Have found a Dana 44 w/ disks, but bare?

[71HLFCAB]

I have found an EB Dana 44 with disks (ch*vy) and 4.88 gears for sale on pirate4x4 . But the guy that has it was going to use it on a Heep. He removed the c wedges and the spring perches from the axle. How hard is it to put the c wedges and spring perches back on the axle? Is there some kind of trick to it or what? Thanks, Casey

 

[Steve]

You can buy new wedges from some of the vendors. They have to be welded on. Not sure if you can buy new spring perches, but you should be able to find some. If you can weld, it would be easy to put everything back on.

 

[70_Steve]

On James Duff site:

Axle Wedges
For the Bronco owner that is swapping front axles, these wedges make it much easier. No need to cut up a good front axle just for parts. These wedges are designed to weld onto a 2 3/4” O.D. tube, just like a factory Early Bronco Dana 44 but are easily modified to fit onto 3” O.D. tubing found on high pinion Dana 44 and Dana 60. Cast with all the correct configurations to fit the inside of a C bushing exactly like original.
#5340 Axle Wedges, $75

 

[Skuzzlebutt]

The spring perches are bolted to the radius arms after they're in place on the axle. The sheep guy just thinks he cut them off 'cause there aren't any on the axle.

 

[71HLFCAB]

:-[ Thanks for the spring perch reminder. Had a brain fart there for a minute. :-[

 

[71HLFCAB]

Also, can I twist or turn the axle housing before I weld on the c wedges to help the angle of the front driveshaft, or would it be worth it. Thanks again

 

[70_Steve]

I would think the biggest concern over where to weld the wedges on would be the ability to achieve proper front end alignment, specifically caster. The only way to maintain proper caster and improve driveshaft angle is to turn the knuckles.

 

[Skuzzlebutt]

Yes, but don't do it. For every degree you improve the drive shaft angle, you worsen your caster angle by the exact same amount.
What you should do since it's already out of the Bronco and being welded on anyway, is have the knuckles cut off. Then weld on the wedges for best drive shaft angle. Then weld the knuckles back on at the best caster angle.