best front axle

Ok guys im building an 88 bronco with a 521 in it and ben working on it for a while ive got a dana 44 out of a 79 bronco however im tryin to get around 650 horses and the truck is going to be running hill an hole pits more than just boggin i was thinking that it would be good to save wieght but ive heard that this axle is not the strongest for what im doing i want to keep the coil spring on the truck but just not sure what i should do keep the 44 or go up to somthing else tryin to sell or trade the 44 and having second thoughts any help with this decion would be great
thanks
mike

Get yourself a Dana 60 and you will be fine.

IMO keep the 44 but buy a set of aftermarket axles and joints

I have a dana 44 in the front of a 79 bronco with a motor making 748 hp. getting a set of chome molly axles and a set of spicer joints and you will be fine.

I'll 2nd, 3rd, or whatever in keeping the D44. Just get you a good quality set of chromoly axles and a solid set of spicer u-joints (not the weaker servicable/greasable units!) and all will be good. I run straight bogs and hill & hole bogs in my ranger with no problems. Nor did I have any problems with my SAS'd 95 F-150 that was setup the same way.

Yeah if it has a place for grease dont use them they are weak.

Dont forget to truss it, i saw three guys snap 44's at the last run i was at right where the long tube meets the housing. Wasnt pretty! Of course if youve got the money get a 60 with aluminum outers, i think i saw you can get them down to somewhere around 400 lbs.

60's are great if you are trail riding or rock crawling. Other than that, in mud racing, I've seen plenty of guys running D44's. Heck I know of a few people that run D30's out of mid 70's Jeep trucks. The key is knowing that mud is way more forgiving, stay out of the wall and you will be fine. Also NEVER, I say again NEVER lock, weld, or spool your front! Leave it open and it will live longer. Get the tires spinning fast enough to float across the top and you won't have to worry about it.

Ok thanks for the advise but what about the cost i can get a 60 for $250 with the gears i need what is the cost to put in hardened axles new carier and ring and pinion in the 44 plus i could lock the front if it were a 60 right would i need hardend shafts for it as well and how much more does the 60 wiegh

By the time you go through the time and expense of putting that heavy d60 in, you'd be way better off saving the weight, poney up the money for a decent set of chromo shaft and be done with it. Either way you go, for a mud race truck, never ever lock the front. It'll be harder to keep it straight in the hole and will be harder on parts.

If its a good HP 60 buy it to sell and buy the chrome stuff for the 44. Should be a wash then. Also what tire you looking at, 35's and your good, 40+ and you may want the 60.

How big of a tire are going to run?
What are you planning to do with the truck?
I worked at 4x4 shop from 98-07 and I've seen people put the best of everything into a dana 44 and the weak link will always show up. That weak link was either ring&pinion or the axle joint caps egg shaping the holes in the axle.
The money spent on a dana 60 will be money saved in the long run.
J.M.O
Todd

where abouts in nc are you located? that $250 for a dana 60 front is dirt cheap!!! ill take 10 of them at that price!
we just came off a run at lee county for the tgw race. we run the 2.5 tons. i have seen a lot of 44s hold up with the upgraded shafts and joints, the only weak link i saw was if you get into the wall, then snap! if you want to keep it really ligt weight then go with the 44, if not a couple hundred pounds more in a 60 is cheap insurance and you will not have as many axle issues.

While I agree that for general 4x4 use a 60 is the way to go. But for mud racing, 90% of the time a 60 is overkill and adds too much weight to the front end to allow proper weight transfer.

i got 895hp and a 2950lb truck and d44 with stock gears but good axles and 38s still going good

Alright guys im in currituck nc but ive got to travel to get the 60 the 44 i already have im only going to run 38's on the truck it is a 88 bronco so the wheel base is very short i did cheaat the axle foward about 4 inches with some fabricated spring mounts and moved the motor back as far as i can with a little more work so ive had the wieght issue in mind so iguess the 44 is the best way to go for that reason but for durabilaty the 60 is the way to go how about an hd 44 is that better than standerd 44 Im going to do alot of hill and hole som flat boggin and probably alot of old school rootin where ever i can find a good swampy hole

With the 38's and if you can stand breaking something and fixing the breakage now and then go with a good 44 set-up. If it has to last and not buy parts over and over 60 is a better choice.

