I am about to install the D44 with disc brakes from a '79 Bronco that I've had sitting around for a few years (yes I know I'm a slacker). The guy I bought it from (kyle here on the board) shortened it to EB width for me before shipping it. I've looked at it sitting in my garage on a number of occasions, but never really took the time to look at any differences that might present issues. After removing the D30 last weekend, I've been looking at the D44 with a bit more of a critical eye. It seems that it's going to be a piece of cake to bold up in place of the D30, but there are a couple of small issues that I'm wondering if anyone has solved by doing this swap before. First of all, the breather bolt hole is smaller than the EB D30. As of now, I plan to re-drill to the larger size and tap it for the EB breather bolt. This way I can still use the EB braided stainless brake line that has the larger hole as well. The second issue is the bump stop mounts that are welded to the D30 housing are nonexistent on the D44. On the D30, not only did these mounts hold the bump stops, but they were also what the trac bar bolt mounted to, and the brake line brackets where the hardlines thread into the flex lines to the drums/discs were attached to them as well. On the D44, the trac bar bolt is mounted by itself using a different type of bracket than the EB D30. Any advice from anyone who has solved these two small issues would be appreciated.
