GMC guys! Dana 44 ??

[skoffice]

I have a friend that is giving me his Dana 44 out of his 67 GMC. It's freshly built with 3.73 gears and a Detroit Tru trac (nice friend huh?). My dilemma is that it's 6 lug! Can I put different shafts in it to make it 5 lug?? Is it the same 44 rear as used in the old Jeeps? Or did GM offer this with a 5 lug pattern? Any help/info woud be awesome!

[dwaite72lnghrn]

The Dana 44/60 is the differential section of the whole thing. The axle tubes/hub ends were added for the application. So the axle shafts and hub ends are all different. I think the spline count is different between each application. I thought the Dana 44's were in the front of 1/2&3/4 Chevy's.

[D-Rat]

Most modern D44s are 30 spline, but they did make them in the 60s with like a 13 spline (could be more or less, but was a lot less than 30). An International Scout II rear D44 would have 5 on 5.5" lug outers and drum brakes, and should interchange as long as you have 30 spline shafts.

[Fitz]

Originally Posted by skoffice

I have a friend that is giving me his Dana 44 out of his 67 GMC. It's freshly built with 3.73 gears and a Detroit Tru trac (nice friend huh?). My dilemma is that it's 6 lug! Can I put different shafts in it to make it 5 lug?? Is it the same 44 rear as used in the old Jeeps? Or did GM offer this with a 5 lug pattern? Any help/info woud be awesome!

Call Currie enterprises. They have axles for your diff in 30, 31, 33, or 35 spline, small or large bearing in a 5 x 5 lug pattern. cost is 319.95.

[skoffice]

So you think the International has the same length shafts as the GMC as well? I could definitely work with 5 on 5.5. I mean I can get custom shafts made but if I can just go to the junk yard and pull two shafts and drums that would be ideal of course. Matter of fact I'm sure I have a buddy that has old Scout stuff layin around. That's interesting info about the spline though, I never knew they had low number splines like that. I will have to pull this one apart and find out.

[D-Rat]

Originally Posted by skoffice

So you think the International has the same length shafts as the GMC as well? I could definitely work with 5 on 5.5. I mean I can get custom shafts made but if I can just go to the junk yard and pull two shafts and drums that would be ideal of course. Matter of fact I'm sure I have a buddy that has old Scout stuff layin around. That's interesting info about the spline though, I never knew they had low number splines like that. I will have to pull this one apart and find out.

No, the scout shafts would certainly be too short...

well, scratch that. I wasn't thinking about that part, as I'm more used to semi floating rears where the shafts press into the outers.

[skoffice]

That's what I was unsure of was the shaft lengths. Dam looks like I'm probably screwed.. Good 'ol GMC, always doin weird different stuff.

[fasttech]

Hey skoffice, I was just reading this post about your friends Dana 44 with a Truetrac posi. I have a 67 GMC with a Dana 44 and was thinking about putting in a Truetrac but I wasn't sure if the stock axle splines were 30 and would work with a Truetrac. Can you ask your friend if his stock axles were 30 spline? It would save me a lot of trouble pulling the axles to check. Also to let you know Dutchman Motorsports will change the bolt pattern on a pair of axles for $65 -$100.

Thanks,

[skoffice]

I'll ask him tomorrow if he knows what's in it. Just a forewarning though he had it built about 7 or 8 years ago and might not remember and I doubt he has any paper work still. I will see what he says though!

[fasttech]

Thanks for checking. He would of had to purchase new axles with a 30 spline since the Truetrac only supports a 30 spline axle for the D44. It would be hard to forget spending an extra $300 bucks for new axles.

[skoffice]

Hey sorry I haven't gotten back in so long. He said he spent about $1100 on the rear end but doesn't remember what they all did to it. He's gonna see if he has the invoice filed away in his truck stuff.

[fasttech]

Thanks for the info skoffice. Let me know if he finds the invoice.

[skoffice]

Ok getting ready to throw this thing in now. Does anyone make a disc brake conversion for the D44 rears? Or are there any parts lists that I can piece something together with? I'm sure I can make the caliper brackets, but what disc and caliper could I use? Any info would be great!

[fasttech]

I have researched the crap out of this and starting to collect the required parts for my conversion but here is what I have learned.

The Dana 44 rear ends in the 67-72 trucks have axle mounting flanges based on the Ford 9" early big bearing. So basically any disc brake kit based on the Ford 9" early big bearing will / should work. There are a bunch of disc brake kits out there but the most cost effective approach I could find is to buy the parts individually as follows:

Bracket Kit ($70) - http://shop.oldedaysclassiccarparts....&categoryId=29 You could make your own but I figured it would cost more than $70 in materials and my time to make a set.

1985 Cadillac Seville Calipers ($150 to $200) - eBay is your best bet for a reman set but these are still pricey without a core exchange. Just make sure you get the semi-loaded caliper with all the brackets etc. for the parking brake. I got lucky and found a fresh reman set that a guy needed to get rid of. You could also save a few bucks by using the front calipers off the same car if you don't need and e-brake.

