ANTI VENOM

I swear that when I swapped rear diffs with another forum member that he said they were 4.27's. I don't remember the tooth counts and I've seen 4.30's. Do any of you remember 4.27's for the HD D44?
This was many years ago.

WVZR-1

Many years ago the conventional D44 ring and pinions were used with a welded sleeve to install in the D44HD Vette/Viper builds. It would be very easy to see if yours was done this way by just checking the pinion nut. The D44 pinion nut is smaller than the D44HD which uses a D60 pinion. It's generally felt that the D44HD, D60 is 1 5/16 and the D44 older conventional is generally 1 1/8. Just see what hex fits your pinion nut for starters.

D44HD and D60 isn't 1 5/16 but it's what gets used.

ANTI VENOM

Hey D. Your knowledge of the C4 is starting to freak me out. As usual, you have provided me with useful info. I read your post then I immediately roll under the car with caliper in hand. 1 1/8th pinion nut. So, now that we know that, is it crap or what?
P.S. Thank you.

WVZR-1

How many miles on the rear? How does the pinion feel when you twist it rapidly CW/CCW by hand? You can't check it by doing the wheel quickly back and forth because that will first just give you an idea of the condition of the differential itself. (the pinions and side gears). I'd be checking that also. In your case with the car apart I might consider removing the differential and actually checking it.

The pinion shaft is substantially smaller and that's always been considered the weakness of the D44 (conventional) with added power. With more power, a stout clutch, sticky tires and the ZF it's something to consider checking. They were run that way for years with mixed results and there's many out there today I expect with people that have no idea what they've got.

ANTI VENOM

Well I certainly did not know that. I will be sure to check those things as I have no idea how many miles are on this rear.