Help Identify a Dana 44 axle.

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Arlo

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I am trying to Identify this Dana 44 Front Axle. It is 10 Bolt, Passenger side Differential. I was told it came out of a suburban. Cannot read BOM. any help appreciated.

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dvdswan

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well it came from a 3/4 sub or truck. Disc brakes that helps, but its hard to see the top of the passenger side knuckle to see if it is a flat top or not. Its missing the brake shields which could help identify the year. IIRC flat top years the tie rod went on the underside of the knuckle.

My guess would be mid 76, 77 or 78 (I don't remember which yr made the transition away from the flat top knuckle). mid 78 they started using the 10 bolt instead of dana 44 IIRC.
 

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Thank you For the response. my issue is i need to get seals and bearings, etc..... and am not sure what year to use. time to start tearing down and and measuring i guess.
 

CSFJ

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I thought the flat top knuckle went away when they switched to the 10 bolt, but I could be mistaken. The fact that the lock out hubs have external bolts mean that it is an earlier model, but I don't remember what year they changed the hubs.
 

PrairieDrifter

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This is definitely a Dana 44 you can tell by the front cover shape.

My 79 has a factory dana 44, I believe they had leftover parts and just mixed them in as they went through with the newer production years. But I do believe 78 was the changeover year
 

dvdswan

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Thank you For the response. my issue is i need to get seals and bearings, etc..... and am not sure what year to use. time to start tearing down and and measuring i guess.

most bearings will have part numbers on them like this...

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PrairieDrifter

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Seals will also have the number stamped in the metal ring.
 

77 K20

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The last year for external hubs was '76 and that was the last year for the flat top passenger knuckle.

I have a '77 and have internal hubs.

Earlier (1973, 1974?) D44 axles had a weird tie rod and ends that were bent right at the very end. But these could have been changed out- pretty sure they are compatible with the newer tie rod ends.

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My guess is a '75 or '76 axle.


And put on shoes! My feet hurt just looking at that first pic. :eek:
 

Arlo

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The last year for external hubs was '76 and that was the last year for the flat top passenger knuckle.

I have a '77 and have internal hubs.

Earlier (1973, 1974?) D44 axles had a weird tie rod and ends that were bent right at the very end. But these could have been changed out- pretty sure they are compatible with the newer tie rod ends.

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My guess is a '75 or '76 axle.


And put on shoes! My feet hurt just looking at that first pic. :eek:
Let them toes breathe

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nvrenuf

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If you're just looking for an application to use to buy parts then go with a '76 K20 pickup or even Suburban, this will get you the correct parts.

There will be a date stamped on the ring gear too, if the gears are original then use that as a best guess for the year. Don't forget though that the ring gear date is the date the axle was built, not the truck, so it's possible for a 1975 gear to be in a 1976 truck.
 

Arlo

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If you're just looking for an application to use to buy parts then go with a '76 K20 pickup or even Suburban, this will get you the correct parts.

There will be a date stamped on the ring gear too, if the gears are original then use that as a best guess for the year. Don't forget though that the ring gear date is the date the axle was built, not the truck, so it's possible for a 1975 gear to be in a 1976 truck.
Thank you for that info. Found this. Not sure year yet but looks like a 4.09 gear
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PrairieDrifter

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My guess would be that 4-23-74
 

Arlo

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So just an update. Got the dana 44 apart. And wow. Who would do this?
Maybe I should ask what is wrong with this picture
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Arlo

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So just an update. Got the dana 44 apart. And wow. Who would do this?
Maybe I should ask what is wrong with this picture
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Just thinking is there an idiot board on this forum. I think this could be in the running.

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