70 wagoneer d44's

[aztommot]

What fabrication if any is needed to install 6 lug front & rear d44's on my 70'wag. Are there any snags that come with this swap. What years swap out? What year axles best to buy any help greatly appreciated. tongue.gif

[River Beast]

Your Dana 44's are 19 spline axle shafts and carriers.

The front Dana 44 swap should be a problem except for a draglink problem...maybe. The for the front should be be between 74-79... passenger side diff. the problem will be the tierod ends are smaller in size on your 70. If you get the frontend... try to get the main tierod with it, then you will have to get the draglink tierod ends worked out.

The rear on the other hand will be a little easier... except you need to find one that has an offset close to yours. Most likely froma J truck of the same years....Wags and Cheros of those years I mentioned have more of a passenger side offset to run the Quadratrac T-Case.

The 6 lug Dana 44's are a stronger choice... they have 30 splines which make them stronger and if not mistaken slightly larger in diameter axle shafts.

Make sure you get matching gears in the front and rear so you don't have to spend more money than you want to.

[aztommot]

Thanks RiverBeast! I thought that the width of the axles on the Jtrucks was wider than my wagoneer. Do you know if this will enable me to use a spring lift as none of the manufactures listed in the Topic of the month nor any that I can find list any sort of spring system lift for my wagoneer. smile.gif

[River Beast]

Yes J truck axles are wider...sorry I foregot... I was thinking more along the lines of aligning the drivetrain for you.

As for springs.... sorry... I have yet to find a company that stocks lift springs for fre-74 FSJ's

Some out there have had custom springs done up... maybe they will repsond... otherwise start a new post and we can add it to the topic of the month for the pre- 74's

[aztommot]

Thanks again RiverBeast. About 4 years ago the rearend on my wag blew something out of it(most likely the spider gear) At the time I got a junkyard to bring me another rearend for it. To stuid to look and make sure they were a match DOOH! I just looked under it and the diff in the back already has a passenger side offset. Problem is, is that over 55mph the drive shaft felt like it was gonna come un glued so I pretty much never drove it over 45. That was 3 years ago its been sitting a while. Do you know if the original d44 was more centered because the one in there now is definetaly offset to the passanger side. :(

[River Beast]

the original 70's Dana44 are more centered than those of the 74-79 but still offset a bit. Here is a pic to go by...this is my offset Dana 44 for the QT units...is your this offset? I doubt it if it's a 5 lug.
http://home.earthlink.net/~riverbeast/rear_files/image014.jpg

Are you lifted at all? You may need to shim up the rear some....

[ October 15, 2001: Message edited by: River Beast ]

[aztommot]

If I had to take a guess I'd say it's not that far offset but, were talking like only 1-2 inches less offset than the pic of yours. Dumb Question But what problems would exist and what's the cure for the drivetrain geometry.
Unfortunatly no It's not lifted and the Wag Sags.
Gotta love the pic of that Accord next to your rig. :D

[River Beast]

I could be a bad rear since you got it....sorry.... but it also could be a blown u-joint or the drive shaft out of phase....

Do a search for "driveshafts" on the tech forum or "phasing"

[aztommot]

Thanks again River Beast I'll look in to it. :rolleyes:

[Kenall]

NOT SO FAST...................

for the 70 model year the rear d44 can be 30spline if it is of one piece design. to determine this, asto, tell me if there is a large nut protruding from the center of the axle end when u remove the wheel cover/hub cap? if there is no large nut, and the surface is flat, then u have the 30spline rear d44, as i do.

if this unit is still serviceable, than it can be used with a post 74 wag front d44s, as i have done. the only necessary fabrication wood be to change the front rotors back to 5lug, or change the rear axle shafts themselves to 6 lug and then use early 60s GM truck 6 lug drums with ur existing brake backing plates, as i have done

if a junkyard sent u a rear diff for ur wagoneer and it was a 5lugger, than it wood have the same offset as ur OE unit. only the OE diffs with 6lugs that came from wags wood be of a greater offset as RB stated.

another option avail too u is to use the OE FnR d44s from 74-79 wags or NT cherokees. then convert ur th400 trany to accept the QT xcase. this wood then properly align the xcase yoke with the rear diff to eliminate vibes that ur OE setup cood not achieve. i have done this conversion eliminating many vibrations i had with the d20 xcase.

the next option which is more $$$ than the previous 2, (these options are going in order of expense) is to use the front d44 from a 74-79 wag, but use the centered rear AMC20 or D44 from 80-91 wags. AMC20 is 80-86, d44 is 87-91. The AMC is as robust as the d44 for tires less than 35" but has fewer choices when it comes to RP ratio than the d44.
but the use of a centered rear diff wood necessitate the removal (or the driveshaft will interfear with it) of ur coffin style teardrop fuel tank and either replace it with a model from an 80-91 wag, or place a tank to the area occupied by the spare tire. Aero tanks makes a 27g tank to fit this area.

questions?

smile.gif ;) tongue.gif :eek:

[ October 15, 2001: Message edited by: Kenall ]

[jeepgods]

a rear from a post 74 wag w/ manual trans should be more centered although im not sure if the spring perches are in the same spot

[jeepbob]

You will have to add a proportioning valve for the brakes.

