One thing to keep in mind as you may know there were many different Ford Dana 44 variations. You may wish to stick with 78 or up as you noted for Ford stuff. The breakover year for Highboys had an open knuckle HD 44 but I highly doubt those parts will fit your 1/2 ton knuckles. I know none of the closed knuckle parts will...at least most likely. The HD 44 had larger spindles, hubs etc. I sourced one from an older GM for my highboy and it was pricey! Point being you may find the parts for the open knuckle, but you may need the knuckle out, not just stubs, spindles, hubs. You also may have issues with spline count on the carrier...
However, if the newer open knuckle designs of GM/Dodge are like some of the older closed knuckle stuff you likely can source from there. Finding info is your friend as spindles and hubs get pricey fast. I seem to remember there were old articles of doing this conversion and the parts needed back years ago. It was not uncommon. I don't have info on that since I did not need it. Just recall seeing it.
Some things to consider:
It may be easier to source an entire front end. 2005 Super Duty's come to mind, but then you have metric vs. standard wheel patterns.
It may be cheaper to get custom axles with your half ton pattern for the rear, and upgrade axle shafts for the front and just run it.
This may help....the chebby is about the big hubs, but that forum may have more info.
https://torqueking.com/http://forum.73-87chevytrucks.com/smforum/index.php?topic=22710.0http://www.stangerssite.com/steeringsysteminfo.htmlDana/Spicer at one time had parts breakdowns, instructions, i.d. info etc. on the web but it seems that link I have is no longer valid. It would have helped a lot.