Dana 44 Ring Gear Swap Question

[jeffahart]

Originally Posted by Chaparralman1974

I actually decided to just stay with the HO52. It was working, and the only real reason I was thinking of going to the 14 bolt was to have 4.11's front and rear, but the 4.56's will be fine for me. This is just going to be a cruiser to go and get ice cream from time to time and not a daily driver. Also, it will set me in a good place if I do ever decide to lift it and go with bigger tires.

I actually found a couple of 1971/72 Eaton HO52/72 hubs that accept 9/16" studs, so I think that I am going to do the 14 bolt brake mod to the HO52 so that I have larger and more modern brakes. That really gets me the both of best worlds. I am going to just sell the 14 bolt axle.


Clay

I purchased my axles as take offs from a military ambulance. They come with 4.56 gears. I got the 14bolt(which was a SRW one ton, so it bolted right in no perch issues) along with the front Dana60. If I had found a good post 1970 44 or 60 on their own I would still be running the eaton. I liked the eaton... but I don't miss it.

I am running 33"s on my truck with 4.56s. It's fine for around town. I occasionally take it on the freeways for short distances out of convenience, the harmonics get pretty loud. I'm running some Hankook tires that are really loud too, I hate them. Plus my truck is a bit of a rattler anyway.

If you do the cheapest way for a straight line now... you can always swap stuff out later; no harm no foul, just a bit of elbow grease.

j