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Regearing D61 Front

9K views 19 replies 9 participants last post by  blackd-out-chev 
#1 ·
I know that D61 and D60 are very close. 61 was modified for 307/08 gears in the front. I know someone that is selling a D61 SRW. I would like to pick it up being I rear I can use reg 60 gears for it.
1) The calipers are the same between D60 and D61?
2) Outers all swap over IE D60 internal style outers (i know about the difference between the internal style lock outs and external. Plus the rotors are different then each other) I would like to use my internal style hubs with the 61.
3) Shafts are the same correct?
4) Will my 355s work with the current carrier or do I need the D60 carrier 410 and down? If that wont work with the ring gear spacer, I would need the 3.33 and up D61 carrier? And that word work with the 355 gears?

Thanks for the help....
 
#5 · (Edited)
The information in that ECGS link is annoyingly incorrect. According to a post by Carl Jantz, the pinion offset for the D61 is 15/16" vs 1/2" for a D60. In other words, the pinion sits 7/16" farther away from the carrier flange on a D61 vs a D60. I am doing a D61 front right now (got it cheap, which is the big benefit :D), and I checked the offset for myself. It was hard to get an accurate measurement, but I got .425" which jives with Carl's claim of .437". Everything on Dana axles uses common fractional increments, so I assume .437" (7/16") is indeed correct. ECGS claims 5/16" (.312") or 5/8" (.625"), neither of which are close.

A D61 with the 3.07 gearset uses the exact same part # carrier as a D60 4.10-down carrier (706040X). D61's with 3.54 and 4.10s use the same gearsets as a D60 (706033-1X and 706033-3X respectively) but with a special D61 only carrier that moves the ring gear 7/16" closer to the pinion (706400X).

So, to regear a D61 to "D60" gears, you have a few options. To do so without spacers, you can use the 706400X carrier to run standard 4.10-down gearsets and THICK 4.56-up gearsets. In order to use a standard 4.56-up gearset with the 706400X carrier you need the readily available .160" spacer made by Mr. Gasket. Since the pilot surface on the carrier is substantially more than .160" thick your ring gear will still be properly located on the hub.

If you want to run a D60 carrier (a locker for example), you MUST use a ring gear spacer. Here you have two choices: a 4.10-down carrier and a 4.56-up carrier. If you use a given ring gear with its normally matched carrier like you would in a D60, then you need a 7/16" (.437") thick spacer. In order to use a 4.10 or numerically lower gearset with a 4.56-up carrier you need a .277" thick spacer (.437"-.160"), while using a 4.56 or higher gearset with a 4.10-down carrier will require a .597" thick spacer (.437"+.160"). Using a thick 4.56-down gearset with a 4.56-down carrier will require a .277" thick spacer (.437"-.160"). I am using the .160" difference between .410-down and .456-up carriers from the thickness of the Mr. Gasket spacer. I have never actually measured and confirmed that value. The only measurement I am sure of is the .437" difference between the D61 and D60.

Any of those spacers (.277", .437", .597") will be thicker than the ring gear pilot surface on the carrier, so the spacer itself will need to pilot on the carrier and then have a concentric pilot surface for the ring gear. Reider discontinued their spacer and as far as I know NOBODY else makes spacers in any of these thicknesses (except for the .437" thick one I am making for myself :grinpimp:), so you would have to have a local machine shop make you one. Since the pilot ring on the spacer needs to be stepped inwards you will also almost certainly need to do some minor turning of the carrier for clearance (this is the case on mine - it isn't much and is easy to to though). Finally, you will need bolts of the proper length. Luckily, ARP started making generic 1/2" fine thread bolts in 1/4" length increments last year, and combined with their 1/8" thick precision ground hardened washers (if necessary) gives you a selection of high quality 180,000psi fasteners in effectively 1/8" increments. In my case, to run 4.10's on a 4.10-down carrier with a .437" thick spacer I will need 1-3/4" long bolts with a hardened washer under each one to get the same thread engagement as the stock bolts with no spacer. As a bonus the fasteners are 30,000 psi stronger than the stock grade 8 units, and the extra 9/16" of non-engaged bolt shank will give more consistent preload.

