My buddy has a 79 RC HP D44 out of a f-150 he'll give me for free. So I was thinking about taking it now and start lining up all my stuff for the SAS. He has all the steering stuff also. Will the steering stuff out of that work, or will I need different steering stuff? I know i'll need springs, 6 lug outers, new gears. and all the other usual stuff just not sure about how the steering stuff will work.

 

you'd want to get that thing narrowed down...fullsize fords have wide axles!

i take it you want to put it in a tacoma? excellent axle if you get it narrowed and set up right. if you don't have a taco, sell it for 600 bucks and spend it on a good toyota setup. also, i think you'd want to use a toyota steering box, but i'm fuzzy on that one

my .02

 

Oh yeah, I know I need to get it narrowed. I'm coming from a ford background new to Taco's. I'll be putting it in a 2001 4 Cyl auto tacoma.

I know I need an Toy IFS steering box, but what I am not sure of is the steering linkage. Can I use the stuff that comes with the axle or do I need stuff meant for a toy?

 

you might need different steering arms(for hysteer), and possibly a new tie rod/drag link

 

The steering stuff is worthless, junk it.

read up on Dana 44 Hy-steer...

 

Damn, thought so.

 

Can you use a Ford front axle on a toyota? I was under the opinion that Ford Dana's where driver's side drop and toyota transfer cases require a passenger side drop?

 

late model toyotas are driver's side diffs...

 

Ok, well I have an 86 pickup with a passenger side drop and I'm looking for a D44. From what I've read 84-85 toyota fronts are about the same as a D44. However, parts are more readily available and you can build a d44 stonger. Am I right in thinking this? How hard is it going to be to find a High Pinion Differential to put in to this and also is it possible to get 4.10 gears to match my stock rear end? I've been reading up on SAS's for months now and my search options are running out between pirate, 4x4wire, and yotatech (the best sites for research and learning). Any help from the guru's?

 

Well, you won't find a high pinion D44 that has a passenger side diff. Also a high pinion 44 will be a little on the wide side. Any axle shop worth a crap can easily swap the tubes and cut down the long side for you.

 

That helps me out a little. Now I guess I would be looking for a Ford D44, vice the Chevy or Jeep. What kind of Ford truck (or other truck) would use a HP D44? I was thinking that I would have to trim down one of the axle tubes to match the rear. I could do that while I'm pulling the knuckles off to aim the carrier up at the transfer case and just pull the tubes out of the diff. Same idea right? Grind off the welds and press or pull the tubes? At that point would I need custom inner axles?

 

'78 and '79 f150 4x4s had the HP 44. i believe some f250s of that vintage had them as well

if i wasn't interested in going to a driver drop, i would probably either look for a chevy or jeep wagoneer 44. i believe the waggy axle isn't much wider than a toy axle

i'm just gonna build my toy axle up a little, truss it, and use longfields and possibly chromo inners. should be plenty strong for what i'm planning on doing with it

 

well it is not quite as simple as just pulling the tube out of the diff. you have to drill out the plug welds and then press out the tubes and while I have never needed to do this, I heard that it take a significant amount of force to press out an axle tube, like upwards of 40 tons, so it would laugh at my 20 ton press. honestly I don't know for sure on that, that's just what I remember hearing. most people trim there long side tube to be able to use a commonly found shorter long side, like a wagoneer long side inner...

 

Whew! I think that pulling and pressing all that may be a little too much work for the time being. I know a guy up in WV that's selling a 79 Wagoneer D44 with steering, brake rotors, calipers, axles. I may just grab that and slap it on my truck with some stock wagoneer or 44044's. Now I just need to find a carrier with some 4.10 gears. Then possibly some form of locker down the road.

 

a 79 Wagoneer D44 front would be the prefect axle for you truck, or any passenger drop toy...

 

Ok, after some investigation and asking around I believe I may have the hookups to get a HP D44 and convert it to a passenger drop. I just need to figure out if I can use the stock inner axles and just get them cut and re-splined. That and if I press out the axle tubes, would it be easier to just cut them off and press out the stubs left in the housing because they need to be shortened anyway? From what I've read, it sounds like 63"s in the optimal length to match up to the rear. Does that sound right for an 86 rear end?

 

63" sounds a little wide for a 58" rear.

If you swap the tubes and leave them at the same length, you can use the same inners, just on opposite sides.

 

stubs? I don't understand that part of the question.

in shortening the axle you will swap the tubes and the long side will be cut down. you can have the stock axle shaft cut and resplined, but like i said before, it would be benificial to cut the lond side down to accept a stock length of some other 44 shaft.

an 86 rear end is 58" WMS to WMS, and as Flygtenstein said, 63" is gonna be a bit too wide for that. It would work just fine, just would look a little funny. I would say you are gonna want to aim to be around 60-61"...

 

I have heard of people running into oil pan clearence issues with hi pinion d44 axles.
Retubing it is a good idea unless you are going to run a radius arm type suspension.
78-79 Hi pinion 44 axles have cast wedges, if you cut the brackets off you will leave holes in the axle tube. FW axles would look good under a toy, you should try to get the matching 31 spline Ford 9". I have a 69 Bronco with fw axles and I have an extra set of hi D44 and 9" axles in my yard that I was wondering what would look like under my 4Runner.