ok to start off as far a 4x4 goes im a toyota guy though and through. that said im working on another project a 72 k5 blazer and i ran into a delema im trying to drop in the running erar out of my rolled 97 1500 in it and the front diff is on the wrong side. in my head i have a soulition but dont want to start it it will for sure end in dissaster so if some knows for sure tell me it itr will or will not work
here goes i want to use third member parts and the outer sharts hubs and brakes off the 72 blazer abd the housing and inner axle shafts off a drivers side diff ford maybe somthing from the late 60s will this work
thank you and sorry for the rambling

oh yah reason for usuing outers is the chevy six lug and reason for using the third member parts is to match the back 373's

IMHO, doing that type of mix and match is asking for problems.

Basically, the diff housing is a cast iron. You can change the axle tubes to shift the diff to match. Welding the combo back together can be tricky.

However, is the expense worth it?

The K5 is a stout frame and good axles to begin with. Unless the axles are damaged (as in bent) why change them?

I think its because he wants to drop the engine/trans/transfer from a 97 into the 72, and the 97 has a different side drop than the Blazer.

I'd try to find a complete 44 from a donor vehicle before I mixed and matched. Would be much easier and stronger.

Is the 97 a Vortec? If not, Id just keep what you got.

Or, swap the engine but keep the 72's trans and transfer. It should have a TH350/NP205 right? Thats a pretty stout combo.

Sounds to me like you're putting a '97 Chevy engine/trans/t-case into your '72 Blazer and need a driver's drop front axle but want to stay 6-lug.

Ball joint 70's/80's D44's are basically all the same on the inner knuckle. You can bolt Chevy outers onto a Ford 44 and vice versa.
Like you said, use the Ford inner shafts that match the housing width and the Chevy outers that match those knuckles/spindles.
The Chevy 44 diff parts will fit in the Ford 44 housing as well, as long as they are both low-pinion.

The only thing you may run into is that your '72 Blazer axle probably has the older, smaller u-joints. I'd recommend using shafts that use the later, bigger ones.

My front axle was out of a '72 blazer too, and I upgraded the shafts (first bigger stockers, later chromoly).

Listen to what Erik posted, he knows his D-44's. Here is a link to his web page and the mods and specs of his D-44,s. He had this axle under his 86 runner for a long time and it is now under his 97 runner. We wheel a lot together and he has never had any problems when I have been with him but he told me he did have problems a few times. Check it out.

http://home.4x4wire.com/erik/

sorry it took so long to get back on thank you erik i thought it would all work but had no one around to tell me it would for sure i was not sure it anyone would could understand what i was talking about ut you did thanks

the other questions yes it is a vortec and in 97 it had alumnium heads
i would like to use the older trans/trans and if i was building a rock rig i would but this is more of a custom restoration that probably wont see the dirt verry much and the push button transfer case falls under the custom part

im not worried about the weaker 44 shafts because if i need 4x4 in this truck it will be because the road is a little icy not because im running the hammers
thank you all very much

alright one more thing the spring perches
now the late sixtys f250 had both 44s and 60s the ones without the dana 60s were leef springs even though the 150s were coil sprung
is there any other diffrents between a 1/2 and 3/4 ton dana 44s because my blazer is obvusaly 1/2 and i would like to have a housing with leaf perches i measured a in a yard and the perches on the ford was only 3/8 inch wider than chevy i dont think it will cause a problem once the u bolts are tight