before i drop alot of money in my axles i just want to know, is the dana 44 and 9.25 worth upgrading or should i drop some serious coin on 2500 axles with all the fabrication all that needed before getting gears and lockers. i don't plan on wheelin the truck hardcore alot but i am going to put 4.56 gears a detroit in the back and a arb air locker in the front. im one of those if i do go wheelin i go hard lol what do yall think?

 

What size tires do you plan on running? And what kind of wheeling do you do?

 

35's and rock crawling, tough trails, muddin, all the fun stuff lol

 

With 35s, I wouldn't worry about the rear. It's 31 spline, I would use stock shafts.

For the front I would just get some alloy shafts, and Spicer 760x joints at the least. You could get some Super Joints or CTMs, but unless you get selectable hubs you'll wear them out pretty easily.

If you go bigger than 37s and start wheeling hard, then I would either swap the front for a 60, or swap 60 outers onto your 44.

 

if you plan on rock crawling, you might need dana 60's. people tend to break dana 44 axles, and there are no selectable lockers for the 9.25's. only full times.

no personal experience on the swap, but others say its not too hard, other than you need some drive shaft work.

 

there is some dana's out of a 2500 for sale with 180k on em for 1200 for the set and they are 4x4. what do ya think about them? they are 3.54 ratio

 

i think its a lot of money, but they're not cheap. try minton motors just as a comparison. i think they're in KY, so you could drive up there and get them. if you did swap housings, and you're paying someone else to do the setup, you could have them built up before your swap, and have a lot less downtime.

 

With 35s it should be just fine, the only part I question is the CAD in the front axle.

He already he said he was going with a Detroit, selectable are overrated.

 

so is the 9.25 pretty stout? should i just swap out the dana 44 and build em up and call it a day? heh it would look pretty funny with 8 lugs in the front and 5 in the back

 

D60 front is overkill for 35s IMO.

The Ford 8.8 also has 31 spline shafts and will take 37s no problem, I'd say the 9.25 should be fine. It would probably be a good idea to weld the tubes to the centersection though.