86 Dodge Specs?

Great site you guys have here, I picked up an 86 Dodge 150 (light-duty). It's got the 318, auto, 8' bed regular cab, 4 wheel drive and plow. Seems like a good truck, only problem is the last owner beat the u-joints(destroying the yokes) right out of the front left axle. So, i'm looking for a replacement...
My question is what is the axle under the front of this thing? Is it Dana? Dodge? Who made it? I'm a loyal Jeep and Ford driver, this is my first Dodge, parts seem tough to come by, any good sources you guys would recommend?

and thanks,
Rob

Originally Posted by 86dodge01

Great site you guys have here, I picked up an 86 Dodge 150 (light-duty). It's got the 318, auto, 8' bed regular cab, 4 wheel drive and plow. Seems like a good truck, only problem is the last owner beat the u-joints(destroying the yokes) right out of the front left axle. So, i'm looking for a replacement...
My question is what is the axle under the front of this thing? Is it Dana? Dodge? Who made it? I'm a loyal Jeep and Ford driver, this is my first Dodge, parts seem tough to come by, any good sources you guys would recommend?

and thanks,
Rob

It's a Dana 44. Dodge trucks are harder to find parts for because their production numbers were lower than Ford and GM. This makes the aftermarket parts suppliers more hesitant about tooling up for small volumes of parts. Although, you should be able to find anything you need for your year truck. You will need to get more familiar with the different forums on the web and their classified ads...there are alot of trucks being parted out. Also try www.car-part.com or www.junkyarddog.com for used parts.

Thanks for the reply Chump. I'll start searching, the dana 44 seems to be used in a lot of vehicles, so I have that going for me.
Thanks again,
Rob

you will run into the problem of the 86 will have had a 5 inch bolt pattern so anything older then 84 wont fit the rims as they are a 4 1/2 inch pattern unless your willing to change both axles and all four rims

86 and newer dodge trucks had a two piece axle on the left side it has the vaccum control that puts the truck in 4wd that axle asmbley is the same till 1993 , if you find a axle asmbley from 1980 to 1985 it has a solid axle on the left and you can run lock out hubs, dodge 5 x 5.5 bolt pattern ran 72-74 lock out hubs drum brakes , 75-79 5x4.5 full time 4wd, 5x5.5 1980-1985 solid left axle , 5x5.5 1986-1993 two piece left axle