dana 44 search begins...
 

I decided I am gonna do an SAS, and have started to look for a d44 waggy axle.

any pointers, or help from you guys who have sas'd before would be MUCH appreciated! (Watrd, 44runner...)

p.s. I started combing some jeep forums, but haven't found any yet. where did you guys get yours?

check local junkyards. i've found about three d44's around here that'll work. :hillbill:

does anyone know what other D44's will work? like Chevy's?

Driver's side drop any rig in the 60" ish WMS to WMS range

Wagoneers from the 80's are a good place.

Could go fancy and look for a hi-pinion off a 70's Ford, but that would need to be cut down.

You have a 3rd gen 4Runner?

If so, the only axle that will work for you without modification (or very little modification) is a Dana 44 off of a 1980's model full size Jeep Wagoneer. You need one without the vacuum disconnect. There will be a large saucer shaped vacuum motor on the diff cover for these axles. They should be easy to avoid. A lot of these axles are full time AWD axles which is fine as they are very easily converted to part time.

Just look for one of these in the junk yard:
http://www.cfsja.org/rigs/jerry/jerrywagmain.jpg
You will know it is good if it has a driver's side diff and doesn't have the vacuum motor.

Make sure it has everything you need on it and put a straight edge on the tubes to make sure it isn't tweaked before you fork over the money for it. Don't worry about the steering (tie rod and drag link) as you won't be using that anyways.

Keep in mind that you will basically only be keeping the housing, spindles, hub bodies, caliper brackets, and diff cover. The diff, gears, pinion yoke, bearings, knuckles, ball joints, rotors, and calipers will all be replaced while building the axle up.

Make sure it has a set of calipers on it when you buy it because you will need them for your core charge. If it doesn't have a set, then you need to have the yard take some off the price.

For a complete axle as described above, pay *NO MORE* then 200 bucks. You should be able to pick a nice complete one up for -150-. That is the going rate for these axles.

I'm not sure how much junk yard experience you have, but I find that those guys can be real dicks. Especially if you drive a nice truck to the yard, they tend to quote you very high prices and not really take you seriously. Go to the yard with CASH. When they tell you they want 500 bucks for the axle you need don't laugh at them. Just tell them that you would like to take that axle home and you will give them 150 bucks cash for it, period. They will normally jump right on that. Not to mention after that first purchase they warm up to you a whole lot and will take you serious from then one when you are looking for parts.

its a shame you have a 3rd gen, cause when i go fullwidth on the 83, im not gonna want that toy axle taking up space.

Also keep in mind the lug pattern, you'll want something that either is or can be made to match the Toy pattern.

some guys run the late 70's ford f250 axle because they dont like the low pinion on the waggy axle. but it is full width so you would either run it that way or have it narrowed which means custom axle shafts....

there is also a custom 8'' toyota in florida but i think hes running a marlin case, not sure though...., and a couple of custom dana 60's, and then brian has this: http://www.frontrangeoffroadfab.com/projects_tacoma.htm


edit: info on the f250 axle: http://www.tacomaterritory.com/~tacozilla/

are there any good sites to read up on live axles and swapping? (ie steering, knuckles, hangers, everything) Besides searching on pirate. I just thought maybe somebody has a good site up about it that explains how everything functions.

Why not search Pirate? There may not be alot of 3rd gen specific information, but for the general principles of SAS, I don't think you could go wrong over there.

the f150 and f250 in '78 and '79 had a hi-pinion dana 44 front with a driver's side diff drop. there's one such truck sitting in my driveway right now :)

only problem with that it has 5 wheel lugs. you could always pull the 9" rear while you're at it, too though...

You want to learn solid axle Toy stuff, go to PBB.

Spring hangers, pinion angle, knuckle rotation, high steer, crossover steering, drop hangers, shackle length, axle rebuild. Any of those into the search should keep you reading for years.

Roger Brown's site also is a wealth of information. I debate taking a couple years out of my life to learn all that is on there and come back to the boards so it looks like I know something.

im sure this is old, but here it is again.
http://www.toy4x4.net/sas/

here's a good link

http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billav...HybridAxle.htm

I've been reading this inbetween classes!

I still might be interested in snatching that off your hands...for when I get my 88 and swap that! :hillbill: :devil:

it should be laying in the garage by christmas break. ill pm you when its out and i start tripping over it. i hate having a little garage.

is it a driver side diff? do you know the measurements wms to wms?

waggy axle @ http://board.marlincrawler.com/index...;threadid=1889

passenger side

Doesn't he want D-side drop though? And 300 bucks is pretty high from what everybody says.