Can yo upgrade a two piece Dana 44 rear to one piece axle shafts?

[PNW69Waggy]

I have a 1969 Wagoneer that has the two-piece shaft Dana 44 rear axle and Dana 27 front. I'm currently looking for a later six lug, disc brake Dana 44 front end to swap in. I'll need to swap the rear to the same lug pattern and have also heard the two piece shafts are weak. I'm wondering if there a (practical, cost effective) way to upgrade my older two piece Dana 44 to one piece axle shafts & convert to the 6 x 5.5 pattern? Would the later one piece / six lug D44 shafts just swap right into my housing or is it not that easy?

Is there any reason to ditch the whole early D44 housing, or is it just the two piece shafts that are weak?

I did find someone semi local selling a later D44 rear end, so I'm considering just purchasing that, but before I do wanted to ask if converting my existing housing would be an option.

[tgreese]

I have a 1969 Wagoneer that has the two-piece shaft Dana 44 rear axle and Dana 27 front. I'm currently looking for a later six lug, disc brake Dana 44 front end to swap in. I'll need to swap the rear to the same lug pattern and have also heard the two piece shafts are weak. I'm wondering if there a (practical, cost effective) way to upgrade my older two piece Dana 44 to one piece axle shafts & convert to the 6 x 5.5 pattern? Would the later one piece / six lug D44 shafts just swap right into my housing or is it not that easy?

Is there any reason to ditch the whole early D44 housing, or is it just the two piece shafts that are weak?

I did find someone semi local selling a later D44 rear end, so I'm considering just purchasing that, but before I do wanted to ask if converting my existing housing would be an option.

The early CJ guys are in the same situation as you - early tapered (two-piece) axles in a Dana 44. My understanding is the only reasonable conversion for these axles (other than replacing the complete unit) is a full-float conversion. The flanged axle, bearing and housing is too different from the tapered axle to be converted. The following article is about a kit, but it shows the principle. https://www.fourwheeler.com/how-to/t...ater-axle-kit/ You don't _need_ a kit - instead you can can gather the parts and have the axle shafts made. Not sure if this can be done with 6 lugs - maybe.

Easier/cheaper is to go to newer axles. Your ideal conversion would be axles from a centered-output '74-79 Wagoneer. This would provide the proper centered flanged rear 44 with a passenger-drop disk brake open-knuckle 44 front. 6 lug. NB the Quadratrac rear axle is not centered, and not ideal for this conversion. Some say the resulting driveshaft angle is ok, some say not - I don't know.

If you could find a 5-lug flanged rear 44 for a Wagoneer (70-ish to '73), a '74-79 front 44 can be changed to 5 lugs using Ford hubs. Similarly, you could convert the 6-lug open 44 front to 5 lugs and keep your current rear axle.

The '80-up axles will have the proper centered rear housing but be drivers drop. The Corporate axle from these years does not have the issues the CJ AMC 20 has, so don't let that put you off from that axle.

[PNW69Waggy]

It looks like the original rearend in my '69 has the differential offset slightly to the passenger side. Is the QT D44 off-set even more to the passenger side than mine is then? The one I found for sale is described as passenger side offset. I didn't realize there were different rear ends used depending on if the rig was QT or not.

Anyone got a photo comparing the two or maybe some measurements to help identify which D44 I should be looking for?

[tgreese]

It looks like the original rearend in my '69 has the differential offset slightly to the passenger side. Is the QT D44 off-set even more to the passenger side than mine is then? The one I found for sale is described as passenger side offset. I didn't realize there were different rear ends used depending on if the rig was QT or not.

Anyone got a photo comparing the two or maybe some measurements to help identify which D44 I should be looking for?

This thread might help you http://www.ifsja.org/forums/vb/showthread.php?t=164127

My understanding is that the original poster went with the Quadratrac axle for a while, and eventually sought out a centered axle. I would guess that the Quadratrac axle is offset something like 8-10-12" - quite a lot compared to the inch or two of the centered axle.

