1974 with a Dana 30 front axle

[BigPhil]

New member here, I just bought a 74 Bronco 302 auto and want to upgrade all the shocks, bushings, tie rod ends, ball joints, steering damper etc. at the time of purchase it didn’t have a top then just a few days after making the deal in San Antonio Tx , I live closer to Dallas about 5 hours away I found a top for sale about 30 miles north of San Antonio and was able to arrange the transport company to stop and pick up the top also. The gentleman I got the top from said it has the Dana 30 front not the 44. He also recommend I join this sight. My question is do I need to order all the front end stuff for a Dana 30 or is it the same for the Dana 44? I did some investigating and see the differences between the 30 and 44 but looks to me I can order all the rubber bushings tie rod ends etc for either the 30 or 44 and it should still fit. I can’t fathom why he swapped the Dana 30 over the Dana 44? I also want new shocks It has 35” tires so I’ll need to measure from the top of the axle to frame to see if it’s been lifted. I bought the Bronco from a lady it was her husbands and he has passed so she doesn’t know anything about the truck. It doesn’t seem to be stock. Took a magnet to the heads it has aluminum heads long tube header AC corbeau seats winch roll bar disk brakes Edelbrock 4 barrel carb and intake. I need to do a compression test to see if the motor was touched sounds like it might have a mild cam. I just had back surgery to I can’t crawl under it yet. Thanks for any advice!

 

[bmc69]

Certainly true that the D30 isn't stock...nor are the aluminum heads and other engine details you mentioned. Definitely a first for me...an EB that was D44 from the factory and now D30..

 

[Broncobowsher]

Pictures of the front axle, specificly the diff cover and the steering knuckle will tell what you really have.

Could it be a 30? Sure. Factory, no. But over the years Broncos have been taken apart and put together multiple times. I remember several stories of someone buying a Bronco, harvesting the good parts, putting there old parts back on it, and selling it. At one point these were just old used trucks. It wasn't any big deal.

Some pics of the engine will help figure things as well. A cam generally won't show up on a compression test.

 

[BigPhil]

It also has a GM HEI. I’m more of a Datsun 240z guy I currently have 4 of them so I’m not up to speed with Ford V-8’s I had a 71 Bronco in high school 1988 always regretted getting rid of it and have been looking for another one since. I once offered one of my Z’s for another Bronco around 12 years ago. Here are more pictures and a video. Well one photo was over the 15 file limit and the video was too long 58 seconds. I’m very new and still learning the rules of the forum bear with me.

 

[BigPhil]

Had to cut this video to 10 seconds any longer it said it was too large.

 

[BigPhil]

Here’s the video I hope it works

 

[BigPhil]

Can’t seem to attach a video. I’m in the middle of reading the rules forgive me all

 

[thegreatjustino]

Definitely a first for me...an EB that was D44 from the factory and now D30..

Years ago I had a '73 Bronco for sale that no one wanted to pay the asking price for. Took out the Dana 44, swapped in a Dana 30 I had lying around, sold the 44 for $1,000, lowered the price of the Bronco by $1,000, and got a buyer. It happens.

To the OP, your photos do in fact show a Dana 30. Bushings and tie rods are the same between the 30 and 44.

 

[Broncobowsher]

I see a 30 with disk brakes, so it will have GM disk brake conversion.
For rebuilding the front end, the only thing different is you have kingpins instead of ball joints.
As mentioned, the rubber bushings are the same on all of them (except the '76-77 oval track bar bushings, for others reading this in the future)
Generally looks like a decent mix of parts. Power steering, power disk brakes. I can't tell from the pictures what heads those are. Often there will be a makers mark or part number on the end of the heads under the grime, if not there look between the lower head bolts. Those are the easy places to find ideas of what heads those are. At one time I might have been able to tell from the machined shape on the end of the head, but those days are long past and too many newer products out. The fact there is a layer of light grime on the heads says they have spent some time there and have proven to stay. Not a slap them on and sell it thing. I consider that good.

 

[Sendero]

Welcome dude! I'm the guy that sold you the top. Yea you can tell it's a 30 by the kingpins on top of the knuckles with the small bolts as opposed to the ball joints on top of the 44 knuckles. My thoughts are to order axle parts for a pre '71 so you know they will fit. You'll find the guys here are pretty helpful.

@thegreatjustino .....you couldn't waterboard that information out of me

 

[BigPhil]

Welcome dude! I'm the guy that sold you the top. Yea you can tell it's a 30 by the kingpins on top of the knuckles with the small bolts as opposed to the ball joints on top of the 44 knuckles. My thoughts are to order axle parts for a pre '71 so you know they will fit. You'll find the guys here are pretty helpful.

