Dana 44 Front Axle Swap

Not sure if this has been posted here on the site before, but we just found an EASY way to swap in a Wag. Dana 44 with the 6 lug under the front of your jeep. The Hub/rotor assembly is a perfect swap out with the rotor/hub off of a late 70's (we used 79 F150) F150/bronco which has the 5x5.5 lug patttern so your wheels will bolt right up. Just out board your springs, driveshaft bolted up, shocks bolted right up, and the brake lines had to be drilled out to match the banjo bolt of the Wag brake caliper. So hopefully this info will help someone wanting to swap in a Dana 44.

 

You reuse the spindles and hubs, only thing changed is the rotor. Very cheap swap.

 

I've been running a fsj 44 with ford knuckles-out for the last year, it works great.

FSJ's came widetrack and narrow track, 65" and 61". I used a widetrack, narrowed the long side by 4", and welded the spring perch to match my stock spring location. Gets you a 61" wms-wms axle that you can bolt up to your springs without outboarding.

Doing it this way also gives me and extra 2" between the wheel mount surface and spring, which I need to steer 38s.

 

I used an Early bronco axle and put all the parts on a Chevy housing that I narrowed the longside down to match the Ealry Bronco axle shaft. The short side was already the correct length for the axle shaft. It puts the diff alittle closer to the center but no outboarding!

 

The rotors we used had the new bearing hub assembly already pressed into the hub. http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductDetail.aspx?MfrCode=RAY&MfrPartNumber=66297&PartType=221&PTSet=A
If that link dosnt work its part # 66297

 

http://www.4x4wire.com/jeep/tech/axle/conv/dana44/fsj-cj/ there is an old article that tells all the required parts to do the 5 lug swap.

 

What year waggy front did you start with? All you did was switch hubs and rotors to the ones you linked? Everything else from the waggy bolted up, calipers, etc...? I know you outboarded the springs. I am gathering parts now to swap in a waggy front when I find one and would like to make it 5 on 5.5" to match my Scout rear I am getting this week.

 

The 44 was out of a late 73 wag according to the door tag. The only thing changed was the hub/rotor assembly. We tried it just out of curiosity to see, because we had everything to swap from the ball joint out, but tried that first "just incase" and it worked. Only diff was, the brake line banjo bolt hole, the CJ brake line had to be drilled bigger for the wag. caliper.

 

That's a great swap, done it a bunch of times. One thing I'd like to add here is if you use a later Waggie 44 they have a larger spindle and you need to switch to the earlier, smaller open knuckle Wag/Chev spindle that Neptco's used. That makes it an all bolt up affair. Same set up I used on the race Jeep to go internal spline hubs. Nickmil

 

What year is the cut off for the smaller spindle, is it 76 like the hi steer knuckles? I have been looking for a Waggy front to swap and am trying to narrow my years down to get the best one to start with, it looks like it should be from very late 73 - 76 for hi steer knuckles, (need to machine, drill, and tap) and an easy swap to 5 on 5.5" with ford hubs and rotors, sound right?

 

Since im in a time crunch, I "very" carefully marked drilled/tapped all the holes for my High steer arms. They came out real nice and honestly Im glad I did it myself rather than paying someone else to do it.

 

I'm not 100% sure when they quit using the smaller spindle but the years you mention sound about right. I know they were used in '73 and '74 in FSJ's. Possible '75 and '76 but not real sure. Problem is by the time I see an axle it's usually out of the vehicle and except for going by Bill of Materials # or looking at the gear date code I have no way of knowing what year the axle really came out of .
Nickmil

 

Please tell me you got the tops machined flat? (praying icon here). The tops of the knuckles that were not factory machined are not true, meaning perfectly flat. This can allow the arm to rock and move slightly no matter how tight the nuts and cones are. This can eventually lead to stud failure. Seen it happen and it's an ugly scene when it does. Please, Please make sure you do this safely! Nickmil

 

I checked them with a strait edge in a couple diff. directions and they were flat, so I went ahead with it. Is there a better way to check or something else I can double check on them without taking them to a machine shop to make sure they will be alright?

 

If they have any roughness to them, meaning the casting roughness, they need to be machined. The rough casting does not make for a stable seat for the arms. I've also found where the tops sometimes have a slightly different angle to them when not machined so one side doesn't match the other. Both sides should be machined. The shop I work for spent the money on a jig to make sure every set of knuckles matches every other knuckle for safety. Not saying you need a jig, a good machinist should be able to machine the top for you by setting up in a mill. But you want both sides machined and to match. If you are using one knuckle that has already been machined, just have the other machined to match. Nickmil