Finally, some people are squeamish about running ring gear spacers. As long as the ring gear is properly piloted, it is just as strong as running with no spacer. The bolts are not, AND SHOULD NEVER BE, loaded in shear. All torque is transmitted through friction between the tightly clamped ring gear and carrier flange. With a spacer, there are two interfaces, but each is as tightly clamped as a single interface - the clamping force is NOT divided between the two as some people think. A single 180,000PSI 1/2" ARP bolt develops 16,391lbs of force when torqued to it's 75% yield point. Since there are 12 bolts attaching a D60 ring gear, that is a total clamping force of 196,692lbs or about 98 tons. That ring gear ain't going anywhere ;)

PS: Elwenil is 100% correct: With the exception of the pig and the ring gear, EVERYTHING on a Dodge D61 front axle is identical to the same year D60 front.
 
#14 ·
The information in that ECGS link is annoyingly incorrect. According to a post by Carl Jantz, the pinion offset for the D61 is 15/16" vs 1/2" for a D60. In other words, the pinion sits 7/16" farther away from the carrier flange on a D61 vs a D61. I am doing a D61 front right now (got it cheap, which is the big benefit :D), and I checked the offset for myself. It was hard to get an accurate measurement, but I got .425" which jives with Carl's claim of .437". Everything on Dana axles uses common fractional increments, so I assume .437" (7/16") is indeed correct. ECGS claims 5/16" (.312") or 5/8" (.625"), neither of which are close.

A D61 with the 3.07 gearset uses the exact same part # carrier as a D60 4.10-down carrier (706040X). D61's with 3.54 and 4.10s use the same gearsets as a D60 (706033-1X and 706033-3X respectively) but with a special D61 only carrier that moves the ring gear 7/16" closer to the pinion (706400X).

So, to regear a D61 to "D60" gears, you have a few options. To do so without spacers, you can use the 706400X carrier to run standard 4.10-down gearsets and THICK 4.56-up gearsets. In order to use a standard 4.56-up gearset with the 706400X carrier you need the readily available .160" spacer made by Mr. Gasket. Since the pilot surface on the carrier is substantially more than .160" thick your ring gear will still be properly located on the hub.

If you want to run a D60 carrier (a locker for example), you MUST use a ring gear spacer. Here you have two choices: a 4.10-down carrier and a 4.56-up carrier. If you use a given ring gear with its normally matched carrier like you would in a D60, then you need a 7/16" (.437") thick spacer. In order to use a 4.10 or numerically lower gearset with a 4.56-up carrier you need a .277" thick spacer (.437"-.160"), while using a 4.56 or higher gearset with a 4.10-down carrier will require a .597" thick spacer (.437"+.160"). Using a thick 4.56-down gearset with a 4.56-down carrier will require a .277" thick spacer (.437"-.160"). I am using the .160" difference between .410-down and .456-up carriers from the thickness of the Mr. Gasket spacer. I have never actually measured and confirmed that value. The only measurement I am sure of is the .437" difference between the D61 and D60.

Any of those spacers (.277", .437", .597") will be thicker than the ring gear pilot surface on the carrier, so the spacer itself will need to pilot on the carrier and then have a concentric pilot surface for the ring gear. Reider discontinued their spacer and as far as I know NOBODY else makes spacers in any of these thicknesses (except for the .437" thick one I am making for myself :grinpimp:), so you would have to have a local machine shop make you one. Since the pilot ring on the spacer needs to be stepped inwards you will also almost certainly need to do some minor turning of the carrier for clearance (this is the case on mine - it isn't much and is easy to to though). Finally, you will need bolts of the proper length. Luckily, ARP started making generic 1/2" fine thread bolts in 1/4" length increments last year, and combined with their 1/8" thick precision ground hardened washers (if necessary) gives you a selection of high quality 180,000psi fasteners in effectively 1/8" increments. In my case, to run 4.10's on a 4.10-down carrier with a .437" thick spacer I will need 1-3/4" long bolts with a hardened washer under each one to get the same thread engagement as the stock bolts with no spacer. As a bonus the fasteners are 30,000 psi stronger than the stock grade 8 units, and the extra 9/16" of non-engaged bolt shank will give more consistent preload.

