i6 to EFI 5.0 Upgrade Axle Question

[Little Thad]

I am laying out my i6 to 5.0 upgrade project. Originally I had lined up a pair of DANA 44's out of a 77 Bronco, front and rear that would have given me the discs up front and nice gearing. But that fell through. Is it possible to stick with the orignial 6 cylinder axles and just do a disck upgrade kit? I'm woried about the gear ratios. Any advice is appreciated. The new engine is a 1998 5.0 efi and i am going to be using a R470W transmission from the same Explorer.

 

[kholding]

Welcome to CB.com. First, what year is your bronco? I'm assuming your front axle is a Dana 30 if you are looking to upgrade to the D44. You should have a 9 inch rear end regardless of what year your bronco is. You shouldn't have to change out the rear other than the gearing for the 4r70w. You can add front disk brakes to your existing axle or upgrade to a D44 and add disks (unless you get a D44 from a '76 or '77). For the 4r70w you will need lower than stock gearing but we still need to know what size tires you plan to run.

Not sure if I answered your questions or not.

 

[904Bronco]

I have been answering a couple of his EFI swap questions and I believe he has a 1966, so D30. With a small bearing 28 spline 9 inch rear.

He could do a GM Disc brake swap on that for now and get a D44 latter on, then he could transfer the GM brake parts to the D44.

As said... Tire size would be needed to figure out gear selection and what type of wheel'in / Driving would be helpful as well...

 

[Little Thad]

More Information

Sorry for the incomplete picture......yes it is a 1966.....I am going to use it as an around town/beach vehicle, so no heavy rock climbing. Tires will be on the smaller side but I have not investigated specifics yet -- sounds like that is a next stop. I am assuming 31's? I will need a 1 1/2 or 2" body lift for the 5.0 to fit based on what I am reading. So for gears I need around town plus short highway stints of up to 250 miles. Thanks for the insight.

 

[Justafordguy]

If it was an I6 it probably has 4.11 gears now. That would be fine for a street driven EB as long as you don't go bigger that 31" tires.

 

[Broncobowsher]

Stock gears for the I6 were either 4.11 or an optional 4.57 ratio. With the overdrive and the 5.0 you are off to a pretty good start. To really be able to use the 4.11 (if that is what you have) you do need to keep to a stockish sized tire. If you start going upwards of even a 33" tire I would be recomending gears upwards of 4.86

 

[DirtDonk]

And from your stated intended use, don't waste too much of your time hunting for a Dana 44, as your 30 will be perfectly happy with your combo.
The only reason you might "need" the uprated 44 is if you do start to hunt out larger tires, or go hard wheeling, or get yourself into a little too much fun in the dunes.

That last might be the only real reason to upgrade. But frankly, even with the 30 in the dunes, if you install some kind of a truss you can get away with a lot of abuse before it starts complaining.
The lower gearing hurts too of course. As the numbers get larger (lower ratios) the pinions get weaker. Same for a 44 too, but it can take a little more abuse at the higher numbers.

Sounds like you'll be fine for now. Can you post up what your current gear ratios are? Maybe based on your VIN or better yet if you still have a Data Tag on your driver's inside kick panel, or even better still, the axle tags still attached under a bolt head on the front cover and rear center section.

Have fun!

Paul

 

[SteveL]

Never heard anyone needing a body lift to clear a 5.0? With that said the 1" body lifts are a nice upgrade

 

[DirtDonk]

Some model upper intakes were taller than others, and were very close, or hitting the hood. This could also have been due at least partly to old sagged out rubber body mounts, but some upper plenums definitely fit better than others.

We used to hunt down the old Cougar/T-bird manifolds for certain years, as they were super low profile. But they were also some of the lower power rated engine models as well, so not seen as super desirable for most either.

Paul