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Old 07-01-2005, 12:49 PM   #1
ryan68
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Dana 44HD is a bunch of BS

Ok, so I see this everywhere. Why do people think that because they have a Dana 44 out of a 3/4ton and it has 8-lugs makes it an "HD" Dana 44. There is no such thing. Dana 44's are all the same, besides the early models having "neck-down" shafts and 260x U-joints, with same old ones, mostly fords having 19-spline versions. Just because 8-lugs hold the wheel on does not make the axle any stronger than 6-lugs holding the wheel on. It's all the same parts. Well hell, then I have a Dana 44HD under my suburban, it just has 6-lug outers, that's all. Just thought I'd through this out there for people to not get all worked up cause their 44 has 8-lugs.
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Old 07-01-2005, 02:23 PM   #2
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Today is the first time I have heard one refered to a a "HD".

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Old 07-01-2005, 02:29 PM   #3
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I wish I was you then. The people I've run in to throw it around like it's common knowledge or something.
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Old 07-01-2005, 02:42 PM   #4
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There was a Dana44 with larger hubs that came out, that was confused with the 1tons, could be what everyone is refering to.
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Old 07-01-2005, 03:23 PM   #5
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actually from what ive read, the dana 44 HD has a thicker axle tube, no other difference, and i don't know that from personal witness, but its what ive read. and 8 lugs is stronger than 6, spreads the wieght out over more studs. now this is all a moot point if the housing is the same and under the same stress it will fail. but if you are pushing your 44 to the point of housing failure then maybe you should re-evaluate you driving habits.
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Old 07-01-2005, 03:35 PM   #6
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Obviously 8 lugs is better than 6 lugs, but I haven't heard of anyone having a problem shearing off all their wheel studs and not breaking an axle shaft. Unless they don't tighten their lugs all the way or something. I don't think anything besides launching a truck would cause a 44 housing to fail. I've aired my Suburban before in the sand and it held up, and it does have a small truss on it, but it is more of a differntial skid more than a truss.
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Old 07-01-2005, 04:49 PM   #7
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HA HA!!! Yeah, I know what you mean about the 44 "HD". The only place I can think this term came from is the pre '77 44 front-ends with the large hubs that required external mounted locking hubs (blot on). These large Spicer brand locking hubs are actually a tad bigger than the 1 ton Dana 60's locking hubs. Perhaps this is where people think they have a "HD" setup? I don't know for sure. What I do know for sure, is that the pre '76 Dana 44 housings, with 2.75" outside dimension (prior to the 3" tube in late '76) had thicker wall thickness at .5". I think the 3" tubers got .375" wall. Thats about the only heavy duty thing about a Dana 44 that I can think of.
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Old 07-01-2005, 11:56 PM   #8
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i thought the difference between 44 and the 8lug d44, was the spindles, IE the 3/4 ton d44 had a bigger spindle and bearings hence more weight/load support, if i can find the link on pirate 4x4 ill post about what i had read about the differences
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Old 07-02-2005, 01:36 AM   #9
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what would you guys call the d44 i had on my '70 GMC that had like 14 spline outers... those things were as small as one of my fingers
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Old 07-02-2005, 01:39 AM   #10
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Hey Full foot.. i thought the same thing way back till I parted out a couple 1/2 ton 44's and some 3/4 ton..
2 out of 4 of the 1/2 ton 44 had the same size spindle as the 3/4 ton..

So can't really be determined by that either...
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Old 07-02-2005, 06:53 AM   #11
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The funny thing is, those big external hubs are actually considered weaker than the internal style because of the spacer and length of bolts.
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1970 K25, 8' stepside bed 350/465/205 44 up front, 60 in the rear 4.10s rolling on 33" Dunlop MTs
1986 K5, 350/465/208 Dana 60/14 bolt from a cucv 36" Super Swampers TSL/SX
1983 K20 w/ CUCV axles, 350/700R4/208 sitting on 37" Goodyears
1986 M1031 6.2 diesel, TH400/NP205 locker in the rear and a LS in the front, all stock for now.....
1986 K30, 350/400/205 dana 60 and 14 bolt. I kept the drivetrain. Body/bad and chassis are gone.
1981 K30, 350/465/205 dana 60 and dually 14 bolt. Has a G80, and a flat bed. Going to replace the flat bed.

