67' front axle swap to 79'?

[RamAirZ]

I found a Dana 44 front out of a 79' 1/2 ton, here is the list of stuff:

"Complete brake to brake, has 3.73 gears, Superwinch selectable hubs, limited slip diff., full welded trussed, and disc brakes. Comes with u-bolts & plates, drag link, steering arm, chrome diff. cover, in good shape."

He is asking a STEAL of a price for it because they are moving and he doesn't want to transport it. What would be involved in swapping this to my 67'? The leaf spring mounts don't concern me too much but I believe they are the same anyways, I'm concerned about the steering mostly. I currently have manual steering on the closed knuckle stock axle. Would this axle bolt right up since it has the drag-link and steering arm etc already with it? Any info would be great, thanks!! I tried searching but didn't see anything with the info I needed, maybe I missed it

['68OrangeSunshine]

Haven't done it myself yet, but I have a D44 off a '77 K/5 to swap into my '67 K/10 Sub. You might think about going to power steering, since most D44s of later vintage are set up that way. I tried to put P/S on the old stock '67 closed knuckle axle with real bad results. Truck understeered so badly, I had to go back to the old JB Welded manual gearbox, and even then my steering wasn't as good as original.
The other advantage is power disc brakes.
The track wil be different, since the later D44s are about 4" wider than the original. If you look at a '69 K/5 [or later] you'll see the front wheels are wider than the rear wheels.

[LONGHAIR]

Do you have a picture of this axle? I ask because it is not likely that it really is a Dana44 from a '79. That is around the change-over years, and it is supposedly possible, but not likely. It should have been a corporate 10bolt by '79, though I guees a swap is possible too, or that the guy is wrong about the year?
Not that there is anything wrong with the 10bolt either, just be aware of what you are actually getting.

[RamAirZ]

After looking at the pic, it kinda looks smaller than my D44 that I have now. Here is a pic




Ya I was thinking of switching to power steering during this time as well but still, what steering issues would I be looking at? The spring mounts are easy as well as the driveshaft since it is pass. drop.

[LONGHAIR]

Yup, corporate 10bolt.
Like I said, there is nothing wrong with using that one. Just be sure to pull the cover off and make absolutely sure that the gear ratio is right....and that there is no damage before you waste time putting it in.

[RamAirZ]

gotcha, still trying to get in touch with the guy. It should be the 8.5 10-bolt correct, from my experience with my 98' GMC (which had this in the rear), it was pretty stout with the right parts. Any opinions as compared to my factory d44?

[68K20 x Drill]

Power steering and disc brakes are hands down the best things I have done to my truck.
You won't regret it.