Dana 44 front axle

[driveamerican]

I have a 78 f150 dana 44 front axle for my 66 f100 I want to upgrade to 8 lug does anyone know if 1980's ttb parts will work I cant find any parts around me from a 77 1/2 - 79 3/4 ton dana 44. I was told gm 44 or 10 bolt stuff would work it seems to be getting rare also. and for what I am doing I want to keep the coils and really don't need or want to do the mods on a dana 60. Thanks Mark.

[My427stang]

I have never heard of anyone doing this, but there were plenty of Dana 44 8 lug axles over the years, so maybe

The 78 will have a bigger spindle bolt pattern than the 66 did, so that may be the same as a 3/4 ton

I think what I'd likely do first is see if the spindles have the same part number.  If they don't then just buy a spindle and see if it and the caliper bracket will bolt up. 

Lots of parts could be different, axle OD, stub shaft length, hubs, etc, but might get lucky.

I do have to ask, why though.  Are you trying to put an 8 lug rear in it too and want to match? 

[driveamerican]

Yes Ross the pickup has the stock 44 rear axle and I have a 60 from a 67 with 4 wheels if I can't do it cheap it will be a 9" and new wheels. I will do some searching on the part numbers that never crossed my mind thanks.

[HarleyJack17]

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=22710.0
http://www.stangerssite.com/steeringsysteminfo.html

Dana/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.

[RustyCrankshaft]

You can use all the outter stuff from a front GM 10 bolt or 44, it will all bolt onto the outter "C" on the Ford Dana 44. Converted from 5 lug to 6 to 8 lug in various directions doing this. Some of the TTB stuff will work, but most of that is unique to the TTB and there are a bunch of different versions of the TTB that all have different parts in them. Most of the parts can be bought new off the shelf as well. If you can find them in stock these days.

[driveamerican]

Thanks for the replies my friend has a gm 10 bolt he was also saying i would need to use the stub shaft but he wasn't sure at least I would have both side by side when doing it and for 200 bucks the price cant be beat. Thanks again for the help and know how I have always said for me 4wd means I am twice as stuck but an original 66 even I couldn't pass.