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new axles for dakota

14K views 15 replies 11 participants last post by  vandever metalworx 
#1 ·
sorry to start a new thread i tried searching through the axle section and i just got lost in information.
as far as axles go i'm pretty clueless'
i plan on getting near 400 hp out of my 4bt and i don't doubt the fact that i need new axles.
basicly its a 4x4 quad cab 2003 dakota also i'm going to need a new
stock dakota axle ratios are 3.55 and i still think i'm revving a little high at highway speeds than i would like
transmission probably a strengthened nv4500
please all suggestions will help me learn about axels that would work for me
 
#2 ·
Will need to know what your plans

Off road , DD or all ?
You need ABS or not?
Using the stock gauges?


- Ford D44 and 9'' had 3.55
- Ford D60 HP ,D60,D70 had 3.55 and 4.10

- Gm D44 14bolt 3.73 ,4.10 ,4.56
- GM D60 14bolt ,D70 3.73 ,4.10 ,4.56

- Dodge D60 D70 3.55 , 4.10

Scott
 
#3 ·
i plan on using mu stock guages and its going to be a daily driver maybe the odd sled pull and quite often a drag race.
and as far as abs goes it doesn't really matter to me all that much
 
#4 ·
upgrading the front axle will be alot of work. Especially if you are taking the IFS out and putting in a straight axle. You will probably end up with about 6 inches of lift in the front when your done. Your best set up would be to find a set of axles from a ford truck with radius arm front suspension. Take the coil buckets and shock hangers out of it. Order up the James Duff long arm kit. Then go and cut all your old front suspension out and start mocking up the new stuff. Here's a link to a local guy in Edmonton who is putting a solid axle into his S10 Blazer. All the parts he has will apply to you. http://www.na4wda.org/index.php/topic,1958.0.html Dana 44 front with good internals and chromoly axles should be able to take the punishment you want to give it. And a Ford 9 inch in the rear will do nicely as well. If you find the right set of Ford diffs, they may even be very close to the same width as your current set up. If you go with 1 ton stuff, you may find your truck to be 6 inches wider. Then you can either get them narrowed for a ridiculous amount of money, or call up Dynatrac and order a set of 60's ready to go for a ridiculous amount of money. If you have any other questions let me know. I've done lots of research into a solid axle swap on a Dakota. :beer:

Stephen
 
#5 ·
Why not find a dakota with the chrysler 9.25" rear end? They come in 3.55 and 3.92. That rear end is used in some 1 and maybe 2 ton trucks. Should be able to find a 4 wheel drive to have the front and rear.
 
#6 ·
hey khaos just wondering how much were those pre shortened cost to get?i expect it to be stupid expensive.
also how much to get axels shortened?
 
#7 ·
The last set of dynatracs I priced out would have cost me $10,000 by the time they got to my door. That's custom width, custom chromoly axle shafts, arb lockers front and rear, 4 wheel disc brakes, and heavy duty front hubs. Now, if your patient and like to measure things 40 times, you can shorten them yourself. Need to build a jig to hold them in then cut the knuckles off, the spring pads or buckets off, the radius arm mounts, or whatver else so all you have left are tubes. Then you set your pinion angle to where you need it, then set your knuckles to the right caster and weld them back on, figure out where the spring pads, coil buckets or radius arms go then weld them back on. Measure for axle shafts and probably lookin to spend $1000 for a pair of fronts and $500 for rears. To pay someone to shorten them, well, it could take up to 40 hours to get everything perfect. So look at $3500-$4500 for labour. Plus you have to buy the used set of axles if you get lucky, they could be $100-$200, if not, then look closer to $1000. Then all the internals, 2 ring and pinion sets, 2 bearing kits, lockers if you want etc, etc, etc. Man, those $10,000 Dynatrac's are lookin better and better aren't they??

Stephen
 
#8 · (Edited)
Chrystler 9.25s never came in one tons only half tons and durangos and maybe dakotas. Dodge one tons depending on the year came with nothing smaller then a d70 10.5", d80 11.25, or the aam equals. Its not that hard to shorten most semi float axles it just takes time. i swapped a solid axle in my nissan a while back. I shortened the long tube 2". Really wasnt hard. Just gotta grind out the weld on the inner knuckles then beat them off with a mini sledge hammer and some heat to make it easy. Cut your tubes down however much you want then hammer your inner knuckles back on to the correct castor with a $5 angle finder :rasta:
 
#12 ·
The above info applies to dodge diesels. I'll add that I have had more than one mid 80's Dodge 1 ton gasser trucks and they came with Dana 60's, currently have an 83' D350 gas 1 ton with Dana 60. I believe a D60 would be a good axle for a 4bt swap, I don't know about 400hp though, that sounds like a pipe dream figure to me...
 
