From
Pirate
as weve allready established,all 10 bolts use the big bearig spindles. the hubs,rotors,lockouts,stub shafts,u joints,ball joints,etc. is exactly the same.
moving on to the housing,it is not any different either.all the 10 bolts ive come across(wich are many) have the same diameter/thickness tube as any chevy or waggy 44.all of them are thcker than the scout 44s.
the sahfts are comparable. alot of the "10 bolts are crap" guys will complain about the 28 vs 30 spines at the inner axle. this is not a relavent point,since the over all diameter of the shaft is the same,as is the neckdown point,wich is where the shaft is prolly gonna snap anyway. the 10 bolt and 44 even use the same inner axle seal.
heres where it gets alitte more interesting. the dana 44 uses the same diameter pinion as the dana 30 and 35 at 1.3 inches. they all take the same pinion seal. the 10 bolt however, has a dana 60 sized pinion at 1.6. the shaft is bigger,as is the yoke,the splined part, the threaded portion,and nut. it also uses a bigger inner bearing.
here is a pic,for your viewing pleasure,the 10 bolt pinion is on the left:
ignore the pinion head,as im not sure what ratios the 2 pinions are from.
here is what happens to a rear 44 pinion when too much throttle is applied at the wrong time,tring to spin 38" TSLs:
the carrier is compareable.not much difference in the carrier housing,spider or side gears. one of the coolest tings about the 10 bolt is that the carrier break is real high: 2.73 on the high,and everything else on the low. because of this, 10 bolt ring gears are considerably thicker(read stronger ) than compareable ratio 44 gears. if you happen across a cheap full case locker for the high gear and want to use it with your 4.10s,no sweat,you can get a ring gear spacer for around $20. can ya get one of them fora 44? dont think so
last and not least is that since the 28 spline 8.5" 10 bolt was used in the rear of alot of popluar 70s era "muscle cars"(camaros,novas,etc.) as well as the front of every chevy/gmc truck made during a 10+ year production span,used stuff is everywhere. lockers and gearsets go for next to nothin on ebay all the time.
i finally got tired of lookig for a cheap used 4.10 gearset and carrier for my 44,and put a 10 bolt up front of my junk after a friend gave me a 4.56 gearset.
id go a step further and say that the 10 bolt is actually alittle bit stronger of an axle than a 44.
now,if youd like to try and convince me other wise,i cant wait to hear your reasoning that makes the 44 a better front axle.
the guy that gave me the R&P says i should keep my mount shut-just let all you guys think they are crap,so that we can keep buying this stuff cheap and free
Sounds like the 10 bolt is ok...
