Which D70 rears should I stay away from? I found a great D70-IU or something like that. Any reason why I should stay away from it? 14FF are getting ridiculous here.

Stay away from the 30 spline ones. Duh, other than that i found that the ones off vans are way too wide for my taste, like 68 inches WMS to WMS.

Ian-

Unfortunately I have to stick with van or motorhome width. I am going to be running unmodified Hummer wheels and a DRW D60 in the front of my truck. Are there any specific years or markings that id. a 30 spline D70?

Originally posted by fr8train
Unfortunately I have to stick with van or motorhome width. I am going to be running unmodified Hummer wheels and a DRW D60 in the front of my truck. Are there any specific years or markings that id. a 30 spline D70?

Look for a dana 70U.. came in vans i believe. has a nice flat bottom that slides over rocks easily.. as compard to my 70B that has a big ridge to catch em all.. doesnt matter if youre gonna shave it though. i plan on it :D

Originally posted by fr8train
Are there any specific years or markings that id. a 30 spline D70?

Is it really that hard to pull a few bolts on the hub?? I've pulled the shafts on a few 70s Ford vans, and they've all been 35 spline... now I just gotta find a cheap way to get a front axle to match :D

If you have DRW D60 in the front, you want a full-width DRW for the rear - which is up around 73" WMS to WMS. (unless you like wheel spacers, or just like that skinny-assed look :D )

How about a Dana 60?
'81-'91 1-ton DRW Chevy cutaway van (mini-schoolbus, cube, etc). Unless the Dana 70 was optioned, it has a full-width DRW 35-spline Dana 60. A wee bit lighter, and more shaving potential.

Otherwise just about any DRW Dana 70 is up in the 70"+ range. Late model Econolines have rear discs. Chevy truck ones have the big nasty 4" tubes. Most others have 3.5" tube. Anything Chevy will have the smallest hub diameter (dunno what a hummer wheel needs).

Mine is from a 75 E350. Standard 70, 35 spline and 67" wide

Originally posted by BrettM


Is it really that hard to pull a few bolts on the hub?? I've pulled the shafts on a few 70s Ford vans, and they've all been 35 spline... now I just gotta find a cheap way to get a front axle to match :D



:emb4: I am getting to that point. I have over 15 of them to go over and just trying to find a better way to narrow the options:D :D :D

Thanks for all the help guys. I am going to D70 cause of the 10.54" ring gear. The D60 ring is ok for the front but I am more comfortable with a larger ring in the rear. I have access to a few D80s but its seems like too much hassle to put them in.

Stay away from anything that says HD-3 (SRW GM). I was going to use one but found it was kind of like a Dana 61 in that it has non standard parts and your choice of lockers is limited.

Originally posted by LCOwner
Stay away from anything that says HD-3 (SRW GM). I was going to use one but found it was kind of like a Dana 61 in that it has non standard parts and your choice of lockers is limited.

AFAIK the only thing different about the 70HD is that it uses oversize carrier bearings. same size as a dana 80.

Some Dana 70HD trivia....

If you get an ARB for your Dana 70HD, you can swap in the 37 spline side gears from a Dana 80 ARB and run the bigger shafts with no other major mods.

Originally posted by OffRoadPoser
you can swap in the 37 spline side gears from a Dana 80 ARB and run the bigger shafts with no other major mods.

But can you get a 37-spline shaft through the spindle?

I have yet to see a 30-spline Dana 70. Some of the SRW's (dodge for sure) used a 32-spline for a while. Some really old stuff may be 1.5" 23-spline. Most are 1.5" 35 spline.

Originally posted by OffRoadPoser
Some Dana 70HD trivia....

If you get an ARB for your Dana 70HD, you can swap in the 37 spline side gears from a Dana 80 ARB and run the bigger shafts with no other major mods.

Just a little FYI... Not all dana 80's are 37 spline.. a lot of them are 35 spline. so if you plan on swappin side gears, be careful.