Why Dana 44?

[nomadbronco]

Why does every one insist on changing their Dana 30 to a Dana 44? Jeeps hav dana 30s, and also they offer "beef up" stuff for them, but every one i talk to says, Change that 30 to a 44. I guess what my question is, Why is it so detrimental to change my 30 to a 44 when i even know people who have four wheeled the hell out of dana 30s in Jeeps? Please, any input would be nice.
Thanks

 

[jarrod]

You dont have to change to a 44 they are just stonger.

 

[stlkikn]

A Dana 30 is considered weaker in its stock form.
The axle tubes are slightly thinner and I believe smaller diameter too.
The axles are thinner, and therefore also weaker.
The crown, pinion and carrier are smaller, and again, weaker.
All that considered, also remember that they stopped using the 30 in 1971, so if you are using O.E. Ford parts, they are now 35 years old, and probably
well used.

A 30 is between 100 and 150 lbs lighter than the 44 (according to a couple
of local sand draggers)
They both run big blocks (427 Chebby (gasp!!) and 428 CJ) through a top loader and a C-6 respectively. Neither of them have broken a front axle in 15 plus years of racing. (How much stress is put on a front axle when the wheels are in the air??)
Its really a matter of choice, and upgradeability, if you haven't broken it yet,
you may not break it in the future.

 

[SaddleUp]

If you talk to a lot of the Jeep guys they would rather run the Dana 44 as well. For them it requires a custom build though where they are pretty common for the EB because they had them stock. As far as strength there is only so much you can do with a Dana 30 to beef it up. Even when you do it still can never be as strong as a stock Dana 44 is. In particular the carrier and gears in them are small and nothing you do to beef them up will change that. I had one here on a parts rig I bought where the carrier itself split into 2 pieces and the gears were shot which destoyed the entire housing. I couldn't tell if the carrier or gears broke first though.

 

[bronco69drp]

the dana 30 is also limited on gear ratios(because the lower you go the bigger the ring gear dia)
the dana 44 will go all the way to 5.89 which with cro-moly axles & cro-molly u-joints will handle 42" tires easly.
and if you wheel like i do the first thing to go is th dana 30! %)

 

[joser]

I wondered the same thing for a long time. Heck, my D30 was 28 years old when I bought the Bronco and I wheeled it for a few years like that.

Then one day it went boom! The front powerlock let go. I decided to replace with a D44 instead of repairing my D30. When you put them next to each other, you really see the difference. The pumpkin on the D44 is much bigger, and thus stronger.

My advice, don't spend a dime on your D30, run the hell out of it, and if and or when it lets go, then look to upgrade.

 

[jbeyer]

my pals rubicon has d44 front and rear. keep in mind also a jeep weighs less than a bronco, so it puts less stress on the axle. if you arent going to seriously offroad it, you dont really need to swap. most guys like to wheel with thier d30's till they break, then move up to a d44, because its not any more work to put a d44 in.

 

[broncnaz]

Some of its band wagon swaps because everyone else has one there are quite a few guys running 35in tires w/D30's and have no problems. But if you plan on wheeling hard then a 44 is a much better choice. Many times its more of a want than it is a need. If your wheeling is moderate and tires are less than 33in I wouldnt bother swapping unless you find yourself breaking parts then it would be wise.

 

[swa0330]

my pals rubicon has d44 front and rear. keep in mind also a jeep weighs less than a bronco, so it puts less stress on the axle. if you arent going to seriously offroad it, you dont really need to swap. most guys like to wheel with thier d30's till they break, then move up to a d44, because its not any more work to put a d44 in.

The funny part is that the Rubicon has D-30 outers (knuckles) unless it changed. It's sort of not a D44 completely.

 

[superfly53]

I also think many guys think the D44 is the hot set up because that is the only way to get stock disc brakes on an eb.

 

[BUCKETOBOLTS]

Why does every one insist on changing their Dana 30 to a Dana 44? Jeeps hav dana 30s, and also they offer "beef up" stuff for them, but every one i talk to says, Change that 30 to a 44. I guess what my question is, Why is it so detrimental to change my 30 to a 44 when i even know people who have four wheeled the hell out of dana 30s in Jeeps? Please, any input would be nice.
Thanks

They don't run a V8 either...