Finally, some people are squeamish about running ring gear spacers. As long as the ring gear is properly piloted, it is just as strong as running with no spacer. The bolts are not, AND SHOULD NEVER BE, loaded in shear. All torque is transmitted through friction between the tightly clamped ring gear and carrier flange. With a spacer, there are two interfaces, but each is as tightly clamped as a single interface - the clamping force is NOT divided between the two as some people think. A single 180,000PSI 1/2" ARP bolt develops 16,391lbs of force when torqued to it's 75% yield point. Since there are 12 bolts attaching a D60 ring gear, that is a total clamping force of 196,692lbs or about 98 tons. That ring gear ain't going anywhere ;)

PS: Elwenil is 100% correct: With the exception of the pig and the ring gear, EVERYTHING on a Dodge D61 front axle is identical to the same year D60 front.

I do not believe all this info above is correct, nor do I believe all 61's have the same configuration which may be part of the confusion. In our tech thread which was written about 2 years ago their was some mistakes mainly the MR. Gasket 5/16 spacer that was a grotesque error based on assumption of what I knew it took to actually gear one. The Spacer is actually .160 verified. I attempted to correct the tech page but honestly am not 100% sure what info is actually correct.

specifically: "A D61 with the 3.07 gearset uses the exact same part # carrier as a D60 4.10-down carrier (706040X)" Are you sure about this, I believe the D61 carrier for 3.07 and down is the same as a 4.56 and up Dana 60 Carrier. And the D61 3.33 and up carrier is even farther over.

Here is all that I am absolutely sure of these are 3 fairly recent 61's we geared.

Rear D61 with 3.55 gears, Should have had correct D61 carrier and taken D60 4.10 gears. It did not: With Zero shims on Right hand side axle had roughly .150 backlash. We machined open carrier bearing journal down .200 to slide bearing on further thus letting ring gear come over. We then shimmed accordingly by using an outside shim on left hand side. Set -up fine no issues.

Rear Dana 61 w/ 3.07: Installed D60 4 series spool, .160 Mr. gasket ring gear spacer, 5.13 thick gears, Set up like this axle still has about .080 backlash w/ zero shims on right hand side, to correct ran 382A race on right hand side this race is narrower and allows carrier to come over farther, outside the race shims are needed to do this.

Front D61 3.07 ratio- Installed 4.10 gears. ARB 4.56 and up, .160 Mr. gasket spacer, with this set up with no shims right hand side axle had roughly .040 backlash, we then added shallow race on right hand side to correct.

These 3 axle are verified correct installed no issues.

With these examples. These take into account only parts that are actually available not custom. And my conclusion is to run 3.55 -4.10 in a D61 w/ a 4.56 and up Dana 60 carrier you need to move the carrier roughly .200 over .250 to be sure.

To run 4.56-5.38 in a Dana 61 w/ a 4.56 and up D60 Carrier you need to move the carrier .420 over.

How you get their is up to the installer.

What carrier are you running and what gear thick or thin. Based on what we have actually done...... with your ring gear spacer I assume you are using either the stock D61 carrier or a D60 4.56 and up carrier with a standard NOT thick dana 60 gear.
 
#6 ·
Thanks for posting that Max. I know there is a lot of conflicting info out there about D61s that range from the idea that they are useless junk to "there is nothing different about them" so it's hard to know anything definitive. I guess my info is old and outdated but I've had that link for a while now.

Would you mind if I copy and pasted this on another forum (RCC)? I will give you full credit for the post.
 