1985 K20, 350/400/208 10 bolt and SF 14 bolt. I wonder where I can find some 1 tons. Hmmmmm
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Old 07-08-2005, 10:22 AM   #12
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The spindles,bearings and hub assemblies are bigger on the early disc brake D44s(`71/72).In`72 there was 1st and 2nd design.They were different,too.Also (HD?)3/4t axles have larger brakes.There were different spline-counts over the years.It`s a good axle and I`ve thrashed a few.Usually worn inner spindle(needle)bearings or a bad u-joint in the stub-axles.You can upgrade any of them with stronger axle shafts,u-joints,and trusses.The 3/4t(HD?)are beefier,not in the shafts,though.
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Old 07-08-2005, 11:23 AM   #13
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The brakes are not bigger, just 8-holes for studs instead of 6. The hub FLANGES are bigger cause the lug patten is 6.5" round instead of 5.5" round. They use the same hubs, same bearings. The spindles are the same size from what I know as well. I have a friend who put a 14 bolt and 8-lug 44 in a 73 Blazer with lockers front and rear, 35's, 350/350. I have a 6-lug 44 and a 12-bolt, lockers front and rear, in a suburban, 35's, 350/350. We go wheeling together and have the same driving styles. All that ever breaks is the u-joints or shafts. If you have problems with spindles, hubs, or bearings, you have other issues like someone mentioned before. And trusses really don't do much unless you really are trying to mess something up. I have a trusses front and rear, left my front off once, caught some air unexpectedly, bent the rear WITH the truss on it, front was fine.
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71 Suburban 4x4 (350,TH350) 7" lift 37's, D44/14 bolt and other sorts of goodies, lockers front and rear, flexes 40", 895 RTI score
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Old 07-08-2005, 12:31 PM   #14
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Time for some 1 ton!
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Old 07-08-2005, 01:05 PM   #15
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Thumbs up

Actually the brake rotors are bigger(larger diameter), the calipers are the same. That's why you have to grind the caliper and backing plate on a 44 to get 15" wheels to fit.
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1970 K25, 8' stepside bed 350/465/205 44 up front, 60 in the rear 4.10s rolling on 33" Dunlop MTs
1986 K5, 350/465/208 Dana 60/14 bolt from a cucv 36" Super Swampers TSL/SX
1983 K20 w/ CUCV axles, 350/700R4/208 sitting on 37" Goodyears
1986 M1031 6.2 diesel, TH400/NP205 locker in the rear and a LS in the front, all stock for now.....
1986 K30, 350/400/205 dana 60 and 14 bolt. I kept the drivetrain. Body/bad and chassis are gone.
1981 K30, 350/465/205 dana 60 and dually 14 bolt. Has a G80, and a flat bed. Going to replace the flat bed.

1985 K20, 350/400/208 10 bolt and SF 14 bolt. I wonder where I can find some 1 tons. Hmmmmm

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Old 07-08-2005, 09:15 PM   #16
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Now don`t go comparing the 12-bolt rear to a 14-bolt,HO52,or Dana60 rear.!2-bolts are notoriously prone to problems when put to serious use off-road.The D44HD is still a D44.Not much difference,that`s why it`s still a D44.If there was more to it,the D44HD would be given a larger number.
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Old 07-08-2005, 09:25 PM   #17
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The sad part is a dana 50 contains a lot of dana44 parts. You know I actually read some where that the dana44 closed knuckle in 3/4 ton trucks actually had a larger axle u-joint than a 297. I'll see if I can find it. The other sad thing is there's not enough dana 60s to go around. Who put the HD on the dana44? Was it spicer or the auto manufacturer? Is a 3/4 ton 10 bolt refered to as anything special?
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1970 K25, 8' stepside bed 350/465/205 44 up front, 60 in the rear 4.10s rolling on 33" Dunlop MTs
1986 K5, 350/465/208 Dana 60/14 bolt from a cucv 36" Super Swampers TSL/SX
1983 K20 w/ CUCV axles, 350/700R4/208 sitting on 37" Goodyears
1986 M1031 6.2 diesel, TH400/NP205 locker in the rear and a LS in the front, all stock for now.....
1986 K30, 350/400/205 dana 60 and 14 bolt. I kept the drivetrain. Body/bad and chassis are gone.
1981 K30, 350/465/205 dana 60 and dually 14 bolt. Has a G80, and a flat bed. Going to replace the flat bed.

1985 K20, 350/400/208 10 bolt and SF 14 bolt. I wonder where I can find some 1 tons. Hmmmmm
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Old 07-23-2014, 09:36 PM   #18
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Re: Dana 44HD is a bunch of BS

Quote:
Originally Posted by JIMs70GMC View Post
Who put the HD on the dana44?
Dana - but not for GM. In the Ford world, there are HD Dana 44's. They made a Dana 44-6CF and a Dana 44-6CF HD - both are eight lug axles used under 3/4 tons.
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Old 08-12-2014, 03:04 PM   #19
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Re: Dana 44HD is a bunch of BS

