Dana 44?

[PhilAnder]

I purchased a project GN about a month ago and now im finally starting to work on it. Earlier today I got crawled underneath to see how bad the situation down there was and i noticed that it has a Dana 44 unit. It left me confused because i thought GNs came with the GM 10-bolt
Can someone shine some light on this

 

[chopped39]

All Gns came with 10 bolt 8 1/2 ring. Some were open some were not. Post some pics of rear. I think you have to wait 10 posts to download pics Look on your trunk deck for the rpo tag and look for G80Thats the limited slip code. Im not sure what the open code is

 

[PhilAnder]

G80 is on the tag but the car has had some work done to it so im thinking that it has had the Dana added. The guy i bought the car from bought it as a project but never did anything with it just like the guy before him did, so it is several times removed from anyone that actually knows what has been done to the car.
Since the car isnt running Ive decided to pull it all apart and see what i can find.
Tomorrow morning I'll snap some pics of the housing and try to post them

 

[charlief1]

You can go ahead and post a pic Phil. If it has a Dana 44 under it then it's a custom unit. There were some 44's made years ago for the F body but I'm not aware of any that were made for the G body cars and I'd like to see it.

 

[PhilAnder]

Its a little ruff but looks like the cover has "malibu" written on it...

 

[Black3]

Yup, it's a Dana. Not sure why.

 

[charlief1]

Looks like soneone welded ears on it so it'd work. Interesting.

 

[novaderrik]

looks like the mounting ears are cast... i hope whoever welded them on knew what they were doing..

 

[PhilAnder]

I hope so too, haha!
I plan on pulling this car all apart and when I get the rear out I will take some more detailed pictures

 

[turboc87gn]

strange...

 

[PhilAnder]

Forgot all about this thread, haha. I found out that the D44 came from Mexico where evidently a few of the Malibus and Montes came with these from the factory.
My next question is how strong are Dana 44 units? Should I just keep it and freshen it up or should i hunt down a 10 bolt?
And yes I realize its almost been a year haha

 

[~JM~]

Plenty of products to build a Dana 44 in the 4x4 market. I believe a Dana 44 is almost as strong as the Ford 9".

~JM~

 

[charlief1]

Plenty of products to build a Dana 44 in the 4x4 market. I believe a Dana 44 is almost as strong as the Ford 9".

~JM~

It's very strong. They came in some chevy trucks and were a staple in larger jeeps. They hold up great and the next step up would be the Dana 60. I believe they're lighter than a 9" as well so it shouldn't add to much weight to the car either.

 

[novaderrik]

the higher performance C4 Vettes (ZR1, Grand Sport, etc) came with a Dana 44 rear differential in them.
actually, i think every C4 with a manual trans built after 88 or so came with them.

 

[yourownself]

the c4 dana axle was a much different unit. it was the d44hd aka the d44a. it was an aluminum housing that was eventually adapted to fit in the grand cherokee.
thicker ring gear, larger pinion, different dimensions. still a dana 44, but a much different dana 44.

 

[PhilAnder]

I was wondering... with this rear end will i be able to do the standard LS1 disc brake swap???

 

[charlief1]

Take a pic of how the flanges are made Phil. Don't know why you couldn't but the flanges may make the difference.

 

[jdpolzin]

Weird! I wonder what gear it has in it?

 

[TPI80REGAL]

And another plus to the dana is that it has factory bolt in axles. I knew GM made a service replacement 44 for the 3rd gen fbody, but had no idea that these were ever installed in our cars. Learn something new everyday.