The suitability of your current rear axle depends on what you have planned for your Jeep. Certainly the original axle was fine with the original tires and original power. If you plan to use your Jeep like it was intended, it should be fine for you. If you want big tires, lots of lift and a monster engine, it may not be suitable. If it were me, I would seriously consider trading up for a somewhat newer platform, rather than upgrading this vehicle.

[babywag]

I say upgrade to a set of '75-79 6 lug axles.
I did on my '73.
Ran both a QT and a D20 without issues.
Finding a donor rig was pretty cheap and easy.
Was basically free upgrade after selling leftovers.
Tossed crappy 73 axles under it, removed & sold some stuff and off it went.

[PNW69Waggy]

Pardon my ignorance, but do the front Dana 44's also differ based on whether they were paired with QT or paired with a Dana 20?


Realistically, my stock rear Dana 44 is probably strong enough for what I plan to do with the Jeep- 31 or 32" tires and very mild off road use. This Jeep won't be a rockcrawler, it will be 95% street driven but I would like to be able to take it camping and explore some fire roads, take it to the dunes / beach, etc. It's really the front Dana 27 I want to ditch. Even if it can handle my use (which seems iffy to me), it probably needs fully rebuilt and I don't see much point of putting any money into something that is basically an antique... would rather swap to a more modern open knuckle, disc brake axle that I'll be able to find parts for down the road.

I did initially think about converting a later D44 front to 5x5.5 so I can keep my stock rear end and stock wheels, but I may end up wanting wider wheels anyway. At that point, why not just convert to six lug and ditch the two piece rear end for a little extra piece of mind....

[tgreese]

Nope, no change in front axle.

The open knuckle axles are also much lower maintenance and more durable. Plus you'll improve your turning radius.

[Kaiserjeeps]

Unless you are wheeling hard, you will be wasting money changing the rear axle. The dana 44 two piece ales have a full length keyway. With a very large key. They never spin or strip. If you get one that is loose it will shift back and forth doing damage to the keyway and key. Just keep the nut tight to spec and they won't give you any problems. I wheeled hard on two piece axles in my 69 CJ-5 and they did fine. Later I upgraded to full float axles because I needed to keep up with the jones's in my club. AMC 20 shafts and hubs have stupid short and shallow splines. And a shaft key that is tiny and short. No wonder they failed so much. Moser makes a solution for those weak car axles. AMC 20 two piece and Dana 44 two piece axles are very different in design. It is kind of like comparing apples and oranges. The dana axles are a much better design.
The only other drawback to dana tapered axles is needing the double headed puller for the hub to remove it and service stuff. Other than that those axles will serve you just fine. keep the nut tight and stay off trails like the hammers and you are golden..

I also converted a disc brake 6 lug dana 44 to 5 lug. I had to change the bearing hubs, spindles and locking hubs. It was not cheap but I wanted to keep the 5 lug wheels. Anyway, just another opinion for you.

[babywag]

I did initially think about converting a later D44 front to 5x5.5 so I can keep my stock rear end and stock wheels, but I may end up wanting wider wheels anyway. At that point, why not just convert to six lug and ditch the two piece rear end for a little extra piece of mind....

I swapped both because it was cheaper/easier to do vs. changing lug pattern on front axle, also could NOT find a matching ratio axle.
Having to regear obviously would have added to parts costs.

It just made more sense(for me) to swap both and be done with it.
The wheels and tires on mine were junky...
The donor rig I bought also had decent aluminum mag wheels.

IIRC paid $600 for the whole thing including the tow...

[tgreese]

... AMC 20 shafts and hubs have stupid short and shallow splines. And a shaft key that is tiny and short. No wonder they failed so much. ...

Word is that the Corporate axle used in FSJs addresses the issues CJs had with their version. CJs both suffer from the tapered end spinning on the hub, and thin, bendable axle tubes.

I recall the FSJ axles look nutted, but the shafts are welded to the hub on the back side. Also the tubes are thicker. Seems that this axle is equally durable as a D44 in a J10, Wagoneer or Cherokee.

Unlikely these later axles will have a ratio that matches whatever front axle you find.