how do i convert my dana 44 to a 50 i will need axils shafts and outer knuckles right with new roters and all that where can i buy outer knuckle? and is a d 50 stronger than a 44 straight because i have a straight i just bought but it will cost 2k to get put in and thats to much for me
dana 44 ifs to a dana 50
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Broncobill78
New member
Well, the short answer is you don't.
The long answer is:
Very few parts swap between the axles & the D50 itself isn't a bolt-in swap either. To begin with The axle arms on the D50 are about 8" shorter than the D44 which means the inner axle-shafts themselves are different & won't interchange. The spacing on the ball-joints is different so the knuckles don't swap & the spindle-bolt pattern is different as well. Also, the D50 uses a larger axle-shaft U-joint. Swapping whole axles is also difficult since because the D50 beam lengths are different from the D44 it has different mounting & pivot points so it won't bolt up to the Bronco without either modifying or changing the front crossmember. The D50 center section & stub shafts are about the only parts that can be swapped.
Now you might be tempted to install your D60 rear & then try to use D44-HD knuckles up front to get a matching 8-lug bolt pattern but the D44-HD knuckles use the same ball-joint spacing as the D50 knuckles so no joy there either.
You CAN make a bastard 8-lug D44IFS axle using Brand-X parts though, here's a link to a good write-up:
http://www.off-road.com/trucks4x4/article/...l.jsp?id=198393
Unfortunately that's about as good as it's going to get. Nobody but nobody makes any D44ifs upgrade parts (like chromemoly axle-shafts) and while the D50 parts *are* larger & stronger you can't use any of them for the reasons listed above. The chevy parts swap listed in the link will score you 8-lug rotors but that's it. If you want a stronger front end there's really no other way to go about it that a straight axle swap or a D50 crossmember swap to bolt that one in but you'd also have to convert over to front leaf springs as well.
The long answer is:
Very few parts swap between the axles & the D50 itself isn't a bolt-in swap either. To begin with The axle arms on the D50 are about 8" shorter than the D44 which means the inner axle-shafts themselves are different & won't interchange. The spacing on the ball-joints is different so the knuckles don't swap & the spindle-bolt pattern is different as well. Also, the D50 uses a larger axle-shaft U-joint. Swapping whole axles is also difficult since because the D50 beam lengths are different from the D44 it has different mounting & pivot points so it won't bolt up to the Bronco without either modifying or changing the front crossmember. The D50 center section & stub shafts are about the only parts that can be swapped.
Now you might be tempted to install your D60 rear & then try to use D44-HD knuckles up front to get a matching 8-lug bolt pattern but the D44-HD knuckles use the same ball-joint spacing as the D50 knuckles so no joy there either.
You CAN make a bastard 8-lug D44IFS axle using Brand-X parts though, here's a link to a good write-up:
http://www.off-road.com/trucks4x4/article/...l.jsp?id=198393
Unfortunately that's about as good as it's going to get. Nobody but nobody makes any D44ifs upgrade parts (like chromemoly axle-shafts) and while the D50 parts *are* larger & stronger you can't use any of them for the reasons listed above. The chevy parts swap listed in the link will score you 8-lug rotors but that's it. If you want a stronger front end there's really no other way to go about it that a straight axle swap or a D50 crossmember swap to bolt that one in but you'd also have to convert over to front leaf springs as well.
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i am gunna put the 10.25 in the rear so i might as well have the 8 lug up front if you can tell me a place to buy them i would realy be greatfull the last link dident work
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Broncobill78
New member
Sorry, don't know what happened w/the link, I had looked at it just before I copied it for you. I just tracked it down again & it seems to be working. I had copied that link from a previous post I'd made on the subject. Try this, I have it open in another tab right now & it seems to be working ok:
http://www.off-road.com/trucks4x4/article/...l.jsp?id=198393
I copied the entire article (see below) in case the link doesn't work for you. Let me know if it works any better this time around.
As far as the tires go 36's are really the maximum that the stock 1/2 ton running gear will handle. The bearings & axle-shafts just aren't up to anything larger. You can get away with 38's if you're just going to be rolling around town on them (expect increased bearing wear/decreased bearing lifetime) but take it off-road and it's really just a matter of time before you'll start breaking parts.
While that closed knuckle D44-HD you have might be a difficult/expensive swap it has the advantage of having stronger aftermarket parts available for it so even if you don't so anything other than install it you'll always have the option of upgrading it to handle the larger tires if you want and as Blade pointed out the axle tubes on that thing are ridiculously thick which is a real advantage. You might give some serious thought to hanging onto it as a long-term project and cutting off the closed knuckles & welding on a set of open's. you'd have the stronger housing, be able to upgrade the shafts *and* you'd score disk brakes. No such options available for the D44IFS.
*********************************************************************
D44IFS 8-lug conversion using Chevy parts
http://www.off-road.com/trucks4x4/article/...l.jsp?id=198393
Credit to the original author
ustin Siebert
*********************************************************************
Here's my write-up on what I did to convert my TTB Dana 44 front axle from 5 lugs to 8 lugs using Chevy parts. At first, I tried going all Ford but after extensive searching and research, there wasn't any way possible I could see to adapt 3/4-1 ton Ford parts to the 1/2 ton TTB axle. After someone mentioned to me on the Ford Truck Enthusiasts Boards how he got his to work using Chevy parts, I decided to look into this in depth. It took me several tries but I finally got it to work.
I'll give you the rundown on what I did but I can't give y'all any specifics on what truck to get parts from. First off- I bought an 10 bolt 3/4 ton axle from an early '70's Chevy K20 4x4 pickup (axle was laying on the ground by itself so don't know exactly what truck).
If you are going to look for one, the main thing to look for is a straight axle 3/4 ton chevy 4x4, not the late '80's with the IFS. I had the yard cut off the knuckles from the axle tubes so I could bring home everything from just the knuckles out along with the axle shafts (didn't need the trashed center section and axle tubes). The biggest thing about this swap is that you have to make sure that the axle you pull your stuff from has the caliper bracket in front of the spindle, not in between the spindle and knuckle.
* Items needed for the swap:
* spindles
* spindle studs
* spindle stud nuts and spindle nuts/washer
* rotors
* wheel bearings
* hubs
* calipers
* caliper backing plates
* extended brake lines
* outer axle stubs
You can see in that picture that the spindle sits between the knuckle and bracket, note the 1/4 inch space between the caliper bracket and knuckle. I started by taking apart all the Chevy stuff I had-
I then stripped everything off the Bronco knuckles and then proceeded to cut the caliper mounting ears off. I already had both axle beams out of the truck because I was installing a suspension lift at the same time so it was easier for me to do.
In those pics, you can see the 3/4 ton chevy spindle that I tried on there to see how it fits. I then knocked out all the Bronco spindle studs by threading on a spare spindle stud nut flush onto each stud then hitting them with a sledge on a block of wood. I then swapped the longer Chevy spindle studs over onto the Bronco knuckle. Here's a pic comparing the stud lengths, Chevy on the left and Bronco on the right-
You can swap studs with the knuckle still on the axle beams but it is a lot tougher to do. Then I ground a little bit off the face of the knuckle in order to get the caliper bracket to sit squarely onto the knuckle but here's a tip- do NOT put the caliper bracket on this way-
I found out the hard way when I was trying to install the calipers and found that it hit that corner of the knuckle. I totally overlooked the knuckle part when I did this originally so I had take everything apart to rotate the caliper bracket one hole over so that the calipers are at the 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock position depending on what side of the truck you're looking at. I also ran into a problem of the Chevy spindle studs being too long and hitting the back of the rotor for some reason. I knocked out all the studs on one side, reinstalled the Bronco studs and found out they were too short.
