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HP 44 gear swap

martinphoto

Jr. Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2007
Messages
91
I have a HP Dana 44 from a 76 F100. I am swapping from the 3:50 gear set to a 4:11 gear set. Do I need a different carrier for this swap or will the one that's in it work? The ring gear itself will bolt up to my current carrier. Also how important are the brake dust shields? Mine are pretty beat up.
 

garberz

Bronco Influencer
Joined
Jun 24, 2007
Messages
6,856
Loc.
Conejo Valley, Ca.
I have a HP Dana 44 from a 76 F100. I am swapping from the 3:50 gear set to a 4:11 gear set. Do I need a different carrier for this swap or will the one that's in it work? The ring gear itself will bolt up to my current carrier. Also how important are the brake dust shields? Mine are pretty beat up.

Yes, you'll need a new carrier. The. break is 3.92 and up. A thick gear set is also not an option, because they don't offer one in reverse spiral cut. I don't run the dust shields, they can trap more debris than just dust. They're of a necessity.

Mark
 

garberz

Bronco Influencer
Joined
Jun 24, 2007
Messages
6,856
Loc.
Conejo Valley, Ca.
The difference in the carriers is when you go to a lower gear set, the pinion gear gets smaller, so the ring gear needs to move closer to the pinion gear.

Mark
 

Apogee

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 26, 2005
Messages
6,033
I run the dust shields on my '77 F150, but don't run them on my EB, so I would say that the dust shields are optional. Since they're sandwiched between the spindle and caliper bracket, it technically moves the spindle/rotor/hub inward by the thickness of the dust shield (18 gauge = .048"), but the caliper mount can accommodate it and it hasn't caused any problems or issues that I've seen.

FWIW, I just went through my '77 F150 HP D44 knuckles this weekend to install new axle u-joints, wheel bearings and brakes, and the dust shields were packed full of mud from the last excursion. On the up side, the spindle bearings were in remarkably good shape for having been submerged in super soupy mud for an extended day of wheeling the last time out.
 
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