Need some front end work/swap what do I do?

[Xandor]

Ok my 89 ranger is a 2.3 with 4.10's When in 4wd the front end grinds, I was told that my pinion bearing, You can shake the the front drive shaft around just a little bit. Other than that I have no idea how to tell.

I need 4wd befor snowfall. I'm afraid that if I have a shop take it apart thay will just find that its needs new gears. I dont want to pay to have 4.10's put back in it because if I'm going to do that I want 4.56s. With 7in of lift the 31's are way to small, and 4.10s are not enough.

Well I cant find 4.56s anywhere for a dana28. If anyone can find em let me know. Can a dana28 even handle 4.56s and 33's? I know they will fit and that they use to be made. I don't go wheeling, just have to have it for winter.

I found this on Craigslist. "hp ford dana 44 front axle out of a late 70's F150 with 4:56's and a true trac, bascially all new parts 0miles $400." I was thinking if I found something with 4.56s in it already in it I could swap axles just as cheap as having gears put in it.

Installing that is more work than I think I could handle. Anybody have any idea of what a shop work charge to do something like that? Is that even an option?

Just need some ideas here...

 

[xkotyx]

ive been debating doing this myself. ill have to watch the answers that come.

 

[adsm08]

That is going to be a lot of work and the track width is going to be wrong. The F-150 axle will be wider.

 

[cammeddrz]

do you have a welder? you will need it. just follow the millions of threads on sas's here. you can do it, also you will need wheel spacers for the rear axle to make it match the width, and also the spacers will need to be adaptors that will accept your current bolt pattern, and have wheel studs with the bolt same pattern as the front has. there are many companies that sell these new on ebay.

 

[jsmith]

My first thought is that after installing the 150's axle the front driveline would be coming out of the trans at an angle due to the new positioning of the front diff and wider axle and possibly impacting down there. It's pretty crowded there.
Also, would the splines match up on the new driveline?

 

[cammeddrz]

My first thought is that after installing the 150's axle the front driveline would be coming out of the trans at an angle due to the new positioning of the front diff and wider axle and possibly impacting down there. It's pretty crowded there.
Also, would the splines match up on the new driveline?

as long as they are both driver side drop it will be fine, this has been done to death so many guys have fw44's on their trucks here its not even funny. hell even i do. but mine is a bad example in this case

 

[bobbywalter]

if that is a fresh 456 trutrc ready to go d44 buy it

thats a good price


finding a 410 d28 isnt easy to do


is it a hybrid 28?

 

[sweetsride]

from my experience the d28 will not hold up to 33's with mild wheeling, granted you did say you were not going to wheel it, but once you have 33's its hard not to!!!! finding gears for the d28 is hard and not worth throwing the cash at!!! the fwd44 is a great option but it will cause your tires to stick out about 3-5 inches per side depending on your rims and offset. depending on your laws, you might be asking for trouble...i have it on my truck and like the stability it adds, but i wheel hard and on some off camber terrain! it would take some work and fab skills to get it in there, do some searching, its been done lots and there is lots of good threads on here to help you out....

the other options is to find a d35 out of an explorer and put the money into that, it is a direct bold in and much stronger axle that will hold up to 33's with hard wheeling...


Hope this helps
Kris

 

[cammeddrz]

btw using leaf springs on the front would make it waaaaaaay easier, just a thought

 

[Xandor]

if that is a fresh 456 trutrc ready to go d44 buy it

thats a good price


finding a 410 d28 isnt easy to do


is it a hybrid 28?

Naw its just a normal pos d28.

Update, I found a guy with a d28 "one third" with 4.56's in it. for $150 shipped. That way im only out $150 for the front.

Well I whatever I do if I change the front gears I will just get a 8.8, I do know I can handle that swap.