#7 ·
I understand about the conflicting info. The only info I had any faith in was from Carl Jantz, and even then I wasn't 100% sure until I checked it myself. If a guy doesn't mind running an open carrier or a lunchbox locker, the 706400x carrier is the easiest no-machining method to make it work. 4.10-down work as-is, 4.56-up with either thick gears or the commonly available .160" spacer. Only hard part might be finding a carrier if the axle doesn't come with one. The main reason I am machining a spacer is because I fully intend to run an E-Locker or ARB in the future, so I don't want to waste the money on a 706400X carrier to avoid machining a spacer that I will end up needing anyway.

I don't mind if you repost what I wrote. What is RCC anyway?
 
#8 ·
Thanks! RCC is RamchargerCentral.com, pretty much the best place to go for '72-'93 Dodge truck info and the D61 debate comes up every so often and I have a sticky with apparently old info in it so I'd like to update it with your posts.
 
#9 · (Edited)
Ahh, cool!. I'm actually a Chevy guy - the D61 is replacing the sad 10b in the front of my K5. Everyone wanted too much money for D60's, so when a decent deal came around for a Dodge D61 I jumped on it. Spring pad-spring pad width difference between a Chevy and Dodge 60 is only 1/2", and overall width is 2" narrower which actually looks better in the wheel wells than the Chevy 60, so they fit fine :D
 
#11 ·
I have 538 in mine(D61) with a thick custom spacer(TMR CUSTOMS here in canada. I started with a stock carrier from the D61 with 373 gears. I could not find the desirable carrier as it is discontinued, ECG was at the time working on thick cut gears but I couldn't wait. Their is nothing different about the rest of it from a 60.
 
#12 · (Edited)
I finally got my spacer... to get it free means I had to wait :D Anyway, here it is:





The spacer locates to the carrier on the ID, and has a concentric lip to locate the ring gear:



The locating lip for the ring gear necessarily makes the ID of the spacer smaller than the ID of the ring gear, so some minor turning of the carrier is required for clearance:





The thickness of the spacer is exactly .437" :



In this pic it looks like there is a gap between the ring gear and the spacer, but it's an illusion caused by the corner chamfers on both parts:



Use of a spacer requires longer bolts. The under-head length needed is 1.625", but bolts in 1/8" increments are uncommon. So, I ordered 1.750" ARP bolts with 1/8" hardened, ground washers. The chamfered side of the washer goes towards the bolt head to clear the fillet between the bolt's shank and head:



 
#17 ·
Finally got a D61 with the elusive 3.54 carrier so we were able to compare all the carriers side by side. As stated the D61 case 3 or 4 series is different then regular 60 carriers. picture shows dimensions of all 4 cariers
 

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#18 · (Edited)
You cannot measure carrier offset accurately by standing them on a bench and measuring flange height due to variability on the width of the bearing journal. You need to mount the carrier on centers (or in a lathe with a dead center) and measure from the left hand journal face (that the shims seat against) to the carrier seating surface. If you do so you should find that the D60 -3 carrier and what you call a D61 -3 carrier are the same (within a fat tolerance margin, anyway). The BOMs for a 4.10 D60 and 3.07 D61 says they are, as did my measurements between a D60 4.10 carrier and the carrier that came out of my 3.07 D61 front.

The -4 D60 carrier and what you call a -4 D61 carrier are indeed different. Again, different part numbers on the BOM. Here's the part number breakdown:

D60 -3 carrier (4.10-down) - 706040X

D61 3.07 carrier - 706040X - same carrier as 4.10-down D60

D60 -4 carrier (4.56-up) - 706041X

D61 3.54 carrier - 706400X - unique to D61

You notice that your measurements put the offset of the D61 3.54 carrier .435 over from the D60 -3 carrier, which agrees with my assertion in this thread that it is offset 7/16".
 
#20 ·
im running a dana 61. i used a dana 60 4.56+ carrier, a narrow race on the long side (cant remember off top of my head..382a?), a ring gear spacer and thick cut 4.88 gears. no issues. and it wasnt that hard to set up.

also...the inner axle shaft lengths ARE different length then chevy.
 
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