Anyone ever made their own HP D44

[61TWPW]

My front driveshaft angle is too steep for my dana 44 front end. I was told by a local 4x4 shop that I could rotate my knuckles/mount plate/shock mount to allow my pinion to angle up some. Have any of you ever done this? Is it extremely difficult or just moderate? Input welcome

[2tons of fun]

that is not a high pinion, that is called a cut and turn.

how much lift do you have?


to get into a true hi pinion you need to break the axle housing down and push the tubes out, and retube a hp housing in its palce, which is still big deal because you will lose your spring pad on that side.

[Ggg]

What side is your front driveshaft on drivers side or passenger?

[61TWPW]

It's a passenger side drop. I do not have any lift other than factory settings. I just need enough pinion lift to be able to use my front driveline. I'm using a married tcase rather than the divorced that came stock. I've tried using angled wedges to get less of an angle, but the yoke still hits a little. Other issue is alignment will be hard to set with geometry changed. Mainly trying to use what I have rather than have some custom unit built for high dollars.

[Jakey]

Difficult, but the right tools go a long way.
Angle Grinder with grinding and slicing wheels
Stick Welder or powerful MIG or TIG
Angle gauge
Big hammer
Torch, not necessary but can come in handy.

[Paul(in NY)]

Contact Jess, at High Angle Drive Line.
www.highangledriveline.com
What your asking is his specialty. Jess has special joints to handle really severe applications. Since this is your front shaft, low speed, not constant use, I bet he can help you.

Paul

[Ggg]

Mmm ok if you had a drivers side drop then the simple solution would be to install a Ford HP 44.

[D Gandy]

If u u have the round pattern 205 u can get a clocking ring to turn it down some to help your angle. Try www.diy4x.com, most of the other guys that make clocking rings don't want to turn your t-case down cause u lose ground clearance. Depending on what u will be doing with this rig, this isnt a bad option at all. Usually less than $100 for the ring and bolts.

[dahoyle]

If it was me, I'd just pick up a hp44, and re-tube it for drivers side drop. It takes a little effort, but it isn't rocket science either.

[rkready]

It is not difficult as long as you take your time, have the proper tools to true everything back up, and can weld.

[61TWPW]

Thanks for the input. It was relatively easy to "cut and turn". Even making a new spring perch didn't seem bad. Haven't driven it yet, but there's no gear oil leaking at the welds which is a good sign. Waiting on a new steering coupler before driving. The pinion yoke turns freely without binding on the drive shaft, which prompted all of this.

[ToyzukiJohn]

Got any pics of your "cut and turn" I'd like to see how you did it..

[61TWPW]

I used a 1/2" grinder to cut about 1/3-1/2 way through the tube, then finished with a cut-off blade. This allowed an 1/8" gap between the two parts when rotated. The 1/2" starter cut allowed me to start welding at the 1/8" gap and work my way out, giving good penetration. I've driven about 100 miles on the finished product with no issues. I painted the welded area with white primer so I can inspect for cracks in the next few months. No oil leaks, and it tracks much better going down the road.

[2tons of fun]

yeah, that was not smart.


i hope for your sake you are a damn good welder.

i guess you didnt do much research on how to cut and turn.

instead of cut the tube in half you just cut the weld at the c/ball and turn it, it is mounts on a stem tube of its own so that you ARENT BUTT WELDING STRUCTURAL TUBE. then simpley cut and reweld the leaf perch and knuckle stop

[supercharged65]

yeah, that was not smart.


i hope for your sake you are a damn good welder.

i guess you didnt do much research on how to cut and turn.

instead of cut the tube in half you just cut the weld at the c/ball and turn it, it is mounts on a stem tube of its own so that you ARENT BUTT WELDING STRUCTURAL TUBE. then simpley cut and reweld the leaf perch and knuckle stop

Hell! It's not that big of a deal. That's how I shortened the 8.8 in the model A. All the early 9" ford rears are butt welded a few inches from the center housing and they work just fine. But then again, they aren't made to carry fat a$$es like you

[fnnissan]

lol thats awsome

[dahoyle]

I used a 1/2" grinder to cut about 1/3-1/2 way through the tube, then finished with a cut-off blade. This allowed an 1/8" gap between the two parts when rotated. The 1/2" starter cut allowed me to start welding at the 1/8" gap and work my way out, giving good penetration. I've driven about 100 miles on the finished product with no issues. I painted the welded area with white primer so I can inspect for cracks in the next few months. No oil leaks, and it tracks much better going down the road.