[aztommot]

Thanks Kenall
I am at work right now so I'm unable to check the rear axle but, if memory serves me right I don't remeber a bolt being on the axle which would be good news. All I would have to do is switch out the front axle for a d44. I would assume that you can get 5lug rotors for the front axles also assuming that is what you did? Since you have done the conversion is there anything else I need to look out for beside what RB said about the drag link. Thanks again very informative!!! :D

[Kenall]

if u use 74-76 front d44s than u can use ford 78-79 hub/rotors to convert the front diff back to 5lug. 77-79 jeep front d44s, used different bearings and wood therefore have to be converted by welding up the holes and redrilling for 5lug.

i on the other hand had the rear axles converted to 6lug by welding/drilling, and use the early drums to complete the swap. then later i had a custom set of axles made for the 1970 rear diff that i have. (my rear diff from day one is from a 70 wag. and is of 1 piece design.)

in fact, i still have the axles that i converted from 5-6lug here in town. however, the flange on one is bent from wheeling and therefore makes the wheel wobble when i roll down the street. this is y i had the nu set custom made ;)

the draglink??? r u tempting an SOA?

jeepgods:
no matter if the manual rear diff is of lesser offset than that used for the AT. it still wood be no less offset than his current OE rear diff as the fuel tank is the 'fly in the ointment'

jeepbob:
lets get him the diffs first, we can tell him all about the brake mods he will have to do when swapping to front discs. ;)

but butt buttt...
if u dont plan on heavy rock 4wheeling or gumbo mud and dont plan tires larger that 32", it wood be more cost effective just to convert the d27 u have now, to discs.

the d27 is fine for the size of the vehicle for light duty 4wheeling, and if they break, are ezy to replace as many FSJ owners swap them out for d44s.

smile.gif ;) tongue.gif :eek:

[ October 15, 2001: Message edited by: Kenall ]

[aztommot]

Thanks all
Curious what all is involved in converting the D27 to disc brakes besides brake booster and proportioning vavle. I already plumbed all new brake lines so that is taken care of.
Thanks again :D

[Crazy_Jeepman]

I have posted this before, so I coppied it and am posting it here for you. Yes the 70 will have 30 spline axles in fact every 70 I have had has had 30 spline axles. I did this swap to my 70 and used the following from a 79 Wag so get these parts while you are at it. Front D44 with steering components, Steering box as well, since the drag link will not fit the pitman arm on the 70 (you may be able to change the pitman arm not sure, brake proportioning valve for the disk brakes you will have, what engine you have will depend on the brake master cylinder and booster you can use this I found to be the biggest NIGHTMARE!!! If you need any answers on this issue let me know I have PLENTY!! Oh now I see you have the 350 Well the large diameter brake booster from a 79 will not fit between the inner fender and the valve cover so yup it will be fun I had to put the 79 master cylinder on the 70 booster to do this you need to cut the rod between the booster and the master cylinder. not to big a deal but still a pain. I am going to try a booster from a 85 as they are smaller in diameter.
To convert the rear axle to 6 stud wheels.
I grabbed the axles from a 74 Cherokee as they have 6 stud wheels and had the Dana 20 Transfer case. I had to take these in as well as the 70 axles and have the wheel bearings pressed off had to use the bearing retainer plates from the 70 as the bolt pattern is different. Put the 70 retaining plates on the 6 stud axles press new bearings and seals on. You also need to use the rear brake backing plates and brake drums from the parts rig that had 6 stud wheels and had the Dana 20 Transfer case. The backing plates I took to a machine shop and had the new bolt pattern drilled $20.00 was what I paid for this service. You would need to take backing plates from your 70 in as well so the correct bolt pattern can be drilled in the backing plate. Well, this is the basic procedure for the rear axle. If you need anymore info I would be happy to help you out. ;)

[TimB]

In mid '70 is when the two-piece 19 spline tapered Dana 44 rear was replaced with the one-piece 30 spline flanged Dana 44 rear. My '70 was an early one with the tapered rear. I have since swapped it and the front Dana 27 with newer 44's and disks up front. The '74-'79 Cherokees and J-10's with manual trannys will have the same Dana 20 xfer you have, so will have proper pumpkin offset and six lugs. '77-'79's will have front disk brakes.

[Bob Barry]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Kenall:
only the OE diffs with 6lugs that came from wags wood be of a greater offset as RB stated.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Don't forget that the QT was introduced in '73, when they still used the 5-lug wheel pattern, so a '73 rear might have the greater offset and still have five lugs.

[aztommot]

Great Info All!!!
So Crazy_Jeepman sounds like the only thing that I am going to have a hang up on is the brake booster. So the 79 master cylinder will fit to the 70 booster? Many Thanks now just to find a donor vehicle that phoenix auto recyclers don't want bend me over on :rolleyes: