Maybe so .. but.. we have never had a problem with any of the cast steel portion or tubes. We mig weld the truss to them with a little preheat and have never had a crack there. We do not brace the top of the C just the truss is tied into the bottom. The problem area is the cast iron pumpkin for strength in these it will break in half long before the tubes bend in my opinion.Dust wrote:That looks like a 78/79 axle and if so the tube comes out of the center housing and then goes into a cast steel section then back to tube and into the forged "C".
If you weld it to the cast section you should pre/post heat it, and I would weld it with TIG and 308 SS filler.
Not that it can't be MIG'd but you may find it cracking... Why Ford had Dana build this way eludes me.
For a stronger housing over-all look for an F250 D44 in the 78/79 era, and convert it back to 5-lug with your outers. Thicker tube walls, etc, and IIRC it is an inch or two wider, but I could be wrong there.
If I was to do another 78/9 to go fast I would run the F250 D44 front, using the wedgies that several companies sell if I stayed with OE R-Arms, and or a derivative of the "Cage" SAS arm mount if not staying with the OE-Ford arms. I would run GM Knuckles and brakes, followed with a pre-77 D60 in the rear with upgraded shafts; to narrow the rear track a bit over the later rear axles... Hmmmmm... that is exactly what I am going to do with one of the rolling chassis
Whats the matter Nick dont have a thing for 'Cougars'??
