• Welcome to the new NAXJA Forum! If your password does not work, please use "Forgot your password?" link on the log-in page. Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] if we can provide any assistance.

Found a Dana 44 and a Ford 5 for sale

ruffrich26

NAXJA Forum User
Location
South Elgin IL
So I have a guy that will sell me his Dana 44 and Ford 5 out of a 79 bronco he hasen't given me a price yet and hasen't told me if they need to be rebuilt what condition exc but realistically what are they worth. I've never purchased anything like this before and I dont have any clue what they run. What would you pay if they were in need of being rebuilt. And if they didn't need to be rebuilt? Thank you
 
For a HP 44 with cast wedges and a 9? I would pass.

although I have been running a hp 44 with cast wedges and a 9 for the past 10 years, NEVER had a problem with my 44, (other than shafts and joints that now are fixed). My 9 has given me problems once in Tellico because I went cheap and bought a mini spool, and the other problem was last Winterfest with a busted everything.

I would not pay more than $400 for the pair, and expect to put another $2000 into the 44 to make it hold up. not to mention the cost of fabricating your long/radius arms and cross member.

the 9 will bolt up to the rear xj leaves with the stock perches left on the axle. you will want to buy a pinion guard for the 9. I have been using the stock 31 spline shafts for years and only had the one issue.

the 77/79 bronco/f150 axles are the cast wedge version, which is not the ideal axles, but they will work.

Fore 'as mac would say, go 60 or go home' Wheeler
 
77 is weld on wedges. Ask me how I know, I've owned about 10 of them, and the Dana 44 under my Cherokee now is out of a 1977 F-150
 
the 44 will be more trouble than it's worth, i retubed a 79 bronco d44 and it wasnt easy. i guess you can leave the cast wedges and run radius arms but i would never sink money into that personally. or another d44 again for that matter.
can't comment on the ford 5 lol
 
the 44 will be more trouble than it's worth, i retubed a 79 bronco d44 and it wasnt easy. i guess you can leave the cast wedges and run radius arms but i would never sink money into that personally. or another d44 again for that matter.
can't comment on the ford 5 lol

I cannot agree with this more. I started mine and once I got into it I kept adding and adding and adding, now I'm in so deep I can't turn back
 
The dana HP44 & 9" axles in stock form and in this area I wouldn't pay more than $400 or so. They are nice axles and can really be built up but you are better off if you do want full widths and strong axles, step up to 1 tons like a front dana HP60/ rear Sterling 10.25 or rear 14 bolt which in this area outside of the 4 wheeling hot bed you can find many times for around $500-700 for the comb, if not even cheaper!

A 78-79' Ford HP60 is the king of the front axle beef and has around 3" longer drive side tube / 3" shorter passenger side tube....and can go for around $1K in stock form but I have seen early 90s ball jointed HP60s for pretty cheap and the rear 8 lug full floater dana 60/14 bolt/ford 10.25 sterling for almost free or under $200.

The HP44/9" are a big tease in stock form but a nice upgrade non-the-less over a HP30/35 combo many stock Jeeps came with.

I put alot of $ into Big Red in my avatar pic but it served me well wheeling the Rubicon and Fordyce when I lived in Sacramento, CA but I was happy with my dana HP30 (arb 4.56) / 87' XJ 44 (detroit 4.56) axles I had in there before I spend thousands on the 44/9".

In my black MJ that I sold after the motor seized, had Ruff Stuff heim modified ford radius arms on a late 70s dana HP44 and I really miss that Jeep! So why not kill 2 birds with 1 stone and modify the cast wedges to get a suspension upgrade over stock (long arm 3 link) and a stronger front axle with nice manual hubs and amazing aftermarket support?! :-)
 
Last edited:
The dana HP44 & 9" axles in stock form and in this area I wouldn't pay more than $400 or so. They are nice axles and can really be built up but you are better off if you do want full widths and strong axles, step up to 1 tons like a front dana HP60/ rear Sterling 10.25 or rear 14 bolt which in this area outside of the 4 wheeling hot bed you can find many times for around $500-700 for the comb, if not even cheaper!

A 78-79' Ford HP60 is the king of the front axle beef and has around 3" longer drive side tube / 3" shorter passenger side tube....and can go for around $1K in stock form but I have seen early 90s ball jointed HP60s for pretty cheap and the rear 8 lug full floater dana 60/14 bolt/ford 10.25 sterling for almost free or under $200.

The HP44/9" are a big tease in stock form but a nice upgrade non-the-less over a HP30/35 combo many stock Jeeps came with.
i paid 80 bucks for my d44 and i still wouldnt do it again if he paid ME 80 bucks. still breaking just as many chromoly shafts as my dana 30, wasn't much of an upgrade IMO. Keep the d30 or go to a d60, going up to a d44 is about as useless as going from 31's to 32's.
 
I cannot agree with this more. I started mine and once I got into it I kept adding and adding and adding, now I'm in so deep I can't turn back

I have to disagree. They're undesirable and the market price shows it. I have about $800 total in mine under the heep, geared, alloyed,locked, and linked.

I did a lot of shopping around, and did all the work myself. If you have a small college budget like me, then do it. IMHO it's the easiest and cheapest way to get into an axle swap. You can't touch a junkyard 60 around here for that price.

Sure it's no 60, but I don't have 60 kind of money into it.

And like Tanker said; I like my brakes, full float hubs, steering, and tube size.
 
Last edited:
$500 Detroit (8 years ago), $400 yukon super joints, $??? Yukon shafts, home built truss, gears. That's a bit over $800. (Not to mention knuckles, and steering).

At this point I should have gone with a 60, but I have a built 44 that I can't afford to get rid of.
 
Fore 'as mac would say, go 60 or go home' Wheeler

i paid 80 bucks for my d44 and i still wouldnt do it again if he paid ME 80 bucks. still breaking just as many chromoly shafts as my dana 30, wasn't much of an upgrade IMO. Keep the d30 or go to a d60, going up to a d44 is about as useless as going from 31's to 32's.

Both of these statements are worth repeating.

mac 'repeat' gyvr
 
Ya thats what I'm deciding I want to do its silly to upgrade just to a d44 why go sorta big when you can go REALLY big lol

i paid 80 bucks for my d44 and i still wouldnt do it again if he paid ME 80 bucks. still breaking just as many chromoly shafts as my dana 30, wasn't much of an upgrade IMO. Keep the d30 or go to a d60, going up to a d44 is about as useless as going from 31's to 32's.
 
Back
Top