@thegreatjustino .....you couldn't waterboard that information out of me

Ok I’ll order pre 71 for the front end stuff. Thanks again for all your help loading the top. I had to buy a battery new gas and adjusted the idle it’s runs really strong very crisp responsive throttle and drives good around the block. Around 40 mph she starts to shake is why I want all new bushings steering stabilizer etc up front plus new shock all around. The timing couldn’t have been better I was about to pull the trigger on a soft top when I saw your hard top for sale. Again thank you thank you thank you!!

 

[Sendero]

Maybe replacing everything isn't a bad idea but in my mechanical experience, I try to stick to only addressing the issue and have caused more issues throwing parts at things than i would like to admit. I would typically say to jack the front in the air, get a friends help working the steering back and forth, putting tension in every direction on the tires and see if you can figure out what is loose and go from there. Here are some things I know about getting a bronco to drive well:

- The trac bar and drag link need to be parallel to each other or else it will create a bump steer condition. It looks like yours are pretty parallel so this is probably a non-issue but double check. They may brackets to drop the track bar if needed.
- Dana axles tend to come with too much positive camber from the factory and at a glance, it looks like the top of your tires are leaning outward. The only way to fix this is to get it on an alignment rack, figure out exactly how many degrees out of camber it is and then install shims to correct the camber. Obviously getting the tie rod adjusted to make sure the toe is correct during the alignment is important and I would expect this is related to your problem.
- Careful with steering stabilizers as they have been known to bind up bronco steering but if they move correctly it may help. I see you already have one.
- I wouldn't sleep on incorrectly worn tires. Those KM2s are good tires but if they were driven significantly with a misaligned front end, it might be hard to get them back to where you need them to be. Maybe rotate them when you do the alignment.

I only say all of this to maybe save you the headache of a full axle rebuild and possibly still having issues. Good luck!

 

[BigPhil]

Maybe replacing everything isn't a bad idea but in my mechanical experience, I try to stick to only addressing the issue and have caused more issues throwing parts at things than i would like to admit. I would typically say to jack the front in the air, get a friends help working the steering back and forth, putting tension in every direction on the tires and see if you can figure out what is loose and go from there. Here are some things I know about getting a bronco to drive well:

- The trac bar and drag link need to be parallel to each other or else it will create a bump steer condition. It looks like yours are pretty parallel so this is probably a non-issue but double check. They may brackets to drop the track bar if needed.
- Dana axles tend to come with too much positive camber from the factory and at a glance, it looks like the top of your tires are leaning outward. The only way to fix this is to get it on an alignment rack, figure out exactly how many degrees out of camber it is and then install shims to correct the camber. Obviously getting the tie rod adjusted to make sure the toe is correct during the alignment is important and I would expect this is related to your problem.
- Careful with steering stabilizers as they have been known to bind up bronco steering but if they move correctly it may help. I see you already have one.
- I wouldn't sleep on incorrectly worn tires. Those KM2s are good tires but if they were driven significantly with a misaligned front end, it might be hard to get them back to where you need them to be. Maybe rotate them when you do the alignment.

I only say all of this to maybe save you the headache of a full axle rebuild and possibly still having issues. Good luck!

Great advice thanks!

 

[DirtDonk]

Maybe replacing everything isn't a bad idea but in my mechanical experience, I try to stick to only addressing the issue and have caused more issues throwing parts at things than i would like to admit.

Great advice! This is even more true today than in years past.

I would typically say to jack the front in the air, get a friends help working the steering back and forth, putting tension in every direction on the tires and see if you can figure out what is loose and go from there.

This is almost always my first thing to do. But you have one aspect incorrect.
For the back and forth steering wheel version of a front end test, you absolutely want to leave the tires on the ground.
There are certainly things to see with the tires in the air, but to see the most movement with the most components, including a cracked frame behind the steering box, you want the full weight of the vehicle to be working against the torque of the steering system.
So to get the most benefit, leave it on the ground at first.

 

[Sendero]

@DirtDonk Every time I come with some sound advise on this forum, Obi Wan comes in and uses the force against me Good point on testing it on the ground first, certainly would sniff out the famous broken frame at the steering box or pitman arm / drag link problems.

 

[SLOWnEASY]

Like Dirtdonk says I would rotate the tires and see if it helps with the 40mph to see if it helps with the shaking.

 

[Broncobowsher]

40 MPH shake is typically tires. Track bar would be next, but I doubt it. Track bar bushings going bad goes into death wobble. Sudden and violent. Violent as in the window frames slapping the body levels of shake.

While you are rotating the tires, spin them. Are they round? What is the date code? The tires may have aged out.