[Chuck78]

Above is the Jeep Grand Cherokee ZJ and Jeep XJ D44 bolt patterns. I believe this is different than the Crown Vic slightly, and also the Explorer may be a different pattern again.

I went out and crawled under the 62 GMC 1000 panel truck in the rain real quickly and got some very rough measurements, looks as if the Dana 44 bearing retainer bolt pattern on the ends of the axle housing tubes is approximately 2.75" x 3.75" very roughly, eyeballing with the wheels on, from the back sides without the truck jacked up... The 2.75" was fairly accurate, but the 2.75" measurement could be a bit more off.

I think I read on here or the other old Chevy trucks website that the "Big Ford" rear end bolt pattern is the same as ours????? I can find those dimensions listed on here, and will later on most likely.

Originally Posted by From https://comancheclub.com/topic/57351-dana-44-disc-brake-conversion/

Backing plate bolt patterns:
- 95 - 01' Ford 8.8 rear discs backing plate has a 2" x 3 9/16" bolt pattern  (Explorer-only, or others such as Crown Vic etc? Ranger?)
- 86 - 90 MJ/XJ D44 has a 2" x 3 11/32" bolt pattern 

The second problem that needs modification is compensating for the difference in thickness between the Explorer backing plate vs the D44 drum backing plate.

- Explorer disc brake backing plates are .350" thick 

- 86 - 90 MJ/XJ D44 backing plates are .125" thick 

Giving a thickness difference of .225" between the two. You can have a machine shop custom make a spacer to make up the difference or you can go the easy route and look to Teralex. Teraflex uses a spacer in the aftermarket D44 conversion kit they sell to compensate for this difference. A search on the webpage showed the spacers to be available for purchase by themselves, PN 86261, for $6.99 each. The spacer are .226" thick. The addition of the spacer will require the axle shaft bearings be replaced. When you go to press axle shaft bearing assemblies on the spacer will go between the D44 retaining plate and the oil seal. Make sure the tapered side of the spacer is facing the oil seal.

Note - the above link confirms unfortunately that the Explorer and the Jeep 5 lug rotors are all 5 on 4.5" bolt circle. Still able to be re-drilled to 5 on 5" however, unlike a similar bolt circle 6-lug pattern which would have holes overlapping.


Also, getting the parking brake cables to work with the newer rotor hat drum brake setups is going to likely take a little bit of fabrication.