atotalnincompoop

I have an '85 with the 4+3, from what I understand this car should have a dana 44 diff., but it appears to have the dana 36. Can someone with a service manual post me a pic of the 2 diffs side by side so that i can positively identify mine?

also if anybody knows, it was my understanding that the autos got the 36 and the manuals got the 44, am I right out to lunch on this or what

thanks, Greg :cheers:

edsalinas

On an '85 I'm not sure but I think ur right, autos=36, manuals=44.

You'll get verification on that in a few minutes I'm sure.........

:steering:

Mr Mojo

Best I can do at this point is show you the diagram from the service manual.

atotalnincompoop

ok, I definetly have the dana 36 with the manual trans. as far a s I know, it has never been changed, what's the deal?

linkschamp

From what I've read, isn't the 4+3 an automatic transmission with a manual shifting option... in that case, a Dana 36 would be correct, yes?? :confused:

vader86

No the 4+3 is considered a manual. It should have a D44 with 3.07 gears, that became standard on manuals in 85.

Evidently either your car didnt come with 4+3 from the factory, or some idiot blew the rear and decided to put in a D36 to sell it. (that route was probably cheaper)

atotalnincompoop

are the dana 36 and dana 44 a straight bolt in swap?

edsalinas

yes and no, sorry. The 44 will bolt up ok to the half shafts, but the camber bars use a larger bolt on the 44. Also the C bar holes will not line up on the diff portion. There's two ways to solve that problem, buy a C bar from someone that's made 4 a 44, or drill new holes in your old one to match the pattern on the diff. Difficult, but doable. The driveshaft should work fine, there's an inch & a half play on the slip spline into the tranny.

See what others have to say about this.......I may wrong on some of this, it's been awhile since I dealt with it.

edsalinas

Here's what I would do in order to remove ALL doubt. Raise the rear end up and put on jack stands. Crawl under the rear end, take along some carb cleaner or acetone and a couple rags. Have a flash light near by. Find the area on the side of the housing where the factory either scribed or stenciled or etched all the info you are looking 4. You'll have to clean it off some to be able to read it all, but it's all there.

atotalnincompoop

i tried to find it but couldn't. where abouts on the housing exactly is this info. I can see that it is a dana 36 just by looking at it, im just confused why it is in there :cheers:

edsalinas

it should be on the case, the main housing that holds the gears, either on one of the sides or maybe on the bottom (facing the ground). It's faint, it won't stand out, be sure to use a flashlight.

Why it's in there? Flip a coin, how many owners have there been? If you're the second and u know who the 1st was, u might get lucky & find out ? ? ? Have u done a carfax on the car?

On second thought, don't use the harsh chemicals, it may wipe away ink, if that's what was used, use a mild cleaner instead.


[Modified by edsalinas, 5:25 AM 6/17/2003]