Solid Axle Swap BS Thread

Good point, but I know I’d want to do it while I went through the trouble of rebuilding it haha I’ve never rebuilt or geared an axle, but the 14 bolt looks a little easier, but the shave makes up for all that haha. I feel more confident trying to get SD axles from a junkyard and know what I’m getting since it’s coming from the same truck. So many options it’s getting convoluted haha

BK has a ball joint conversion and I’m sure others make one, too. I keep seeing terms like high steer arms and don’t really know what is necessary to just run full hydro.

 

Oh man, it is crazy overwhelming. When my friend finally convinced me to go with 1-ton axles for my SAS, I spent over a year reading, talking to people, looking at hundreds of builds online, etc. So many options!

I ended up with a late 80's kingpin D60. Found a great deal locally that I couldn't ignore. No regrets. Had I not found that one, my first choice would have been a 2005+ D60. Usually you find those axles sold as a set with the matching sterling rear, so that makes sense if you find the pair for a good price.

About the shave on the 14bolt: not sure if you read one on my replies above, but depending on the shave kit you get, there may be a bit of more work involved than it seems. So I understand your hesitancy with that.

With full hydro you don't have to worry about clearance of traditional steering linkages (which is what high steer arms help with).

If you go with a 2005+ D60, ball joints would not be an issue. Have you seen one of those axles up close? Everything on them, including the ball joints, is ridiculously massive.

I do not think you will regret going with 1-ton axles. If money is not an issue, then the custom 609s would be the way to go. But price for those can be prohibitive for a lot of people. There is a reason why so many people have the D60/14bolt combo or D60/sterling combo. They tend to be "cost effective" for most builds.

 

Just from a quick FB search I’ve found 05 SD60s $1000 for the pair. I’d imagine a junk yard would be a little less. The 14 bolt shave looked pretty intense and I’ve never welded cast. It looks simple on paper, but with the tools I have and general lack of knowledge plus caveman tolerances I don’t think it would end well haha d60 and sterling looks like something I can wrap my head around and beat the piss out of.

 

Not trying to throw another wrench in the 1-ton world for you @Dayman Karate, but there is one major drawback to the 05+ Superduty axles. The castings on those axles are stupid big and require an annoying amount of cutting/trimming before you can weld any sort of truss or bracket to them. I only say this because you’ve said you want something a little more ready-to-go, just know it’ll take you about a full day of work just to prep an 05+ SD60. That was one of the reasons I decided to pick up a set of 04 SD axles (I also liked that they were a little narrower, plus I found them for cheap from a local junkyard). There is one workaround though, if you want to do a radius arm setup, the 05+ SD axle is ready to go as is, check out WFO Concepts if that interests you.

 

Which parts get trimmed? I haven’t seen anything about that. I don’t mind spending time prepping it. I just don’t think I’m up for a shave. I’ll read up on pre 05 and post to see what the trade offs are. Ideally I’d like to do dual triangles like the rear, but it’ll likely be single just first glance. I plan on building the axles before lopping all the LT stuff off and wheeling in the meantime.

 

Here’s a glimpse at what’s involved in order to get the 05+ SD60 axle to a state where you can start welding trusses and brackets to it.



A double triangulated 4-link front? What vehicle is this going under exactly? Be sure to stay away from cockslayer ...erm... rockslayer.

 

Does everyone use a double cardan on the front driveline at the transfer case end?

 

Second gen taco. Will move the motor up and am discussing with someone about moving it back, too. Doubt it will be as heavily triangulated as the rear is. Tighter fit up front of course. I’m in ideal world pajama planning right now. No cockslayer for me. Barnes or RuffStuff haha that video doesn’t look too terribly bad, just time consuming. I am curious to see the difference in the two SD versions. I’d rather do that trimming if it means a more substantial axle in the long run

 

I did not.