I then swapped the Bronco studs back to the Chevy studs and cut off 1/16" off all the Chevy studs. Keep in mind, this was with the knuckle still on the beam so I used an impact hammer to get the studs fully seated (had to go in between the gap between the knuckle and axle beams). I had a driveline shop swap the outer Chevy axle stubs onto my Bronco inner axle shafts and replace the u-joints. I slipped the axle shafts in like you normally would with the stock Bronco setup then put the spindles on. I put the caliper brackets on grinding wherever it was needed to get the brackets flush and then threaded the nuts on and tightened everything down. I had to grind the knuckle a little bit so that the caliper itself would clear but nothing major. Calipers bolt on like a normal Chevy truck and the hub locks went on normally too. I bought a set of Ford extended lines and Chevy extended lines because I wasn't sure which would work. I should mention that I got the single piston Chevy calipers (1/2 ton) and it turns out that the Ford extended lines work with the calipers. Here's the completed swap minus the new extended brake lines-
If any of you attempt this swap, please keep in mind I take no responsibility for any problems that may arise because this is an unusual swap. I should also mention that I did some extensive grinding to the outer surfaces of the caliper brackets and calipers to make my 15" wheels fit and they do fit with very little room to spare-
Grinding required to run 15 wheels
Extensive grinding required
to run 15" wheels.
I highly recommend going to 16" wheels or larger if you can. Dustin Siebert
http://www.off-road.com/trucks4x4/article/...l.jsp?id=198393
I copied the entire article (see below) in case the link doesn't work for you. Let me know if it works any better this time around.
As far as the tires go 36's are really the maximum that the stock 1/2 ton running gear will handle. The bearings & axle-shafts just aren't up to anything larger. You can get away with 38's if you're just going to be rolling around town on them (expect increased bearing wear/decreased bearing lifetime) but take it off-road and it's really just a matter of time before you'll start breaking parts.
While that closed knuckle D44-HD you have might be a difficult/expensive swap it has the advantage of having stronger aftermarket parts available for it so even if you don't so anything other than install it you'll always have the option of upgrading it to handle the larger tires if you want and as Blade pointed out the axle tubes on that thing are ridiculously thick which is a real advantage. You might give some serious thought to hanging onto it as a long-term project and cutting off the closed knuckles & welding on a set of open's. you'd have the stronger housing, be able to upgrade the shafts *and* you'd score disk brakes. No such options available for the D44IFS.
*********************************************************************
D44IFS 8-lug conversion using Chevy parts
http://www.off-road.com/trucks4x4/article/...l.jsp?id=198393
Credit to the original author
ustin Siebert*********************************************************************
Here's my write-up on what I did to convert my TTB Dana 44 front axle from 5 lugs to 8 lugs using Chevy parts. At first, I tried going all Ford but after extensive searching and research, there wasn't any way possible I could see to adapt 3/4-1 ton Ford parts to the 1/2 ton TTB axle. After someone mentioned to me on the Ford Truck Enthusiasts Boards how he got his to work using Chevy parts, I decided to look into this in depth. It took me several tries but I finally got it to work.
I'll give you the rundown on what I did but I can't give y'all any specifics on what truck to get parts from. First off- I bought an 10 bolt 3/4 ton axle from an early '70's Chevy K20 4x4 pickup (axle was laying on the ground by itself so don't know exactly what truck).
If you are going to look for one, the main thing to look for is a straight axle 3/4 ton chevy 4x4, not the late '80's with the IFS. I had the yard cut off the knuckles from the axle tubes so I could bring home everything from just the knuckles out along with the axle shafts (didn't need the trashed center section and axle tubes). The biggest thing about this swap is that you have to make sure that the axle you pull your stuff from has the caliper bracket in front of the spindle, not in between the spindle and knuckle.
* Items needed for the swap:
* spindles
* spindle studs
* spindle stud nuts and spindle nuts/washer
* rotors
* wheel bearings
* hubs
* calipers
* caliper backing plates
* extended brake lines
* outer axle stubs
You can see in that picture that the spindle sits between the knuckle and bracket, note the 1/4 inch space between the caliper bracket and knuckle. I started by taking apart all the Chevy stuff I had-
I then stripped everything off the Bronco knuckles and then proceeded to cut the caliper mounting ears off. I already had both axle beams out of the truck because I was installing a suspension lift at the same time so it was easier for me to do.
