I need to convert from drivers drop to passenger drop on my 74 J10. I currently have a low pinion 44 from an 81 Cherokee (widetrack) sitting in the yard I was going to use. BUT an opportunity has come up to buy a 1975 F150 high pinion 44 and 31 spline nodular center section 9 inch for $400. Which leaves me wondering, is it worth picking up the Ford axles as an upgrade?
Lets go over the pros of the ford axles...
High pinion (Major cool kid points) so it should be a bit stronger but maybe a moot point nowadays... More on that later.
1/2" thick axle tubes
Steering arms on knuckles about an inch higher, with enough meat to retaper upside down for inverted one ton TRE steering in the future. (Way cheaper than high steer especially when you've got the reamer already)
Rear axle gets upgraded in the process, more cool kid points for having a 9 inch.
Cons...
Being a 75 it's a drum brake front end. I have all the parts to make it disk brake except rotors and hubs. FSJ caliper brackets and spindles will bolt on as will my drive slugs from the 74's 44. I don't need no stinking lockouts! And no, it's not closed knuckles.
It has Ford radius arm mounts welded on. Which I would either have to cut off or use as an excuse to coil spring my front end. Which wouldn't necessarily be bad thing but would certainly make this a longer project and more expensive. I would need to buy three johnny joints, coil buckets, DOM to extend the radius arms, frame side brackets, probably softer coils...
Would need to buy new wheels, again not a terrible thing as beadlocks come cheap in 5x5.5 and then I could have a set of slot mags for the Cherokee that aren't bent.
The FSJ axles have the benefit of being bolt in, free, and familiar to work with. They don't however leave me with a stronger front (maybe) or rear end.
Can anyone tell me what the axle tube thickness of a 1981 Dana 44 front would be? IIRC it would have 3/8" thick tubes. And the low pinion center section is a bit weaker than the high pinion on with its extra ribbing.
Big pinion gear sets are readily available for the low pinion 44, but I don't know if that would make the low pinion 44's strength equivalent to the HP 44. Do any of you have an opinion on that? Here's more info on the big pinion kit: http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/axles-ti ... 4-kit.html