Narrowing HP 44

Alright, this is a stupid question, but I would rather ask then make a mistake.



I have a D44 that came out of a '74 F100, and am going to be narrowing it to Waggy '80-'84 width.

Now heres where I just want to make sure Im doing this right. At the moment I have a bare housing with the inner C's cut off.

Ford '74 shaft legths:......33.90625"........18.90625"
Waggy '80-'84:..............32.12".............15.8"

Differences:..................1.78625...........3.10625





So that means, that if I measure from the outside of the axle tube on one side 1.79'' and on the other 3.11'', mark and then cut them, I will now have a axle that is narrowed to waggy width.


Naturally I will put the Cs on the same amount that they were when they came off. Also, I have a bit of play with the spline engagement in the diff, so small discrepancy's are ok.





Is all that making sense? My feeble mind just wants a double check. :doh:

Yep, makes sense, good idea to have the Waggy axles there to both confirm the difference in length and to test fit to the new tube length. Can't go wrong then.

Congrats on narrowing it - I wish I had...

as youre cutting, keep it on the longer side...

the shafts bottom on the cross pin if its too short, but if its too long, you just loose a little spline engagement... and the shafts will automatically center the u-joint in the ball joint axis...

Also when you weld the inner 'c's back on, make sure to check the angle of the spindle [camber] (mock up the outter C on the inner C and throw the spindle on there) Mine came out wrong, and I notice it a little bit... :flamemad:

working on it this weekend? let me know if you need a hand - I might trade some time for some leaf springs... :cheers:

87xjco said:

Yep, makes sense, good idea to have the Waggy axles there to both confirm the difference in length and to test fit to the new tube length. Can't go wrong then.

Click to expand...

The problem is I dont have any shafts, either stock or aftermarket.




But my logic is right, correct?

XJ_ranger said:

Congrats on narrowing it - I wish I had...

as youre cutting, keep it on the longer side...

the shafts bottom on the cross pin if its too short, but if its too long, you just loose a little spline engagement... and the shafts will automatically center the u-joint in the ball joint axis...

Also when you weld the inner 'c's back on, make sure to check the angle of the spindle [camber] (mock up the outter C on the inner C and throw the spindle on there) Mine came out wrong, and I notice it a little bit... :flamemad:

working on it this weekend? let me know if you need a hand - I might trade some time for some leaf springs... :cheers:

Click to expand...

Before I cut the Cs off I measured the caster angle along with the camber angle using a dowel through the ball joint holes. I also figured out that the face of the C is at a 90* or flat against the tube.


I remember seeing that both you and Jes having problems with your camber angles, so Im going to do my best to get it right the first time.


I will be working on it this weekend, on and off. Your welcome to come by and get the packs whenever.

I narrowed my HP44 and should have a write up somewhere on . I decided to narrow mine evenly on both side vs 3.11 on the short side and 1.79 on the long side. A lot of the decision will come down to what type of truss you will be running and how the spring perches will be mounted. If narrowing to a waggy width you will have to shorten the short side 3.11 inches. I found that this gives you little to no room for the spring perch. I narrowed mine evenly which made me take 2.45" off each side. This gave me an additional .66" to work with on the short side. It also pushed the center section more towards the center of the vehicle.

Here is a picture of how close the spring perch is to the center section with narrowing evenly:


I know a lot of people would prefer to go with a Waggy width axle so they can use shafts out of waggy 44's. After looking into Waggy shafts I decided that I was going to go with Chromoly shafts do to the standard dana 44 shaft is tappered down at the splines to a thickness less than a dana 30 shaft.

It also allowed me to run a TNT truss vs standard bent piece of flat stock. The TNT truss comes with a Above Axle Trackbar Bracket that is incorporated into the truss if you want it.

The other thing I noticed, depending on what type of suspension you are running is the clearance between the center section and your suspension arm/s on the drives side. The yoke on the differential is very close to my upper control arm without the extra .66 of an inch and when the rig is flex out it they would hit, so I needed all the room I could get.

I am not saying this is the way you should go. I am just pointing out things you might want to look at. If you have any questions feel free to contact me. I have a ton of pictures that I can post up.

Starboard M said:

The problem is I dont have any shafts, either stock or aftermarket.




But my logic is right, correct?

Click to expand...

I have some stock ford shafts in my dad's garage in Benicia if youd like to measure them...

Starboard M said:

Before I cut the Cs off I measured the caster angle along with the camber angle using a dowel through the ball joint holes. I also figured out that the face of the C is at a 90* or flat against the tube.

Click to expand...

Smart!
Having to use tapered ball joint sleeves sucks.

XJ_ranger said:

I have some stock ford shafts in my dad's garage in Benicia if youd like to measure them...

Click to expand...

I assume I dont need the stock ford shafts. Im narrowing it, so the stock fords would just show me that its now to short to use stock shafts.




Cruzin, Ive seen your multiple build threads and have them all bookmarked. Off the top of my head I seem to recall you saying that with the TnT truss, the axle sits .66'' off to passenger side.
Im using the same TnT truss along with the TnT long arms. I figure that with the combination of cutting, welding, and using the track bar, .66'' isnt that much of a problem.


Jes, Im learning from you and Opie, and what you guys did wrong, and right. BTW, some of your pics from your 44 build thread on bayarea are dead. Just FYI.

I hope your logic is right... 'cause I am right in the middle of doing what you described!
http://www.bsfab.net/?cat=9
Billy

so what's the possibility of taking the dana 30 off your hands?

JeepFreak21 said:

I hope your logic is right... 'cause I am right in the middle of doing what you described!
http://www.bsfab.net/?cat=9
Billy

Click to expand...

Nice shoes skater boy:gag:



You, Opie, and Jes seem to think its a logical plan, so I guess Ill be going for it. I think Im over thinking it though.

Jimbo_1321 said:

so what's the possibility of taking the dana 30 off your hands?

Click to expand...

Your going to have to fight my dad for the Detroit and Alloy shafts. Good luck with that one. :scared:

Starboard M said:

Your going to have to fight my dad for the Detroit and Alloy shafts. Good luck with that one. :scared:

Click to expand...

I was thinking more of the axle housing and steering...
my current 30 is bent and I figured if I'm looking to pick up another I figured the steering would be nice too