In those pics, you can see the 3/4 ton chevy spindle that I tried on there to see how it fits. I then knocked out all the Bronco spindle studs by threading on a spare spindle stud nut flush onto each stud then hitting them with a sledge on a block of wood. I then swapped the longer Chevy spindle studs over onto the Bronco knuckle. Here's a pic comparing the stud lengths, Chevy on the left and Bronco on the right-
You can swap studs with the knuckle still on the axle beams but it is a lot tougher to do. Then I ground a little bit off the face of the knuckle in order to get the caliper bracket to sit squarely onto the knuckle but here's a tip- do NOT put the caliper bracket on this way-
I found out the hard way when I was trying to install the calipers and found that it hit that corner of the knuckle. I totally overlooked the knuckle part when I did this originally so I had take everything apart to rotate the caliper bracket one hole over so that the calipers are at the 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock position depending on what side of the truck you're looking at. I also ran into a problem of the Chevy spindle studs being too long and hitting the back of the rotor for some reason. I knocked out all the studs on one side, reinstalled the Bronco studs and found out they were too short.
I then swapped the Bronco studs back to the Chevy studs and cut off 1/16" off all the Chevy studs. Keep in mind, this was with the knuckle still on the beam so I used an impact hammer to get the studs fully seated (had to go in between the gap between the knuckle and axle beams). I had a driveline shop swap the outer Chevy axle stubs onto my Bronco inner axle shafts and replace the u-joints. I slipped the axle shafts in like you normally would with the stock Bronco setup then put the spindles on. I put the caliper brackets on grinding wherever it was needed to get the brackets flush and then threaded the nuts on and tightened everything down. I had to grind the knuckle a little bit so that the caliper itself would clear but nothing major. Calipers bolt on like a normal Chevy truck and the hub locks went on normally too. I bought a set of Ford extended lines and Chevy extended lines because I wasn't sure which would work. I should mention that I got the single piston Chevy calipers (1/2 ton) and it turns out that the Ford extended lines work with the calipers. Here's the completed swap minus the new extended brake lines-
If any of you attempt this swap, please keep in mind I take no responsibility for any problems that may arise because this is an unusual swap. I should also mention that I did some extensive grinding to the outer surfaces of the caliper brackets and calipers to make my 15" wheels fit and they do fit with very little room to spare-
Grinding required to run 15 wheels
Extensive grinding required
to run 15" wheels.
I highly recommend going to 16" wheels or larger if you can. Dustin Siebert
Last edited by a moderator:
ok here is my plan there no way in **** im gunna do that chevy swap to much **** rig but thx for the link.i dont have the money to do my sas right now but i do got a guy to do it should i go leaf sprung or rig the axil for spring? i might do the knuckles like you seak i just gota find a axil. my biggest drawback is that i have a brand new set of 38x15x15 tires and 15in rims that i will have to thro away to get the 8 lug i cant have a 15in rim 8 lug can i? i will save my money to put them all in at the same time
Broncobill78
New member
Which way to go when springing the axle is really just a personal choice. Me, I prefer going with coils because I like the ride & feel I get better axle articulation (yeah, I know, the Jeep crowd will say different), but that's just me. If your budget is a major concern then a leaf sprung conversion may be the way to go because it presents fewer fabrication hassles (mainly the radius arm/C-bushing wedge issue).
If the tires/rims are a big part of the decision then I'd start considering other options. There are plenty of parts available to beef up the 8.8 so that it can live with 38's & the same goes for the straight axle D44. The D44 from a 73-79 F150 or 78/79 Bronco can be built way strong and has the distinct advantage of already being coil sprung and being setup to use radius arms. All you'd really have to do would be swap over or fabricate a new set of radius arm frame brackets & add a track-rod bracket to the frame and the swap's done. That's about the closest thing to a bolt-in that you'll find. With a built-up D44 and 8.8 you can run the 38's without snapping an axle shaft every time you turn off-pavement and still keep your 15" tires & rims
However, I'd run the 4.88's instead of the 4.11's. If you're going to spend the money to regear then you might as well go to a gear that's useful and makes an actual difference in mileage & performance. 4.11's just aren't the right gear for those tires, at an *absolute minimum* I'd be running 4.56's but with there being no real difference in the price of the gears or installation it really makes the most sense to use 4.88's
If you DID swap open knuckles onto that D44-HD you could use a standard D44 as a donor & get the disk brakes & open knuckles as well as being able to keep the 5-on-5.5 15" bolt pattern that you need for your tires/rims. BUT if you were to do that then it would really make more sense to just use the standard D44 for the conversion instead of hacking up both axles in some kind of FrankenAxle experiment. Not that open knuckles on the thick-tube D44-HD housing wouldn't be nice but I honestly wouldn't recommend going that route if cash is an issue & you're paying someone to do the work. Just find a standard D44 & slide it under the truck, that's a minimum-fabrication swap that a lot more guys can accomplish on their own than converting a leaf sprung axle. Closed knuckle conversions & leaf-to-coil conversions work best when you either have unlimited financial resources or the parts drop into your lap for free (or next to nothing) and you already have the necessary tools & experience. The way you describe it, it really sounds like you might be best off looking for a standard D44 and swapping that in yourself & then upgrading that & your 8.8" to work with the 38's. You could do a lot more of the work yourself and it would be a lot less cash out-of-pocket.
