thats a pretty nice kit, thanks for the link.


I think the rims will fit, they have a pretty big hole in the center for the hub to fit through.

 

I would think a little junkyard ingenuity could solve this. I'm willing to bet you can find an older 44 axle outer knuckle with manual hubs and swap it onto your 44. Of course you'd need to find a passenger side shaft to work with it, but with a little research I'd be willing to bet you could come into a setup way under 1800. Steering might be an issue to obviously depending on the knuckle setup.

Just a thought from a guy on little sleep lol

 

yea i have toyed with that idea several times. My dad has an 86 dodge with a dana 44 in the front. He has thought several times of upgrading to a dana 60, me help pay for it and I can have the old 44. I think the knuckles and shafts would all line up, but the problem is the steering.It is completely different. Where our steering goes between the passanger side and the steering box. His steering goes between the steering box and the driver side. If you could swap out the steering box and all of the steering it might work, but I really don't think it would work, without some major modifications

 

some of the older axles have a flat top on the pass. side knuckle.


http://chevy.off-road.com/chevy/data...49/knuckle.jpg

it can be drilled and tapped for a steering arm and you would have cross-over steering. if you look around a lil bit i think you can find one. there are some companies out there that sell the knuckle with the steering arm attached. like this one: http://www.blackbirdscustomtrucks.com/index12.html

Here's a nice write up on how/why/ what vehicles to find them in:http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billav...ngresearch.htm

Hadn't thought about it like this, but it's a good idea. Also you can probally find a good complete dana 44/60 with disc brakes and locking hubs fairly reasonable at a junkyard or ebay.

James

EDIT: Picture was too big, added link to it

 

your looking at around 600 bucks, for a dana 44, and 1000 bucks for a dana 60, plus all of that work. For me I'd rather just buy a conversion kit. Also the older trucks had the driveshaft, on the passanger side, I supose you could swap the transfercase, but like I said wouldn't it be easier to buy the conversion kit

 

Plus with the conversion kit, you get all new parts. You don't have to hacker anything, and warranty But all in due time. I have to fix my tranny before I do anything, thats even before the round air cleaner!