if you are only drag racing, a 44 would work. but, it all depends on your front end weight and the amount of weight transfer. i ran tuff truck and mud drags for 4 years with a 600 hp, a d44, 35's, and never locked up in the front. i ran both yukon and warn shafts with a set of ctm jonts and a couple sets of yukon joints. i broke 4 chromo stubs at the splines and tore the yokes apart on 4 other pairs, and never had a u-joint failure. i usually broke while tuff trucking. when drag racing i usually broke spider gears, but, did break a stub and tear the yoke apart on another.

the truck weighs 3800 pounds and has a 50/50 weight distribution and a low center of gravity (not a lot of transfer), a 600 ish hp 521 (the truck in my avatar)


build a good strong truss for it because you WILL bend a tube or break the center section.


if a 44 live for you than you will allways be waiting to hear that snap-crackle-pop sound. if you can afford the extra weight, a dana 60 with 35 spline stubs then you will never have to worry at all.



barry

Im running a 35sp outer 60 in my truck but it started life as a general purpose mud truck and not track specific.

This truck runs a D30 front from a Jeep Cherokee - 93 F150 all glass 700ci BBF with two stages of 500 shot

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh63/STGFordCrazy04/th_MudruninYemasseeSept212008006.jpg (http://s253.photobucket.com/albums/hh63/STGFordCrazy04/?action=view&current=MudruninYemasseeSept212008006.flv)

Thanks Kris, that was the vid I was looking for.

thats bada$$! does he mainly do flat track? i wonder what would happen on a hill n hole track? i dont think the front would hold up on a hill n hole track?:o

tough to bust axle parts when the front end rarely touches.

Ive seen the truck catch air but Im not sure about a hill and hole track. We dont have any around here that Im aware of.

check out this website
http://www.ncmudracing.com/

click on some of the videos, that scooby doo truck is one of the fastest in the world.

^^^ nice vids.

Ive got to say we are faster down here.

Johnny (blue 93 in the vid above) runs 200' in the low 2sec range and 300' in the low 4s. Rails around here run 1.9sec/200'

hell man, I run high 4s low 5s in a 6000lb truck.

you may be faster, on a flat track. the scooby doo truck ran 4.15 in a 250 foot pit, and porky sellers in his new ranger bodied truck ran 4.05 to set the new record.
its hard to go faster when your not on the ground!:)

here you go watch the vid:
http://www.ncmudracing.com/recordsrecorded.htm

Just found this pic of my truck on the web, never saw it before, but the point being that a D44 will live in the front if you can get enough wheel speed to carry the front in the hole. As I said before, I run a 3.55/4.10 gear setup and here is my ranger on 38.5x11's carrying the front end through the hole:

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb146/skjett/Trucks/Ranger/ranger-2.jpg


Notice how the back is sunk in digging through while the front is up skipping across the mud!

I never have been a fan of anything smaller than a D60, however I also have never ran mud drags and bogging which seems to be what most here do. I run trails, rock crawling, general all around beating the snot out my rigs. I do my best to take my rigs places they should not go. I am comfortable knowing that I can drive like a "ham head" and not go home with my tail between my legs.

That said, many people here who are experienced in your hobby have made valid points too your decision. I think if you have the D44 just run it, because switching to a D60 and still running ford style radius arms will have you doing some extra fab work and parts get more expensive. D44 axles are cheap and easy to come across. Get some spare hubs, axles, u-joints, and carriers. I strongly recomend trussing it, and if you have the cash some
300m axles and u-joints, it will give you piece of mind. You can quickly change out parts if you brake somthing, and possibly be ready for the next run.

You mentioned HD D44's, The only difference is the wheel hub and the axle tube thickness, all other stress parts are the same.
The overall weight of a ford D60 HP is 460-480lbs a chevy D60 LP is around 500-520.
Your Ford HP D44 will be around 300-325lbs+/-

Hope this helps

Lewis

^^ very valid point

none of these guys running D44s would be doing so at their power level and tire size on anything other than a straight track. When I built my chromo D60 my truck was primarily used for trails and muddy fields. Ive grenaded my fair share of D44s along the way.


Bottomland,
Oct 24th in Neeses, SC they are having the Pro-stock/Pro-mod finals. The Scooby Doo truck is one of the trucks listed as participating. There will also be trucks from all over the country.

kris are you going down to neeses for the race?

Yeah Ill be there. Let me know if you come down and we'll meet up.

Ok guys what did everyone use before the dana axles and were they good for any thing