Ford HP D44...Any one running one?

[Cannaert]

Any one on here or know any one that has stuffed a HP D44 under a there Jeep. I am wondering b/c I have 2 just sitting here at my house not doing much and I think it would be cool to have that Coil spring ride up front and the better articulation from them as well. Also I would run the Jeep knuckles and all other outer parts from the 44 in it now.

I think I might do it over the winter time and do a Long arm set up under it but before I do I would like some feed back on it.

[duncanstives]

What years are they from? I am running a 78 high pinion ford dana 44 8 lug but its leaf sprung so it must be something different than what you are talking about. Anyway no feedback so far... It works fine but I have not wheeled it yet because I am still finishing some other stuff. There is a video on youtube where a guy stuck a camera in near his t-case... Amazing how much of a beating the pinion area of the axle took on the video... So in other words being high pinion is definitely a good thing.

[Stuka]

3/4 D44's are leaf sprung. 1/2 ton D44's were coil sprung (Truck and Bronco).

There have been a few people on here that have put the bronco coil setup on their FSJ's. Its not the best coil setup, but works pretty well. The ones I have seen they took everything from the ford. The springs (4" lift springs in this case), control arms, control arm frame mounts, etc.

It seemed to work pretty well.

[Cannaert]

I was wondering b/c like I said. I have everything from a 72 F-150 Drum brake axle. the Buckets, 4 inch coils, shock mounts, Radius arms. Cross member and anything else that was needed to swap it out.

Or the other thing I can do is convert the D44 in my waggy over to the Ford Radius arm set up. the axle I have has the welded on wedges so.

I guess I am wondering how many people have done it and how long did it take. I can do the leaf spring as well. I am just wondering i guess.

[Toyotech]

Big problem with that particular style of front axle/suspension set up is lack of articulation. I was thinking on doing the same swap on me YJ a few years ago and was trying to come up with a solution for lack of front flex.

http://www.bcbroncos.com/frontsusp1.html

If you google "wristed axle housing" there is a decent write up on the process. Not great, but decent.
I say go for it, especially if you have the donor parts just laying around!

[fulsizjeep]

Someone shared some pictures here of a GW set up with a Ford coil sprung D44 front axle some time back. I don't remember if it was a HP though. This must have been 3 or more years ago, so finding it might be tricky. It looked awesome and had a healthy lift. They used longer arms and coils on the front to provide better articulation.

[jeepdreamer]

If you decide to change your mind and go leaf spring (sprung?) and use the HP Ford... Do research before attempting to hack off the "footballs" on the axle tube for spring perches. Some of these HP 44s have those "footballs" slid over the axle tube (easy, just cut em off) and on some of them they ARE the axle tube!!! Run the numbers by dynatrac and see which one you have. If you try cutting the footballs off and discover yours ARE the axle... you just made a real narrow axle!! Ask me how i know:banghead:

[Cannaert]

If you decide to change your mind and go leaf spring (sprung?) and use the HP Ford... Do research before attempting to hack off the "footballs" on the axle tube for spring perches. Some of these HP 44s have those "footballs" slid over the axle tube (easy, just cut em off) and on some of them they ARE the axle tube!!! Run the numbers by dynatrac and see which one you have. If you try cutting the footballs off and discover yours ARE the axle... you just made a real narrow axle!! Ask me how i know:banghead:

I know all about the case on wedges vs. the weld on ones . I just so happen to own one of each.

[Clean RC]

Honestly for a full size Cherokee I would put the Ford HP44 in the front, but I would cut the wedge's off and set it up spring over with some flexy springs.. I am doing one in my XJ waggy at the moment, but I am 3 linking it for a better ride and articulation. I ran the radius arm set up for 2 years and its not all that great for off road. I was considering this swap for my J20 because I have two more HP44's laying around in storage. The more I think about it I might just build a HP60 for the J20..

[Cannaert]

Ok. I think I will stick with HP 44 and do so Weld on spring perches and Keep it left sprung.

But I would still love to see Pics of a FSJ with the Ford Radius arm set up.

Also what are the length of spring I will need from a Chevy to lift my Waggy up 2-4 inch. I plan I putting block in the rear for now just b/c I am not going to wheel it its a tow rig for right now.

[Kris]

Im running a 1/2t hp44 with the wedges cut off (sold them for $40) and SOA.

Dont bother with the Ford radius arms. If you want coils go with a link setup.




k.

[Cannaert]

Any one got any pics of there truck with the HP 44 in it SO I can see how it looks and so I can start on mine.

[Desert Rat]

Big problem with that particular style of front axle/suspension set up is lack of articulation. I was thinking on doing the same swap on me YJ a few years ago and was trying to come up with a solution for lack of front flex.

http://www.bcbroncos.com/frontsusp1.html

If you google "wristed axle housing" there is a decent write up on the process. Not great, but decent.
I say go for it, especially if you have the donor parts just laying around!

The flex issue is solved by wristing one of the radius arms and pinning it for driving on the road. I have a friend with a bronco setup under a Pathfinder and with the coils on all 4 corners the flex is sick in the thing.

[stx4wheeler]

You don't need to have a wristed radius Arm or housing to make the ford setup work. You simply need to buy or build longer arms with a heim on the frame mount. Also using the superflex springs that are Sold by jeffs bronco graveyard or cage. I think I had around 14inches of travel on my 78 bronco using longer arms and good coils.

Another benefit to using the ford setup is that your not gonna have to deal with horrible axle wrap like you do with flexy leaves.

[rokrawlr]

The Ford style radius arms will flex just fine if the arms are extended. All I did for the front end was install Cage Offroad long arms and some Deaver superflex springs.

http://www.freedomtrailriders.org/forums/uploads/1160436570/gallery_108_79_109332.jpg

I could have gone higher but the ramp kept moving on the tar and the Jeep holding the ramp was in the way. http://www.freedomtrailriders.org/forums/uploads/1160436570/gallery_108_79_37219.jpg

I thought about switching the J10 over to the axles out of the Bronco but I don't want to go through the hassles of changing from driver's drop to passenger.

The Long arm kit I have is more droop than compression since the arms hit the bottom of the frame and doesn't allow full compression.