#9 ·
All depends on what you want. I am planning a 4bt swap for my quad cab dakota and then a solid front axle as well. My plans are swapping axles from a half ton ram. The rear looks like it will bolt right in and just be about 2" wider. The front will be a little more work to transfer all the perches and steering. In the end I will have a solid front axle and a standard 5 x 5.5 bolt pattern.
 
#10 · (Edited)
Just toss in the front axle, suspension, steering box from a 76-79 f150 or 78-79 bronco. The radius arm suspension setup is easy to do. Then just bolt in a ford 9inch or dodge ram 1500 rear with the 5x5.5 bolt pattern. The bonus is that you can do the swap for less than 500 bux if you shop around and are OK with a welder. I picked up the front half of a 1979 bronco frame with axle, suspension, steering all attached for $250. 35 inch tires and 3.55 gears would seem about perfect for the 4bt/nv3500 combo.

How about this. You finally provide the fully detailed walkthru of your 4bt swap into the Dakota that everyone has been begging for and I'll provide you a step by step walk thru of the HP RC d44 install into my 2001 dak 4.7l nv3500 quadcab including pics, part numbers, diagrams and and exact dimensions of any custom brackets that need fabbed....

FYI the ford HP RC D44 is exactly 4 inches wider WMS to WMS than the Dak WMS-WMS so there would be no need to cut it down. Changing the rear to 5on5.5 is easy and cheap even if you want to keep the VSS
 
#11 ·
A Wagoneer D44 would have the right width and can be had in a 2.75 and 3.08 ratio. Ford 9" are also available in ratios very close to those, and late 60s pickup rear ends were considerably narrower, or you could go with an early Bronco unit but that might be a bit too narrow.
 
#13 ·
well i have a friend who owns a auto wrecker he figures it would be easiest to shorten some one ton axels and then just build a custom suspension kit around it
 
#16 ·
go for over kill



I'm starting on this very project right now I have a 91 F-350 king pin
front axle A dana 44 would have been fine but I found the 60 first
and I love to overkill things I'm planing on doing a 4 link front coil
spring suspension like my ram2500 if you look around you need to find a rear
end from a cab and chassis truck they were narower than a std pick up or
dually rear because they don't have to clear the pickup bed iner fenders
I bought one from a 91 F-350 and it is only 67" wms to wms the stock Dakota is 65" from what I've been told.from what I've found all Dana 60
front 69.250" if you want life to be a little easeier you could find a set
of axles from a 77 or earlier bronco they were pretty narow but I don't know
the exact width.
but if youre like me you'll go for the over kill and the hard road. good luck keep us posted on you're build I'll post some pictures when I get to that point.:D
 
#15 · (Edited)
Im in the middle of swapping my dakota front end with a solid axle. Im going leaf spring using chevy leaf springs, a 76 F150 HP Dana 44 that i cut 6" off the long side. I ordered a new shaft from bronco graveyard for an older bronco with the narrower housing but I got the shaft that accepts a larger 297 U-joint. I'm running 79 F250 8 lug outters and my total WMS to WMS is 61.5" so I can run a wider wheel (stock is 63" WMS). If you convert from 5 to 8 lug outters be aware they add 1.5". I have a 79 F250 steering box I'm going to use.

The rear is a dana 60 from a 79 F250 that I think I'm gonna have someone else narrow (Moser most likely, within driving distance and its only like $150) the housing but im going to narrow it to a stock length shaft that I can find in the junk yard so it wont be a one off axle shaft. Here is a writeup on how someone did it and where I got the idea from. http://www.bsfab.net/?p=22
Plan is to make it an 1-1/2" narrower then my rear axle now. I'll adapt the speed sensor to it as well.

In PA you cant have your tire sticking outside of the body, so it makes it a pain to upgrade tire size and rims so a little narrower wont hurt to much.

Im hoping the 44 will hold up to 4bt fine with a 35 or 37" tire and 4.10 or 3.55 gears. If not it will be an easy upgrade with leafsprings anyways.
 
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