If the tires/rims are a big part of the decision then I'd start considering other options. There are plenty of parts available to beef up the 8.8 so that it can live with 38's & the same goes for the straight axle D44. The D44 from a 73-79 F150 or 78/79 Bronco can be built way strong and has the distinct advantage of already being coil sprung and being setup to use radius arms. All you'd really have to do would be swap over or fabricate a new set of radius arm frame brackets & add a track-rod bracket to the frame and the swap's done. That's about the closest thing to a bolt-in that you'll find. With a built-up D44 and 8.8 you can run the 38's without snapping an axle shaft every time you turn off-pavement and still keep your 15" tires & rims
However, I'd run the 4.88's instead of the 4.11's. If you're going to spend the money to regear then you might as well go to a gear that's useful and makes an actual difference in mileage & performance. 4.11's just aren't the right gear for those tires, at an *absolute minimum* I'd be running 4.56's but with there being no real difference in the price of the gears or installation it really makes the most sense to use 4.88's
If you DID swap open knuckles onto that D44-HD you could use a standard D44 as a donor & get the disk brakes & open knuckles as well as being able to keep the 5-on-5.5 15" bolt pattern that you need for your tires/rims. BUT if you were to do that then it would really make more sense to just use the standard D44 for the conversion instead of hacking up both axles in some kind of FrankenAxle experiment. Not that open knuckles on the thick-tube D44-HD housing wouldn't be nice but I honestly wouldn't recommend going that route if cash is an issue & you're paying someone to do the work. Just find a standard D44 & slide it under the truck, that's a minimum-fabrication swap that a lot more guys can accomplish on their own than converting a leaf sprung axle. Closed knuckle conversions & leaf-to-coil conversions work best when you either have unlimited financial resources or the parts drop into your lap for free (or next to nothing) and you already have the necessary tools & experience. The way you describe it, it really sounds like you might be best off looking for a standard D44 and swapping that in yourself & then upgrading that & your 8.8" to work with the 38's. You could do a lot more of the work yourself and it would be a lot less cash out-of-pocket.
Last edited by a moderator:
Broncobill78
New member
Another option here would be to redrill the flanges on your 10.25" to the 5x5.5" bolt pattern & run your 15" rims. You could do that and swap in a standard radius arm/coil sprung D44 and be done with the whole thing. Just a thought.
i like what you sead about the d44 but the guy doing all the work is a great friend of mine and lives within walking distance of me and i may work with him this summer to work off the swap and he is a great fabracater and really would love to do it i could go either way coil or spring. About the tires and rims i would like to have 8 lug and my father will help me out on that. the sad thing is that i had a d44 front disk brakes and all for 200$ and i dident buy it and the dude sold it. the 10.25 has a limited slip in it and all i have to do is replace the bearing on one side and get a new gear and im done. i wanted to get 36in tires to save money on buying them every 18 monthes so i will run my tires till there bald and the buy new tires and rims for it in about 3 mounths. what gear do you reccomend for the 36in tires?
O and if i had to go 8 lug whould you reccomend a newer dana 44 or a 60 i will have plenty of time to buy one i am making money this summer so buy the end of this year i will have a good bit of money to put in it
O and if i had to go 8 lug whould you reccomend a newer dana 44 or a 60 i will have plenty of time to buy one i am making money this summer so buy the end of this year i will have a good bit of money to put in it
BLADE262US
Active member
In white spoke yes never seen anything in aluminum /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />
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