Ford Dana 44 swap to '72 Blazer?

[wcelliot]

Sorry for the basic question, but I'm trying to build a modernized '72 Blazer and do so on a reasonable budget. This is more for highway/street driving with only light/moderate offroad capabilities needed. Fuel economy is important though for highway use, so I definitely want an O/D trans.

I have a complete '72 Blazer 4x4 (350/TH350/passenger side drop) and a complete 1998 k1500 (350/4l60e/driver side drop)

My original intention was to shorten the k1500 frame and mount the Blazer body on top with custom body mounts, retaining the IFS, ABS, etc of the newer truck.

The alternative plan would be to simply drop the 1998 running gear (including the driver side drop transfer case) into the '72 and forego the IFS, etc.

I understand a driver side drop Ford Dana 44 will pretty much bolt in and allow me to use the modern transfer case. I have access to a nice set of Dana 40/60 axles (F&R) from a '79 F250 parts truck that I may be buying anyway (for a F*rd project I'm also playing with).... would these be appropriate for use in the Blazer?

I guess a third option would be to retain the transfer case from the '72 and modify the 4L60e to work with it (which I understand requires essentially a full teardown?) ... though I don't really love the early Chevy disc brakes and would likely want to upgrade those as well. More $$

Or should I stay with my original frame swap plan?

Opinions appreciated!

Bill

[andrewmp6]

Which t case do you have in the 72 now?If the 700r4 and 4l60e use the same bolt pattern and spline you could get a np208 from a 81-87 or np241 from the 90-91 k5/suburban.

[ryanroo]

Frame swaps are not generally good. that is a very detailed and time consuming thing to jump into vs. a drivetrain swap.

the front axle swap will be pretty easy. the disk brakes on a 72 will be as good as anything you are going to be able to easily use on the axle. they are the same thing on all solid axle truck essentially from that era through the end of the solid axle. the ford 44 brakes will be about the same.

there are a the two options that andrew listed that will work with your 4l60e and have no dissasembly required. you could also use a round pattern 205 and bolt it to the 4l60. a t case swap is pretty easy as well so it would basically be dealers choice on which part you want to swap.

[wcelliot]

Thanks Gents... I think the 72 Blazer uses a NP205? I had understood that a 700r4 or a 4l60e both required extensive mods to work with it. Is the "round pattern" 205 somehow different?

I will explore the np208/np241 options which I was unaware of.

Thanks again!

[special-K]

To answer the title, you can put a Ford Dana44 in. VT Blazer had a '70 Blazer trail rig with built Ford Dana60 under it. In fact, he bought it that way (the Ford axle) from another Nor'eastern (former) member Grendl (?). If you're asking if all this makes sense to us, I'd say weigh it out.
Not sure how bolt-in the Fords are with spring pad spread, etc. and there would be some dealing with in steering. Also mounting trans/t-case/driveshafts/assoc. misc.
My friend spent about $1,500 "having" his '72 700r4/NP205 thing done. We just moved the engine forward the difference in trans length and used driveshafts unchanged

[ryanroo]

If you have the entire Ford truck, the axle will literally bolt in. Pad width is the same, and if you have the Ford ubolt plates you are good to go. I installed a 79 Ford d60 in the front of my 72 k20 so I can say that from experience. The steering I don't know about, but you could use the gm knuckles and spindles/stub shafts and the the oem steering would bolt right up. Round pattern 205s come in later model k30s 85-91 and use the same round bolt pattern the newer aluminum cases do. They also have a female 32 spl input. I'm not sure about the adapter you would need, but it could be worked out. I'd probably stick with the 241 208 options.

[wcelliot]

Thanks much!! Think I just have may found a passenger side drop VSS 241.... think I have a plan now!

[andrewmp6]

If you want a hardcore off roader i would go np205,If its more just a truck the np208 or np241 are prefect.The np241 is geared a little lower and you can get a sye for it if that matters.The np241 did come in both drops driver and passenger and the passenger drop was less made.