 

I'm sure you already saw this thread but a good read!!
https://irate4x4.com/threads/05-ford-super-duty-dana-60-axle-tech-info.4199/

 

I had not, but that’s exactly what I was looking for. thanks!

 

I thought it was the standard go to. Maybe it's more for people with a higher suspension lift. They did decide to stick with the 2 piece rear, do a carrier bearing drop and rebuild everything so its nice and toit!

 

Evrey truck is different, but my IFS front shaft bolted right up.

I'm still surprised they did a carrier bearing drop, I would question them on that one, you shouldn't need it if you chop the perches off the rear axle and reweld them with the pinion angle setup right. I don't have one even with my rear diff offset 3+" to the right with the fj80 rear axle.

 

Not sure on the carrier drop, but the recommendation came from both Tom Woods driveshafts and local driveline shop to keep the rear 2 piece. The pinion is already clocked up looking at the carrier bearing . I think the angle coming off the carrier bearing was hella steep like 24 degrees. I may have misunderstood him.

 

Prices vary drastically depending on where you are.

You'll be fine with the sterling.

If you have not dealt with these axles before, be prepared for the initial shock factor. They are massive, heavy and kind of difficult to maneuver if you are working alone and don't have fork lift. I had to use an engine hoist and HD car dollies to move the axles around the garage. It was a PITA.

Even with proper tools, yea, prepping those axles is very time consuming and tedious.

Single joints at both ends on mine as I needed more operational angle. No issues whatsoever.

 

I’m 135lbs so yeah it’ll be fun maneuvering them around haha I’ve got a tractor for at least the initial moving. Might build a cart or something. I’m going through every square inch of the garage while I’m home with the newborn to make the most space I can and get everything organized.

I’m picking up a basic 120v plasma cutter today. Should have done it 8,483 cut off disks ago, but I figure better late than never. I’m kinda sketched on regearing myself, especially if I need to buy more tools it may not be economical. I don’t plan on regearing anything else.

 

I thought Doubles help with steeper engles?

 

05+ superduty axles on 37s. I have a superduty axle under my 3rd gen as well. For the pure beef and availability of these is way better in my opinion. I picked my 60 up for $450 from a junk yard. Picked up a second 60 for a stock tacoma driveshaft.(local shop needed one and I wanted the axle that was in a front end collision). Traded a Glock 23 for my rear sterling. Can’t seem to touch a kp60 for under a grand that’s rusted out

 

When I redid my drive shafts after the SAS, I needed the steepest angle I could get for the front one.

Various shops told me that single joints allow for the steepest possible angles and explained that double joints, on the other hand, allow for smoother operation with steep angles but not as steep as single joints. Dunno...just saying what I was told.

For my application, I opted for single joints for the front shaft. Going with a double joint would have required me to tilt the pinion of the D60 up quite a bit, which would have caused the caster angle to go into negative, which would have required the inner C's to be cut and rotated to bring the caster back into positive, etc. Way too much work just to accommodate a double joint.

I have a double joint in the rear shaft though.

This is from Tom Wood's website:

"Many people mistakenly believe that a double cardan or C.V. type drive shaft will allow for greater operating angles than a conventional 2 joint or single cardan drive shaft. This is not true. Some types of C.V.'s will actually incur a binding interference at less of an angle than a standard two joint drive line, again depending on the individual components used."

Nice runner!

True. Never seen a kingpin under a grand. Mine looked like it came from the bottom of the ocean . I got a good deal on it locally, so I went for it. Interestingly enough, SD axles tend to be quite expensive in AZ thanks to the Jeep crowd. They do lots 1-ton swaps on the JKs, and SD D60s are the axle of choice. So finding cheap ones like in other parts of the country is difficult "Supply and demand" I suppose.

 

That’s about the price I'm seeing. Around 1k for the pair. Been looking at LKQ online, too but not sure how much shipping would be. I’m guessing a low mileage axle won’t need bearings and all that, just gears and locker?