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Originally Posted by 1972RedNeck View Post
Dana - but not for GM. In the Ford world, there are HD Dana 44's. They made a Dana 44-6CF and a Dana 44-6CF HD - both are eight lug axles used under 3/4 tons.
PLUS.........they went to "high-pinion" reverse cut R&P gears as well.
I have converted several of these to 5 lug for off road Jeeps.
Fairly tough, but no match for the high pinion Dana 60s....(at least not here in the mountains!)
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Old 07-09-2005, 03:56 PM   #20
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Or,"the people"?I`ve never heard it before now.I guess a D44 in a Bronco or Jeep-sized vehicle would be an Extreme-Duty since the shafts are shorter making them stronger by nature,and they only have 5-LUGS!!
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Old 07-09-2005, 04:36 PM   #21
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44ed?
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1970 K25, 8' stepside bed 350/465/205 44 up front, 60 in the rear 4.10s rolling on 33" Dunlop MTs
1986 K5, 350/465/208 Dana 60/14 bolt from a cucv 36" Super Swampers TSL/SX
1983 K20 w/ CUCV axles, 350/700R4/208 sitting on 37" Goodyears
1986 M1031 6.2 diesel, TH400/NP205 locker in the rear and a LS in the front, all stock for now.....
1986 K30, 350/400/205 dana 60 and 14 bolt. I kept the drivetrain. Body/bad and chassis are gone.
1981 K30, 350/465/205 dana 60 and dually 14 bolt. Has a G80, and a flat bed. Going to replace the flat bed.

1985 K20, 350/400/208 10 bolt and SF 14 bolt. I wonder where I can find some 1 tons. Hmmmmm
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Old 07-09-2005, 08:47 PM   #22
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Smile

h052 and h072 are 10.25"(biggest difference is the size of the brakes),
H110 is the 12+"(does not have a removable cover),
dana60 is 9.75",
14BFF is 10.5" like the dana70.
The semi float 14b is 9.5",
12b is 8.875" and the
10B and dana44 are 8.5".
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1970 K25, 8' stepside bed 350/465/205 44 up front, 60 in the rear 4.10s rolling on 33" Dunlop MTs
1986 K5, 350/465/208 Dana 60/14 bolt from a cucv 36" Super Swampers TSL/SX
1983 K20 w/ CUCV axles, 350/700R4/208 sitting on 37" Goodyears
1986 M1031 6.2 diesel, TH400/NP205 locker in the rear and a LS in the front, all stock for now.....
1986 K30, 350/400/205 dana 60 and 14 bolt. I kept the drivetrain. Body/bad and chassis are gone.
1981 K30, 350/465/205 dana 60 and dually 14 bolt. Has a G80, and a flat bed. Going to replace the flat bed.

1985 K20, 350/400/208 10 bolt and SF 14 bolt. I wonder where I can find some 1 tons. Hmmmmm

Last edited by JIMs70GMC; 07-09-2005 at 08:49 PM.
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Old 07-09-2005, 10:45 PM   #23
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The 14-bolt SF is a good bit more axle than a 1/2t.Very under-rated,I think.In a Suburban or 3/4t PU it is more than adequate unless alot of loaded weight is put on them regularly.That is where the benefits of full-floaters sets them apart.
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Tim

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R.I.P. ~ East Side Low Life ~ El Jay ~ 72BLUZ ~ Fasteddie69 ~ Ron586 ~ 67ChevyRedneck ~ Grumpy Old Man ~
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Old 07-10-2005, 05:07 PM   #24
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Ive noticed ive got a 70' d44 that had drum brakes, i bought a 78 model d44 for my 70 so i could have disc brakes. The wheel studs are larger on the 78 model and the tube is 1/4 inch bigger, I ve done alot of measuring and as far as i can tell it should bolt right in, i dont know if having 2 different size wheel studs on the front and rear will be an issue as the rear d60 has smaller wheel studs that the newer d44. can u guys shed any light?? Thanks
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Old 07-10-2005, 08:05 PM   #25
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should be fine. my 70 GMc is like yours(1/2") and my 71 has the 9/16" studs and I've swapped wheels no problems. You could always upgrade the rear to disc and change out your studs to 9/16".
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1970 K25, 8' stepside bed 350/465/205 44 up front, 60 in the rear 4.10s rolling on 33" Dunlop MTs
1986 K5, 350/465/208 Dana 60/14 bolt from a cucv 36" Super Swampers TSL/SX
1983 K20 w/ CUCV axles, 350/700R4/208 sitting on 37" Goodyears
1986 M1031 6.2 diesel, TH400/NP205 locker in the rear and a LS in the front, all stock for now.....
1986 K30, 350/400/205 dana 60 and 14 bolt. I kept the drivetrain. Body/bad and chassis are gone.
1981 K30, 350/465/205 dana 60 and dually 14 bolt. Has a G80, and a flat bed. Going to replace the flat bed.

1985 K20, 350/400/208 10 bolt and SF 14 bolt. I wonder where I can find some 1 tons. Hmmmmm
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