Rear Dana 44 Swap To 54.5" Wms To Wms

Goals:
54.5" WMS to WMS offset rear D44 (would allow me to eliminate my wheel spacers)
Flanged so I can dump the tapered axle
19 spline so I can use my power-lok
Convert to disc brakes
Keep the 5 on 5.5 bolt pattern

What I have available:
A 61" WMS to WMS flanged D44 out of an F100 truck (currently spring over)
Has 19 spline axles
Has 5 on 5.5 bolt pattern
Does not have brakes


Here's my thoughts to achieve my goals.
Shorten the passenger side of the 61" axle by 6.5"
This gives me 54.5" WMS and 3.3" of offset
Install my gears and power-lok from tapered axle
Install disc brakes from an Isuzu Rodeo and redrill the rotors for 5 on 5.5
Weld on spring perches at 28"

Here's the details


Questions:
Is 3.3" enough offset? The stock axle is 4"
Is drilling the rotors from 6 on 5.5 to 5 on 5.5 as shown above ok?
Is there a better donor for disc brakes with 5 on 5.5?

Discuss.

 

Cut it up! Pictures please. Nothing constructive to add

 

One more thing to consider. I still don't like the width of my wide track D30 in front (too wide).
I have this NT D30 which is 53" WMS to WMS


Maybe I should go to 54" WMS on the rear and install this NT D30 on the front. 54" WMS on the rear would give me 3.8" offset instead of 3.3" so closer to the stock 4". With the NT at 53" it's 2" wider than the old D27 I took out which is about perfect to me. I think my plan is starting to gel here.

 

Nothing to add other than I am inviting myself over when you set up the ring and pinion.

 

Sounds good. I did it on my wide track, pretty straight forward if you take your time. I sanded the inside of a pinion bearing so it was an easy press fit which made it simple to add/remove pinion shims until it was perfect. Then I pressed on the new bearing once I had it good. I think I took the pinion out 4 times to get it set.

I'm now revising my brake idea. I am going to use the calipers and rotors from one of my D30's and make weld-on caliper brackets. Seems so simple, already has the correct bolt pattern and I have all the pieces. I'll probably buy new rotors but it will be nice to have all 4 rotors and calipers the same.

The only bummer was I was going to sell my wide track to fund the axle shaft spline work. Now I won't have a complete wide track to sell with brakes. Oh well.

 

You may want the spindles for an eventual full float conversion. And you can use the short side, outer axle shafts and hubs for trail spares.

 

Boom!!!



I shortened the passenger side 7". The shiny spot on the driver side is where I cut off the spring over mount.

 

Nice work.

 

This is great.
I'd like to snag the D44 and D60 off my buddy's truck and do the same thing.

 

Thanks. This is all in my build thread but I know people don't visit those much. I trued it up and aligned it with a really tight press fit sleeve. Worked fantastic.