Looks good to me. No way to really do a traditional cut and turn on an old closed knuckle axle. I might have gone a different way, and put an internal sleeve in it, but it is probably too late for that. If it shows the least bit of trouble, grind that weld out, and re-do it, then take a piece of tubing which will fit over that, cut it in half, and put an external sleeve on it.

There is nothing inherently weak about a full pin but weld, and from the looks of things, you got the full penetration. Gapping the parts is how pipefitters accomplish the same thing.

[sas_silverado]

thats the same way i did my 44 hp, but i had 1/2" tubes and didnt gouge all the way thru, all worked well, the real bitch is doing a d60, the knuckles don't turn, i had to drill the plug welds and rotate the pumkin

[61TWPW]

2 tons of fun- Instead of being so condescending why didn't you just post the "how to" in your first response? I did research it and figured trying to get 8 different welds to line up allowed a lot of room for error. I ran the process by a friend who was a welder on the Alaskan pipeline. He seemed alright with it. I too hope I'm a "danm good welder". When someone asks for help why be so self-righteous?
Dahoyle- If there's the slightest evidence of a crack, I will do an external sleeve. I have been thinking of pulling it out again and doing that anyway. Just really enjoying driving the truck after a 2 year conversion
Most everyone on here has been a wealth of information and help. This conversion probably wouldn't have happened if it weren't for this awesome site. Thanks for the insights

[2tons of fun]

i didnt think i would need to explian every step to someone that knew the front axle would be holding up 3/4 of the weight of the truck.

either way, best of luck, i hope you dont find out the hard way



oh, and supercharged65, id watch that skinny mouth of yours, if i sat on you your eyes would pop out of your skull and i would steal your tool box

[vikingmech]

Dont sweat the butt welds as long as you took care doing it shouldnt give any probs. I have got some pretty big air with a butt welded front in a 5000lb truck that was very front heavy, ran it for years.

[eggman918]

Dont sweat the butt welds as long as you took care doing it shouldnt give any probs. I have got some pretty big air with a butt welded front in a 5000lb truck that was very front heavy, ran it for years.

Any proprely welded joint will not fail before the base metal IMHO
I had this thought last night if I was a experienced pipeline welder I would have done it the same way,it's all torch work with stands and a level I bet it took him no time.
I would not have done it that way,I am a machinist that can weld not a welder BIG difference.Having worked with some very skilled welders in my time I know the diffrence.
Anyway a new trick to put in the book,can't have to many tricks in book

[MNtal]

I wouldn't worry about the welds thats most likely not the weak spot its the HAZ around the weld that wasn't there when that axle was originally built.

Butt welding axle tubes to turn the balls is not the proper way to correct caster angle or raise the pinion up to acount for poor driveshaft angles. You should consider reinforcing that area with a full width truss on top of the axle from knuckle ball to knuckle ball. The other acceptable option would be to remove the tubes by drilling out the rosset welds in the housing and replacing them with a piece of DOM. Neither fun tasks but both acceptable fixes.

In my opion the HAZ from the butt welded tube has created a buckle point on your front axle tube (wich is a structural part of your vehicle). I have seen 3 housing modified the same way you have done yours fail because that tube bent.

You may never have any issues and I wish you the best of luck, but I would probably fix it for the piece of mind knowing that I'm not putting others at risk driving something I moddified incorrectly.

Oh and supercharged65 Thats why most early and newer 9" housings flex, tear, bend, and crack in those areas. you show me one of those housings that has stood up to moderate abuse and I'll show you ten+ destroyed housings laying in a pile collecting rain water and rust..