Dana 60 gurus

Im needing some help guys. I picked up a Dana 60 a little while back pretty cheap and it's needing a few things.

I was thinking it was a late 80s axle, however I had the numbers ran on the ring gear and it's coming back as a mid 70s. It's a hp driver drop with a shorter short side compared to the 78/79 and it's open knuckle.

I've read the 60 bible on pirate and mostly everything it's saying is low pinion, closed knuckle with a few exceptions.

Axle shafts should be 30 spline inner / 35 outer. But I've read that the mid 70s could be 30/19 or something of the sort. Can't remember off hand.

I've had to get new spindles and I have hubs on the way, along with a brake conversion kit, and I was about to order some chromo stub shafts, drive flanges, and a gear set along with some bearings, seals, etc. until I heard the ring numbers came back as mid 70s.

I think the spindles out will work fine, I'm not sure about the stub shafts and now if it's even worth it with the spline count and possibly smaller shafts. Anyone have any input on anything? Any way I can know for sure what it is exactly or if I can swap the shafts with later 60 shifts and them fit? Was thinking spartan locker to get spline count right.

Numbers on axle tube can't be read/found either.

 

Not a d60 guru at all, but i don't think that axle is commonly used for builds. When I was axle shopping for d60s I read quite a bit about the different D60s and talked to a lot of people that know about dana axles. Every person I talked to clearly stated to stay away from any d60 made before 1977.

If I were in your situation I would not mess with it. It's a low pinion axle, super rare, not a lot of aftermarket support, etc. Do it right and get a late 70s or late 80s d60 (if you want the kingpin style). For ball joint style, skip all other years and go straight to a 2005+.

 

See that's the thing man. 77 and older should be low pinion and smaller shafts which are basically 44s, smaller diameter, coarse spline.

The one I'm talking about is a high pinion with open knuckle. That's what has me bumfuzzled. That shouldn't be possible according to all the stuff I've read.

I have a 79 and a 88 laying around. This one I got pretty cheap and was thinking about putting it under a new trail toy I've got.

I'm going to tear it apart tomorrow and see what's up. I have extra shafts that I can put in IF they'll fit in the tubes and such.

I'm trying to figure out another way to see what the hell it really is and if I can use it or make it work. Im assuming it's possible that the ring/carrier could've been swapped from an older axle. If so though, how hard will it be to undo that mess? Newer style shafts, carrier or locker, or like you said forget about it.

Edit: Man, guru or not, any input or other input is greatly appreciated. Sometimes you get too tied up into something and lose track that you should've backed up and punted or went at it from a different angle.

 

Sorry, I thought you said it was low pinion.

So that's crazy then. Is it kingpin? If it has a shorter driver side axle tube, kingpin style and is also high pinion then it must be a late 80s for sure. Not sure but I don't think ford had hp d60s before 77' - (maybe they did in a few years??)

Perhaps somebody changed the inner guts for the ones of an older axle. Really dunno if that's even possible or why anybody would want to do something like that to begin with.

Talk to a local axle/driveline shop. There's always an older time dude in those places that knows a ton about these dana axles.

 

Yeah, it's crazy alright haha. It's high pinion, kingpin, with open knuckles. I've got a auto machine shop I have full access to any time I want, modifications and such isn't a problem, and I sent the gear numbers to a local driveline place. That's how I got the mid 70s date.

I did pull the axle out of a cattle field, legit, so it's possible the farmer that had it swapped some stuff around. He was a handy guy, but he passed away a little while back so I can't get any info there.

 

the housing and knuckles really look like a late 80's kingpin. That's what I have under my truck.

If you got it cheap and could easily get the correct gears in it without much trouble, then you are golden. There is so much aftermarket support for the kingpin axles. Tons of options for setting up your steering as well.

It's always funny to see how deceiving pics of these axles are. On the pic it doesn't look big. Then you look at in person and realize how big, heavy and pain in the ass they are to move around

 

Exactly lol it's a heavy ass SOB that barely fit in the bed of my Taco with a tool box. Size reference that's a 100 lb propane tank behind it. Tearing it apart tomorrow. I'll take some more pics and post up.

Everything screams late 80s except ring gear numbers, but I'll find out more tomorrow guys.

99reg, props to you kind sir, I will keep you updated. +1

 

35 spline at carrier.
Spline diameter 1.4920
Shaft diameter 1.5630

Long shaft 36.5 from end of shaft to center of yolk

Short shaft 16 end of shaft to center of yolk

Stub shaft 11.5 end of shaft to center of yolk

 

Bump

Any of those numbers ring a bell or seem familiar to anyone? I'm just going to treat it like a normal Dana 60 hp and see what happens I guess.

Also, knuckles and such are free. I'm thinking about leaving the kingpins alone for now and running them as is, and then rebuilding them later or should I just go ahead and rebuild them now and get it done with?

 

No idea on the numbers.

About rebuilding the kingpins...wouldn't be a bad idea since you have everything apart. However, I've heard that kingings are the last thing to go in these axles. Never seen them busted, so if you decide not to rebuild them you'll probably be fine.

Removing them is a magnificent and royal PITA though. Most people have to heat the crap out of them. Then you have to deal with the issue on how to torque them properly. I think the specifications call for over 600lbs of torque

 

I say treat it like a normal HP60 go to town. I have had rally good luck with Reid knuckles and artech trusses. Also screw locking hubs and just run drive slugs they always work and don't blow up on the trail.

 

Yup. I've changed them before and it's not fun. Not to mention I've never seen them fail either but they've always been rebuilt before using the axle for its new purpose. Either way I'm sure I'll use some acetylene and a couple Allen wrenches changing them lol.

That's kinda why I've thought about just leaving them.

 

I think that's what I'm going to do. And I'm definitely going slugs, probably from solid. No doubt on slugs.

Edit: And I'm going with artech for a truss. Takes a lot of measuring and fab time off of me. Never seen them in person before but from what I've seen online and read, I think it'll be perfect.

 

Can't go wrong with artec products.

About slugs vs manual locking hubs...personal preference. For a rig that will be driven on the street I would prefer locking hubs. You can technically disengage the slugs but it's not very convenient.

lot of guys are using the yukon locking hubs and dynatrac in their d60s with good success.

 

Just ordered 2 new spindles. Got a guy getting me some prices on bearings, u-joints, and such now, along with 5.38 gears.

Ordering some chromo stubs and slugs Monday and maybe a spartan to.

I'll post up some pics when parts start coming in. May take some assembly pics when I start putting everything together if anyone wants to see it.

May go ahead and start tearing apart the rear axle to.

 

Update:

Got my new to me hubs in, still waiting on my spindles. Should be here Tuesday. Shot an email to ECGS and some dude named Jeremy emailed me back. Been meaning to call them, but I switched to night shift so that's made it hard to do stuff during normal operating hours.

New gears ordered, should be here sometime next week and I've been doing some planning for steering and my link setup.

Found a guy down the road a little bit that makes brake adapters. He sells the brackets, loaded calipers, rotors, hoses, everything you need basically for a little over 3 blickets and it's gm stuff so replacement parts should be easy to find.

 

Woohoo got my new spindles in finally and a big thanks to Chase at ECGS for helping me out with some stubs and other random parts. @ECGS +1 man, you're awesome.

Also idk how to tag him in this. If someone else can +1 to them. Probably going to merge this thread btw. @anymoderatorwillwork