres some info
http://www.norcalttora.com/~dick/Dana%20Axle%20Stuff/

BOM#
http://www2.dana.com/expert/wc.dll?cvsp~Deabill~

 

sent you a PM superblue

 

Also, you should check which side the front axle differential is on. Needs to be on the passenger side.

 

if the spring pads are 31.5" on the front axle, odds are it's off of a chevy truck. If they are 32" then it's probably a dodge. Sky manufacturing makes a kit to fit a chevy passenger side front axle on a toyota. 4wheel and offroad's fred williams put this on his "clampy" toyota and absolutely loves it. There's an article on the web on the install and testing.

 

Thanks for the advice and tips guys.

I've laid off this thread for a while to do a lot of research. I'm pretty sure we're going through with this. I'm heading to Tampa tonight to go see my buddy, and get some plans down on paper. Unfortunately, my P/S is still fubared, so I'll have to take my car.

Hopefully soon I can start a build-up thread, instead of a questions thread.

*Sunday night, back home*
Well I now know they are Jeep axles from a Jeep J10. Plan so far is stock toy drivetrain, a mild lift (flanging out the srpings to fit the axle, decided to keep the length), and some big tires.

I'll be back with a buildup thread pretty soon. If my wife and I can get a house before then, hopefully this will happen sooner, but we are shooting for this summer)

 

First is their realy anything wrong with the axle in the truck now??? If not wait. But as for the Dana hold on th them build them for a later install or trading stock.