My current axle is leaking at diff housing / axle tube joints so I’m looking into building an EB width High Pinion Dana 44 for my rig.
What is best donor to look for ?
If I do this should I also go full tilt boogie and get RCV axles ?
Will my existing ARB locker work ? Obviously have to get a set of reverse cut gears.
As you can see in my signature - current set up is 77 with 4.5” WH suspension and recently added Duff long arms. Already using knuckles from 78 - 79 Bronco and TRO linkage with axle riser bracket.
The other option is to transfer all my stuff over to a different EB Dana 44 housing.
Rig drives very nice with current set up but wondering if I can improve it through this process.
All input appreciated.
Wow. 16 posts, and no answer to your question. Here's my OPINION...
Best Donor HP housing?
1. 76-77 F150 with welded wedges. You get free disc brakes and knuckles.
2. 71-75 F150 with welded wedges. These are drum knuckles.
3. 78-79 F250 with leaf springs. You can add wedges to these tubes.
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4. 78-79 F150 with cast wedges. Don't. Just Don't.
All Dana 44 axles in an Early Bronco need the inner C's cut and turned. ALL of them. (...Even the stock one.) Factory Caster was 4 degrees, and pinion inclination is 7. You need 7 degrees of Caster, and as you lift your truck, you need more pinion inclination. 3.5 inches of lift needs about 12 degrees of pinion inclination. You want the pinion and driveshaft to be perfectly aligned, and co-linear. Anything else is bad. How bad depends on you. If you never use your 4x4, then bad u-joint angles are fine. But if you use your 4x4 on the highway, or off road...the correct driveshaft misalignment angle is 0.
RCV axle shafts are expensive and use exotic materials to achieve strength. They are stronger than the single Cardan u-joint. If you want to ensure that your locking hubs and D44 ring and pinion is the failure point...RCV is the way to go. For the price of a set of RCV's...you could have narrowed a 60.
Will your ARB work? Nobody can answer that question, because you didn't say which ARB you have. I've seen too many shops put the wrong carrier in the D44 and "fix" it with thick and thin gears. But, if you have an RD116 (30 spline D44 3.92+) it will work in your HP housing with the native D44 4.09 gear set.
Why would you want another low pinion housing? Nothing special about the Bronco D44 housing, except it came from the factory with the wrong caster.
So you want to cut and turn it. With a 4.5 inch lift, the HP housing improves the driveshaft angle, and your front driveshaft needs all the help it can get.
Your rig does not drive "nice." It either drives with a compromised front u-joint angle, or it has inadequate caster..and wanders. When Ford introduced the D44 in 1971, they had to pick a caster angle that was compatible with the manual steering. So they picked 3 degrees. In 1974, when power steering became available, they had to compromise. So they stayed at 3 degrees. By the time the 76-77 came around...they never fixed it. They probably thought it wasn't broken...
Get a 76-77 HP housing, cut off the wedges, cut and turn the inner C's to 7 degrees positive caster with the pinion pointed at the transfer case. Install 0 degree bushings and weld on the wedges. Go drive on the freeway at 70 MPH with the hubs locked. Go drive on the street and make a sharp corner. Let go of the wheel and watch your Bronco aim itself straight. It will drive just like a 97-06 Jeep Wrangler.
Gotta go...
