Dana 44 rear axle? Stock or not? Please help!!!

[Griffin]

I have a 57 chevy 1/2 ton that is pretty damn stock. The one thing that confuses me is that it has a Dana 44 rear axle. i've looked all over the board at other people's truck and haven't seen one like it. It's a 6 lug Dana 44, the right width, with stock looking spring perches. was this ever an option on the 55-59 trucks?????????????????? is it just someone else's swap in????????????? Everyrthing else is bone stock.

[OrrieG]

Probably a swap, Chevy rear spring width has been pretty consistent over the years, I believe by design so things can be swapped around. There are a lot of other things that just "happen" to fit, I can't believe the design engineers aren't looking at consistency so tooling costs are kept to a minimum. On my 59 the 74 front and rear axles bolted right on to the original springs without any problems or modifications except for the shock hangers to frame.

[Griffin]

OrrieG,

I was assuming it was a swap, but i don't know of any other Dana 44 6 lug applications. Chevy's had the Eatons, 12 bolts, and 10 bolts in 6 lug. IH Scouts had a Dana 44 about this width but it was 5x5.5 bolt pattern. I just don't know where it came from. Plenty of Danna 44 rear axles out there but i just don't know of any 6 lug so i thought it might be some wierd option.

[raycow]

GMC trucks used Dana rears for many of the same applications where Chevy had Eaton. AFAIK, those Danas are a direct swap into Chevy trucks, so it is very likely that's what you have. One possible reason for swapping the Dana was to get highway-friendlier gearing.

Apart from the expected parts differences, the Dana also uses different brake drums. This often drives partspeople nuts who think that Chevy and GMC are the same. If you ever need to replace a drum, be sure to bring your old one as a sample.

Ray

[OrrieG]

I learn something new everytime I come here. Which helps to offset what I am loosing in other parts of my brain. Thanks for the clarificatin Ray

[yossarian19]

I found this in a search and figure somebody else might, too, so here's a "back from the dead" thread post.
Full size Jeep Wagoneers had six lug Dana 44 axles @ about 62" wide.

[67GMCkid]

Late 60's GMC's used a 6 lug Dana 44 With leaf springs most came with 354 gears.. My kid hoards these rears when he finds them.. They also use a race on the axle bearings and don't fill themselves with grindings like the latter Dana junk does.

These measure approx. 57' backing plate to backing plate and around 42"center to center on the mounting pearch...
As Ray mentioned the difference in drums,, the ebrake cables are also much different than their Chevy counterpart.

[roger55]

It's not stock.

My '57 pickup has a Dana 44 in it as well and was in it when I purchased it.
When I pulled it out to rebuild and started to clean, I noticed a hand written marking on it that said "'65 GMC". Obviously a wrecking yard marking done in white paint.

I had it rebuilt and installed a new trac-lok posi unit in it and new 3.54 gears. It's a good rear end as parts are readily available for them. Except for the brake drums however as they have been discontinued. I had to modify new Jeep drums to get a replacement set.

You are correct that the width of this rear is perfect for 55-59. But the spring perches have to be redone as the original ones are about 1/4" off on each side. Whoever originally installed this rear tried to make it work without modifying the perches and it was pretty sloppy. I bought new ones and did it right.

[roger55]

Oh and one more thing. The way the e-brake cable connects to the brake backing plate is different than stock. You either have to modify the backing plates or get custom e-brake cables. I chose the former. I used the mounts of an old set of backing plates I had as donors.
I've got details with photos on everything I did in my build thread.

[whitedog76]

You may have a Dana 45, not a 44. It's a distance cousing to the 44, looks pretty much the same. Parts are just about unatainable. I believe you can use the 44 gears and dff, but have to use a stack of shims.

[roger55]

Here's what mine looked like as purchased:



Here's that sloppy job of making it fit with it 1/4" off on each side at the perches:



Removed the shock brackets as they aren't used and welded on new perches in the correct location:



Epoxy primered:



Backing plates during modification for e-brake cable style. First pick shows the GMC style mount and the cable differences. The new one is the Chevy replacement cable. Second pic shows donor plate.









Installed: