44 Floater

Picked up a nice little treasure. Dana 44 offset, 11"brakes, full floating axles with locking hubs. The price was right, so I dragged it home.

Popped the Warn hubs off to reveal 27 spline outer, 19 spline inner axles.

If I use this on my CJ5, I will probably forego the locking hubs, and go with these 27 spline drive flanges I found in my hub box.

Pulled the drums and D27 hubs off to reveal bored out D30 spindles, and 11" manual adjusting brakes.

Cover off to find a Detroit Locker with 5.38 ring and pinion. No teeth missing, I can use this, with a ratio change.

 

Really nice find. Congratulations.
Was wondering how much machining was required to convert the dana 30 spindles? if you know.

 

I'll mic the spindle tomorrow, but I think it's in the 10 thou area, to get 27x19 spline axles through.

 

Thankyou, does the shoulder of the spindle need machined as well to fit inside where the wheel bearing once was in the axle housing? Apologies for all the questions. I am considering converting to an off set dana 44 that has the old two piece axles to a FF. Could not find an off set 44 with flanged axles any where.

 

Yes it does, the shoulder gets turned down enough to fit in the axle tube. If you have the option, D30 spindles have a little more meat on that shoulder, as compared to D27, but they both work fine.

 

Here's a good thread on modifying spindles for a free float conversion.
Jay

https://www.thecj2apage.com/forums/sanity-check-d44-full-floater_topic46710_page1.html

 

Ah, thanks guys.

 

Careful, That's for 30 spline inners. The spindles are different and the inner bore will cut through the d25-drum 30 spindle at the keyway.

 

Thanks Jay, I think I have read that before, and I believe it led to expensive custom spindles being made to accept 30 spline shafts. A few thoughts, I'm not sure why all the desire for 30 spline axles. For a V6 jeep, 19 spline is fine with up to 33 " tires. Then you can use the lightly bored D30 spindle (cheap, plentiful, and easy), and Moser or Dutchman 1-piece or 2-piece shafts. Also, one can use standard D44 front inner axle seals, out on the end, to seal the gear oil in. And just pack the wheel bearings like a front.

 

It's to run 30 spline selectable lockers with flanged shafts. I've wheeled with a handful of those jeeps.

 

The index needs turned down to 2.875 for tapered axle housings and I *think* the major diameter for the 19 spline is 1.313".

 

Oh, yeah, the selectable locker. I forgot about that. Guess you can't get a 19 spline ARB.

 

Now with the Roxor on the market you can get 19 spline selectable lockers.

 

Not a direct swap... Howard has a thread on it.

 

But then you have all that extra stuff to go wrong, air lines, compressors, solenoids, o-rings, switches, fuses. Seen it way too much on the trail.

 

The shafts are 1.250 and the spindles are 1.260, so .010 comes out of the spindle to pass the fattest part through, then there is a narrower section that will ride inside the spindle.

I'm going to put this in my CJ5 (more on that jeep later), so I picked up a Dana 4.88 ring and pinion, brake shoes, wheel cylinders, gasket, minor set up kit, all from Rockauto.

I have to say, Rockauto had the best deal, especially for a Dana set ($153). I had considered keeping the 5.38's and changing the front to match, and I ran an ad looking for a M27 5.38. I had no luck, and this makes more sense anyway, to keep it at 4.88, and the axle is already out and on the table. Much easier.

I decided to run a pattern on the old set to see where it rides, and may help with shim stack selection on the new set.
Drive side:

Coast side:

 

This is going to be a good thread! ,I am learning a lot. I appreciate your time posting. .

 

It would seem to me that if the axle shaft is 1.250 on the outer splined end you could just install the axle into the housing first then install the 1.260 ID. spindle over the axle end and bolt up. without having to bore .010 out of the spindle. I am guessing the .005 radial clearance that provides would not be enough? So by boring out .010 extra you now have .010 total radial clearance for the axle, that would be sufficient Am I correct? Or am I missing something?

 

I ran that exact arrangement in my 3B for decades with both a Powr-Loc and Detroit and both 11" drums and discs. Zero problems behind both 350 and 381 sbc's. You do need to pay attention to the flange bolting fasteners and that has been previously covered. I much prefer ARP's 8740 fasteners for this rather than studs.


My current 3B 30 spline floater, as per that 2A Page thread with Jeff Petrowich's 4340 large bore spindles on a 1960 FC 150 housing:

 

Yes, the spindle could be installed over the 1.220 outer spline. But what a PIA if you broke one and had to disassemble the whole thing to get the piece out. The 1.250 on the shaft only happens at the outer seal surface, just inside the tube. And to remind, a stock spindle is 1.250, the bored is 1.260, and yes, .005 radial clearance is enough in my experience, since once it's in, the shaft is smaller inside the spindle area.