Postal Jeep Dana 44 w/ Spicer 18

Sorry to bring this up if it is a repeat but I just found a postal Jeep at the junk yard today and saw it had what appeared to be a centered flanged dana 44 rear axle. Can I use this with my Spicer 18 transfer or will that not work? I aso think it has 11" brakes all around. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

Even with a CV rear shaft??
and will the SM420 adapter for the 18 work with a 20??

 

If you’re will’n to dish out the extra $$$ for a double CV shaft then yes, up to a certain point angles don’t matter and you can make the centered rear work with the Dana 18 t-case. But, there’s almost always a big but in a situation like this somewhere , running CVs like that is going to cause the u-joints in them to wear out faster and now you’ve got four u-joints to replace instead of just two.
It’s better, cheaper and safer in the long run to just work a centered rear with a t-case that has a centered output.

Check the input gear in the Dana 20 you’d intend to use, I think most are 10 spline input. If the adapter you’re using has a 10 spline coupler or “spud shaft” then I’d think it’d work.

 

I recently put an SM420 in my Jeep and the rear drive shaft that I ordered wound up being a little over 16”, 15” collapsed and 4” of slip.
That may be kinda short by four cylinder engine standards but beats the crud out’a what I did have.
While I had the transmission and t-case out I removed the Borg Warner R-10 (or “Rancho”) overdrive from the rear output which only allowed for a drive shaft that was ‘bout 8” long.

 

The only D20s or D18s that were 10 spline were behind the T-14 transmissions. The input has to match, but I don't think most D20s were 10 spline.

 

I’ll take your word for it.
Don’t have a D20 and haven’t messed with’em.
Though the point remains that as long as the adapter has the proper coupler, it should work.