D44 to F9 Swap - Driveshaft length

**biffgnar** · 02-23-2012, 06:04 PM

Ordering an F9 rear to swap for my D44. Wondering about change in rear driveshaft length. Anybody done this swap? Probably will just call TW and talk to them about it. With an LP third member I'm thinking it will not be too far off, although I'm guessing the F9 may require driveshaft to be a little longer. I do have the extended stroke TW driveshaft now but thinking a new shaft may go with the swap.

joe_jeep · 02-25-2012, 06:22 AM

if your old shaft is good, you could have it retubed to size and rebalanced. should be cheaper than a new one.
the ford pinion will be lower, but i think its a longer pinion also. meaning it will be slightly closer to the tcase, front to back, but slightly lower top to bottom. might not be far off form what you have. if its a long slip shaft it might work as is. im a fan of the 9". light, strong, can go up to 35 or even 40 spline shafts, good clearance, and you can weld anywhere on the housing.
a true hi9 third added to it and it will be sweet. good luck

**biffgnar** · 06-13-2012, 01:56 PM

Was thinking maybe an update here would be useful in case anybody else ever doing this axle swap and thinking about this question. Distance to be covered by the driveshaft turned out to be a little longer with the F9 than the D44, but not much. My driveshaft is a TW with extended splines so I was comfortable sticking with it for now. If I didn't have the extended splines a new shaft would be near the top of the to do list.

**Benderff** · 06-13-2012, 02:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by biffgnar

Was thinking maybe an update here would be useful in case anybody else ever doing this axle swap and thinking about this question. Distance to be covered by the driveshaft turned out to be a little longer with the F9 than the D44, but not much. My driveshaft is a TW with extended splines so I was comfortable sticking with it for now. If I didn't have the extended splines a new shaft would be near the top of the to do list.

Thanks for the update. A 9 inch is on the short list of what might happen in the near future.

ekim · 06-13-2012, 02:31 PM

if the housing has studs, you may want to get some kind of skid to protect them.

Found a ref for you, the holes in this skid line up with the 3 bottom studs on the housing:

**biffgnar** · 06-13-2012, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ekim

if the housing has studs, you may want to get some kind of skid to protect them.

Found a ref for you, the holes in this skid line up with the 3 bottom studs on the housing:

Actually, this is the skid I will be installing: http://www.currieenterprises.com/cestore/Product596.aspx?id=3831. I believe relatively new design from Currie. Saw a variation in person on the Currie/Savvy LJ at KOH. Very nice.

**biffgnar** · 06-22-2012, 02:02 PM

One more update - was on the phone to TW today about a centering ball issue I was having (operator error) and asked about the driveshaft length as it relates to the axle swap. They said for their shafts that the boot they use was stiff enough that it was difficult to extend and that if I could extend it by hand and still mount it up that I wasn't coming close to overextending it. Their advice was no longer shaft needed.

ekim · 06-22-2012, 02:24 PM

I've found that the boot tends to get torn. It's easy to convert to a dust cap if that happens, you just take the shaft apart and install the dust cap and possibly drill the female side of the shaft for a grease fitting.

[ edit ]
ha - just realized - no new shaft needed. Fixed above to reflect that.
[ /edit ]

**Wheelin98TJ** · 06-22-2012, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joe_jeep

....a true hi9 third added to it and it will be sweet...

hyfr!