Million Dollar question!!!! D44 vs D36
 

Alright Im doing my LSx swap and I ran into a snag. My motor mounts arent lining up like another 92 c4 vette that did the same swap. Im about 1 1/2 inches off. Now that being said we came up with the theory that the Dana 44 is longer 1-1 1/2 longer than the Dana 36. Pushing his setup closer to the motor mounts. Any truth?

Differences in our swap
Hes using a LS1
Hes using a Dana 44

Thats it.

My status is I have my motor connected to the tranny by two lower bolts and I have my C brace still connected. By taking it all apart and attaching the engine to tranny and then the cbrace. Will it make a difference? maybe some play I could take out?

Input?

If not ideas how I can squeeze about a inch to get me closer?:thumbs::cheers:

The mounting location for the C-Beam on the auto and manual trans is the same.

The difference is in the snout of the Dana 36 and 44.
Dana 44 has a longer snout, so shorter C-Beam.
Dana 36 has a shorter snout so longer C-beam.

What transmission is he using, and what are you using? Are they C4 trans?

Both cars automatic he swapped a dana 44 in his setup than did the lsx swap.

So if I read you correct than I cant get more play out of mine. Unless I Keep my cbrace and get a dana 44. With the longer snout it would puch my drivetrain foward. Brings to the next question.

How much longer is the dana 44 snout compared to the dana 36?(inches)

That may be what he did, do you know if he is using a Dana36 C beam? If so, thats where he may have gotten his extra 1" increase.

http://www.joby.se/corvette/mods/2001-0X11_diff/

Use a Dana 44 DS, it will bring it back the inch, plus there is play in the yoke, so you should be able to pick up the 1/2".

If I use that DS it will make the issue worse. I got to keep the longer DS which is the dana 36. And buy the dana 44 housing it it push the whole setup like it shows in the write up.:thumbs:

Why can't you mount the engine then have the driveshaft shortened or lengthened, whichever you need and do the C beam the same way.

:iagree:
That is the usual way with engine swaps.
Position engine/trans to suit car ,then make driveshaft fit ; not make engine/ trans fit driveshaft ?

:iagree:

Not possible you have to modify the cbrace if you dont all you did was make your driveshaft a different size. This thread isnt about making a d44 work in my car its about shifting the whole drive train foward. If you dont change the c brace than it will remain in the same location and Ill still be 1 1/2 short still reguardless of driveshaft size. If I got a longer driveshaft made I need to drill the c brace to make up my difference, here is where I have to in order to make it work as you guys say.

http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/m...icmod-Copy.jpg

I believe this may be a issue. In the thread link above he was installing a dana 44 in instead of his d36. His driveshaft was alil long, he needed to install the smaller d44 driveshaft but he made the 36 driveshaft work with lil margin.

I wanna use the danas extra length and stock c brace holes to push my drivetrain that inch and a half.

Hope i made sense of this:willy:

Its starting to look like I need to buy a D44. I could fab something up to the tail thou

Opps sorry mis read your post you are right but I thought that adding a extention to the cbrace may weakin it. Kinda sounds scary to me.:eek:

Im tring to work out something to get a dana 44. But it does put me over budget. We'll see:thumbs:

From the details in this thread, it appears you mostly have your answer.

How about a D36 driveshaft and C-beam used with a D44 differential - that should get you the 1"+ you are seeking. I don't know for sure, but I do believe you will need a hybrid rear ujoint to connect the D36 driveshaft to the D44 differential.

Have you tried contacting the person who did the other LS engine into C4 swap? Maybe they will be helpful and tell you how they did it.

On a related note: why would you install a beefy LSX engine and then leave the wimpy D36 differential?

Good luck, Thomas

The D44 has a shorter c brace so that wouldnt work the dana 36 has a longer c brace.

Ill take a look into the u joint issue if there is one.

I did contact the guy that did the swap he is the guy in fact that has the dana 44 for sale. I did get to asking him that Ill be going and checking out his car this weekend.

I was planning on the dana 44 but didnt want to go over my budget. I was going to do the swap next winter to the dana 44. But if it calls for it now I guess I got to blow over budget. :(

Sometimes internet/forum communication doesn't convey the thought.

So let me try again in a slightly different way.
1) Your complaint is that you need the engine/trans to be ~ 1.5" further forward.
2) Your current setup is utlilizing the driveshaft, C-beam, and differential all of the D36 variety.
3) You know that the D44 differential has a longer snout and that it places the bolts that attach the differential C-beam further forward towards the front of the car by 1"+.

So my suggestion is to use your existing Dana 36 C-beam, existing Dana 36 driveshaft - and combine those two parts with a Dana 44 differential. Viola! - that combo will increase the distance of the engine/trans 1"+ from your current setup that is using a Dana 36 differential.

Simple, no?

Thomas

DS uni's are same Spicer 1310 series on both

Yep exactly what I was thinking only problem is its a 1500 dollar fix.:willy:

:thumbs:

Dana 36?
 

I was going to do the swap next winter to the dana 44. But if it calls for it now I guess I got to blow over budget.

I am not sure your Dana 36 would last that long. I blew up my Dana 36 with a shift kit installed in my 700r.

I purchased a Dana 44 from Lingenfelter. This was back in the late 90's and I paid $800 for a low milage Dana 44 takeout.

I repositioned my engine to where I want and this is the result... It's a inch and a quarter.

http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/m...s/DSCN0056.jpg

http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/m...s/DSCN0059.jpg