Will Dana 44 knuckles work on a Dana 30?

[Lonesome7.3]

I have V8 Ranger build waiting for me when I get home. I had planned on running a 66 through 77 Bronco set of running gear under it. I have a friend who has a few sets out behind his house. Here is the issue, he now tells me the front end he set aside for me is actually a D30 and not a 44 like he originally believed. Okay, that sucks but free is free. So, I want to know if I can take the drum brake knuckles off and swap in a set of D44 disc brake knuckles. I had planned on upgrading to a high steer set of knuckles anyway. Now I want to know if they will work on a D30 instead. Any thoughts or suggestions?

[75K30]

Short answer. No.
Free is free, but the D30 is not going to hold up to the demands of the V8. Depending upon tire size, and how heavy you are on the skinny pedal, the D44 might even be marginal.
Have you considered full width axles? Do you intend to run a 9 inch out back?
1/2 ton stuff is a dime a dozen. Full width D44's are almost free where I am at.

[Lonesome7.3]

I am worried about the D30 being strong enough as well. But this is not a truck that will get beat on. My wife will use it as a daily driver and the off road use will be on easy to moderate trails. We will run 33 AT’s and I “plan” to go easy on the skinny one. So I believe a D44 would be perfect. But, being since I no longer have one available and this is a budget build, I was hoping to discuss the feasibility of the D30. I do agree though about it not being stout enough.

I thought about full width running gear, being since I have a few sets. But I would like to keep the tires under the fenders. Like I said, this is going to be a daily driver for my wife. And a clean almost factory look is what we are going for.

Oh yeah, and I do plan on using the nine inch that my buddy has set aside for me. But depending on whether or not I find something better to go up front, that may change. The lug pattern may end up being an issue. I am also looking into an 8.8.

[75K30]

Even though you do not desire a full width axle, (I totally understand keeping tires reasonably under the fenders) you might spend more money installing a disck brake conversion on the already too small front D30. In reality the 30 with 33 inch tires can hold up, but with a V8, it might be asking a bit too much.
If you already have a full width 44 with discs, why not cut it down? Probably cost less than the disc conversion, and you will be done. You would then have nice 44 that fits. Shortening the long side is pretty easy, and if you shorten it to the stock bronco width, finding axles would be an off the shelf deal.
Thats knid of the direction I would lean. This way it is absolutely the way you want it the first time.

[Lonesome7.3]

The 44’s I have are either eight lug or leaf sprung. I have one from a 79 extended cab 1/2. Those are hard to find. I like the bronco front end because it is coil sprung and **** near bolt in. I have decided to just hunt down a 44. I would not mind locating a gutted housing. Then I can have some fun with what I install. Originally, I had planned on installing high steer knuckles regardless. So it is not that I was only interested in the disc brake conversion. If that was the case I would simply leave it alone if it already had disks.

[75K30]

I am with you there, however, making a leaf sprung axle work in a coil sprung vehicle is easy. I put Dana 60's in 1/2 ton fords all of the time. All it requires is these weld in wedges (part # 5340) Bronco Suspension Components Ford shocks, long travel, 70/30 auto adjust, coil springs, radius arms, axle wedges, drop bracket, leaf springs, U-bolts
With these, bolting up the radius arm is as easy as pie. Some D60 axles have a shorter driver side tube, and this makes things interesting, but for D44's, they are easy.
I am curious, about this 79 super cab, front axle. What is the desireability of this?
Other than it is a half ton D44 with leaf springs, I still see it as a High pinion dana 44.
Run of the mill out here in my area. How many of those do you want??? Lol.
For what it is worth, I have several sets of hubs and the stuff you need to convert your D44 8 lug to 5 lug if you like.
I might even be willing to trade if you thought you really wanted to return to a 5 lug bolt pattern.

[Lonesome7.3]

Cool. I love James Duff products. I never noticed those axle wedges before though. That would have made other coil sprung conversions I have done a lot easier. Were I am from the leaf sprung D44 out of an extended cab is very hard to get. That is why I have been holding on to the one I have. I am not real sure what to do with it. As a matter of fact, any Ford straight axle is hard to get. We can thank the concrete cowboys running Chevys for that. They buy up all the Ford running gear then install them in their Chevys and never even bother with a front drive shaft. What in the **** is that all about? But anyhoo, depending on what I find, I may see what you want for some hub stuff. I may need everything from the outer knuckle on if I find a drum brake 44. Ideally, I would like to install a TTB D44. They are not hard to cut down and work great in a Ranger. But I am using a two wheel drive frame, and I simply do not want to go through with the mods required to make the TTB work. So, back to the straight ax idea. How much would you want for a good full length D44 if possible with 3:73 gears? If the cost of the front end and shipping is less than what I can find one for where I live, then I will do that and cut it down.

[Lonesome7.3]

Well this is one option.

http://www.reidracing.biz/DANA30.php

I am certainly at an impasse now. My original plan was to drop the money and install high steer flat top knuckles on a D44. But as you can see the cost to do the same to a drum brake D30 simply is not worth it. By the time I buy all the stuff for the conversion I could have simply bought a disc brake D44 and bolt it in as is. (After going through the seals, bearing as so on of course.) So, unless I locate a Bronco D30 with disc brakes, I am going to rule out them out as an option. I do not mind spending the money on a gutted early Bronco D44 housing. But I cannot justify this kind of expense on a D30.

[Lonesome7.3]

Never mind. My wife picked me up a D44 out of an early Bronco. It has drum brakes so I am going to go through with my high steer conversion. I have to change the knuckles anyway. Although a high steer set up seems a bit pointless considering the low pinon on that 44. Oh well, this is more of a fun iuld anyway.