Hey guys, I have an 88' toyota pickup I am doing a sas with. It is a single cab with a chevy 4.3 under the hood. I am putting a dana 44 in the front and a gm 10 bolt in the rear. It has 35 14 15 ground hawgs (I think) on it. I am putting leaf springs front and rear. It will have hydraulic assisted xover steering. I was just wondering if you guys had any suggestions as far as steps to take to make sure it handles ok on the road when its all said and done. Im not wanting to daily drive it or anything. Just want to get back and forth between home and trails without having to fight it the whole way. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! thanks guys

 

You guys make me feel like my posts are completely retarted lol

 

I dd my sas front and rear leafs on 35 x 12.5 with no issue you should been fine as well if you have the 4.3 tranny/rearend set up worked

 

sweat deal thanks for the input

 

make sure the bushings in the front springs are good as well as they fit tight in the hanger and shackle ... this will help eliminate death wobble

 

ok I just hope it drives better than my 4runner... it is a nightmare... ifs with a huge balljoint lift and 4" lift coils on the rear with no panhard drop sucks... (I couldnt get the bolt out of the panhard bar)

 

If you use the d44 as is you will probably have a messed up pinion or caster angle.The 44 has one perch cast into the houseing.You can grind it down and reweld the other side to get desired pinion angle,but this will mess up your caster.At this point,you have to turn the c's to get your caster back.

 

Don't worry, its not pirate... as mentioned. Make sure your bushings are good. Also, you could work in a sway bar if need be.. good luck.

 

I would do a bigger rear end if i were you. not that will affect drivability now.
and some other tires but ground hawgs will do you good.
But i drove with 35x15.5 boggers on my daily driver for awhile.

Get an alignment.
Make sure all your bushings are good like mentioned.

 

I agree about the 10 bolt.Lots of people say the 10 bolt is almost the same as the dana 44.For some reason the 10 bolts bust stuff up in the center section way before the d 44.I had a 10 bolt for mine and decided not to use it for this exact reason, and kept the stock rear axle.

 

yeah. i mean especially for how cheap you can pick up a dana 60 or 14 bolt rear end.

I think they are a much weaker link than the d44.

 

If the 10 bolt came from the same rig as the dana 44,that means they are both 6 lug,meaning the wheels he has will fit.It is possible though to find 6 lug 60's and 14 bolts.I figured on mine, that the stock axle was a good match for the front dana 44 (strength wise).Instead of messing with the rear (being poor),and haveing lots of time,I narrowed the dana 44 to match the yota axle.This is a great time to adjust the pinion and caster angle.Caster is a major factor in driveability.I would sell the 10 bolt and spend the cash on cutting and splineing the inner shaft (shafts) for the 44.

 

Well a few updates... The front is actually a 10 bolt front? I didn't know this until yesterday. An I will be switching from the groundhogs, most likely to 35 1250 15 tsl bias swampers. (I know bias are a little rougher on the road but I love them so much more than radials on the trail) You guys really think the 10 bolts have alot of internal issues? I figured they would do fine. I don't think i'd ever have over 300 horse with my 4.3 My biggest thing is finding a flat top pass side knuckle to get my xover high steer to work. If the 10 bolts are so bad, I might choose to hunt down a d60 for the front. It would make the high steer easier... as all (i think) dana 60 knuckles can accept a high steer arm

 

They arent necessarily bad. Just not a sought after rear end.

 

Both the 10 bolt and 60 will accept the d44 passanger knuckle.With the 60 you will have to get custom stub shafts,I believe.Also,this thread is about driveability.With the 60 you will still have to address the caster issue.Im not sure if it is as easy to turn the c's on the 10 bolt,as I have never done it.But turning the c's on yhe 60 is exactly the same as doing a 44.

 

I wouldn't want the d44 knuckle with the d60? The dana 60s can accepts high steer arms stock? what would be the benifit of the d44 knuckle. Your saying I should turn the cs just because they are like 10 degrees off? That will make a big difference in driveability? Because I have never heard of anyone around here turning the cs...

 

The reason for useing the 44 nuckle is so you can keep it 6 lug.You want around 7 degrees caster.When I mounted my axle with my springs useing the factory cast in perch angle,I got 1 degree +caster, bad for steering.Then when I adjusted the perches 2 degrees for pinion angle,that put me at + 3 on the caster, super bad.Yea I had to turn my c's almost exactly 10 degrees to get a 2 degree pinion angle with 7 degrees -caster.perfect.Lots of work but it works flawless.

 

Ah well if its too much trouble to keep 6 lug I would be fine with it being 8. I have lots of friends with Chevys lol. I will definately work on getting the caster angle set up right. Thanks for your advice!!!

 

This is what I do for a liveing.I have a 44, sitting on my bench just for you.lol Or I could just post pics of how to set it up.Note to make it perfect for your truck with your springs I will need the truck.

 

Well I don't think I wanna trailor my truck to washington lol. But do you have any flat top pass side knuckles laying around by chance?