 

[SteveL]

With the cost of diff parts who wants to do it twice. You can throw cash at the 30 but at the end of the day you will still end up wanting a 44. Just find a 44 and beef it up as needed. It saves time and $$ in the long run. Unless you start feeling the need for a 60.

 

[Tom Dummer]

<<< Some of its band wagon swaps because everyone else has one there are quite a few guys running 35in tires w/D30's and have no problems. But if you plan on wheeling hard then a 44 is a much better choice. Many times its more of a want than it is a need. >>>


I only run 33's. Its more a need than a want. I broke a 30, fixed it, broke it, fixed it, broke it and put in a 44. NOW I wheel hard.
You can wheel a D30 with the Jeep guys, or the Jeep guys can watch you wheel a D44.
There are no bandwagons I jump on. I resisted shelling out the cash because I didn't understand. The need became greater than the want here.

 

[Duke Nukem]

As was mentioned earlier, there is no sense in investing money in a D30 when you can get your hands on a D44 cheap that would be stronger than a built D30. Another big plus is that Broncos from '71 on up came with a D44 so it is a bolt-in replacement. Someone else pointed out that most Broncos also have V8 engines. More power plus larger tires usually means that the weakest link in between will be subject to breakage on the trail. Stock jeeps don't have the powerplant or weight to put the same kind of stress on axles compared to an early bronco. However even modified jeeps often upgrade to D44 axles as well. Another advantage is that the D44 is compatible with front disc brakes offered on full-size ford trucks, which makes upgrading to ford disc brakes a bolt-on.

Since it is your bronco do whatever you like. But if you're looking to upgrade your axles a D44 really makes a lot of sense for an early bronco. If you don't wheel your bronco very hard then keep the D30 and don't worry about it. But if it breaks I wouldn't invest any money to keep it.

 

[Socal Tom]

Why does every one insist on changing their Dana 30 to a Dana 44? Jeeps hav dana 30s, and also they offer "beef up" stuff for them, but every one i talk to says, Change that 30 to a 44. I guess what my question is, Why is it so detrimental to change my 30 to a 44 when i even know people who have four wheeled the hell out of dana 30s in Jeeps? Please, any input would be nice.
Thanks

I believe that the Later model D30s in jeeps are high pinion models. In the EB D30 the ring gear thinks you are driving backwards the whole time and it is weaker in that direction. It's usually the ring gear that dies on the EB.
The EB weighs about 1000 lbs more than a jeep, and EBs are very front heavy.
All this means that Ford had to replace enough D30s on the stock EBs that they upgraded them to D44s in late 1971. The EB D44 came stock with esentially the same inner axles as the D30, the added strength they needed was at the ring gear.
If you were building a daily driver/ mild trail rig that was going to stay on 31 or 32 inch tires then putting in a high pinion D30 might be ok, especially if you are staying with a lower HP engine and an auto tranny.
Tom

 

[crab]

I'm going to keep it simple. If you plan on wheeling by yourself or occasional trail runs with buddies, you NEED a dana 44. If you are staying on the suburban streets of L.A. and need four wheel drive to get out of a pot hole, you MIGHT be o.k. with a 30 (depending on which side of town). If you have to invest ANY money in the 30....ditch it!

 

[walther]

If wheelin with 33in tires the 30 is fine, any bigger then you may need an upgrade. My jeep lasted just fine with the 30 and 33s. I also know guys that race and jump their broncs. They love the 30 because of the ball joint setup.

 

[SaddleUp]

The EB D44 came stock with esentially the same inner axles as the D30, the added strength they needed was at the ring gear.
Tom

The stock inner axles are only the same strength at the u-joint ears. (Aftermarket axles all use a larger u-joint)

Dana 30 inner: 27 spline x 1.16 diameter.
Dana 44 inner: 30 spline x 1.31 diameter.

While this may not sound like much it doesn't take a lot in the diameter to make a big difference in strength.