1978 Cadillac Seville Rear Rotors ($60 - $120) - I am going with a 5x5 bolt pattern and these rotors come stock with a 5x5 pattern. You will have to get them re-drilled if you need a different bolt pattern. eBay is probably your best price option here as well. The price will depend on if they are cross drilled, slotted, and with or without pads included.

GM Metric Caliper Brake Hose Kit ($40 - $60) - (2) -3 15" long brake hoses; (2) 3/16" inverted flare to -3 adapters; (2) weld-on brake adapter mounts; (2) brake adapter clips; (2) 10mm x 1.5 banjo bolts; (2) 10mm to -3 banjos; (4) 10mm crush washers. Price depends on if you go with rubber or SS braided hoses.

Axle Modifications - The center pilot hub on this rear end is 3.5" and the pilot hole on the Seville rotors is 3.07" which means you will need to have the hub pilot on both axles turned down to 3". The stock bolt pattern is a 6 lug setup so if you want to change this to some other bolt pattern the axles will have to be re-drilled for that pattern. The wheel studs for the 5x5 pattern is 1/2" so those things like that need to be considered as well. This could end up being a lot of machine work so it may be a better to purchase a set of custom built axles from Dutchman or Moser. I have the axle dimensions if you are interested.

Based on my research you will spend from $450 to $550 plus the axle or rotor mods to convert the rear Dana 44 to disc brakes. Hope this helps.

[dougminton]

redrill your axles to 5x5 pattern
2 front rotors from a AWD astro van (5x5 pattern) 80$
Rear calipers from 1979 Cadillac Eldorado at rockauto170$ including core
caliper brackets from speedway motors 30$ shipped
longer wheel studs
plus hoses (I haven't gotten that far yet)

[fasttech]

dougminton, do you have a part number for the Ford 9" caliper bracket at Speedway Motors for $30? This is a great price but I can find it on their site for some reason.

Thanks.

[Tim Christian]

My 67 GMC has the original Dana 44 under it with a 354 gear(original) and I installed a Lockrite posi in mine myself but did keep it 6-lug

[dougminton]

Fasttech
It's not a 9" bracket per se its a generic weld on for GM's big caliper.
1979 Eldorado has parking brake.
71 and later GM pickup without parking brake.
Part # is 91641005.
speedwaymotors.com Search "caliper bracket" $10.99 each plus shipping

[Mike C]

Most likely a 30 spline, but in my experience with Dana 44's in jeeps, the original ones were 10 spline (until early 60's) when they went to 19 spline, then 30 spline in 70 1/2-71 when the rare flanged axle 44 with offset pumpkin was used. The 72-75 and 86 Dana 44's were 30 spline centered pumpkin. 86 was widetrack.

Might cost a little more, but buying a set of 5 on 5 axles from the same place you got a disc conversion kit would assure compatibility and fewer trips rounding up little parts.

[fasttech]

I have a 67 GMC with a rear Dana 44 and leaf springs and I pulled one of the axles and counted the splines and my truck is a 30 spline. All of the after market posi diffs are based on the Dana 44 30 spline so there are lots of options. I suspect all of the 67-72 GMC trucks with a D44 would also be 30 spline but you don't know 100% unless you pull an axle and start counting.

dougminton, thanks for the Speedway bracket part number. I only have a crappy 110v welder so I decided to go with a bolt-on option and the one at Olde Days was the least expensive bolt-on bracket kit for a Ford 9" big bearing flange.

[fasttech]

Tim, how difficult was it to install the posi in your D44? Did you use a case spreader to get the carrier out and to set the bearing pre-load? I hear a lot of guys say a case spreader isn't necessary and just use a heavy shot mallet to drive the shims in to set the pre-load.

[skoffice]

Wow this is why I love this site! Thanks for all the good info fellas this is exactly what I was looking for! I'll see if I can contribute a little... This axle I have is out of a 67 GMC and it did in fact have 30 spline shafts. My buddy had the tru-trac installed and I'm 95% sure he did not change shafts, so it might be possible hit and miss what spline you may have. Also as for the case spreader, we just used three blocks of wood to make a bridge over the carrier with the legs on the axle tubes and tied a rope through the carrier and around the bridge. Twisted the rope with a screw driver and she popped right out. Now what if I'm trying to stay 6 lug with this? Anyone know of a 6 lug rotor with the same offset?

[fasttech]

I am not aware of any 6 bolt rotors with the same offset. I would suggest re-drilling the correct 5 bolt rotors with the 6 bolt pattern. The problem I have with the 6 bolt pattern is the lack of wheel options available.

[Tim Christian]

No special tools and if I can do it anyone can. Really straight foward and simple

[steinepstein]

I have a Dana 44 rear also and just had the axle bearings checked and they are Ford 9 bearings. I am now going to determine if the housing end bolt pattern is Ford 9" also.