I have two front axles both king pin style Dana 60's, 1 from a 1980 Chevy(standard cut) the other from a 1978 Ford (reverse cut). The Chevy was a bud wheel set up, the ford a single wheel set up. I plan to swap the necessary components from the Ford to the CHevy to make it a standard wheel set up. I need the passenger side diff for my jeep.

Before anyone goes nuts and flames me, yes i did read the thread last week with pics showing the swap but my question is are the knuckle, hub/rotor, caliper bracket, spindle, etc interchangeable between Chevy and Ford assemblies. The reason i ask is that from just quick visual inspection there are differences between the parts such as the ford uses a 2 piston caliper, the caliper mounting bracket on the two are different, the knuckles also appear different. Can i mix and match? Is there any advantage to the components from one or the other?

thanks,

spindles are a different bolt pattern then the chevy steering knuckle. ford stub shafts should be longer. i guess you could swap everything from the knuckles out, but then the 35 spline stub shafts for a 60 are about twice as much as a chevy. another option is to have the dualie flange cut off the chevy hub and drill new stud holes and walla you have a single wheel chevy 60
good luck,
bob

alright, i have answered part of my own question. i will post the answer here for the benefit of others.

the ford knuckles have 5 studs that hold on the caliper bracket and spindle. the chevy has 6. so we know that the caliper brackets (and therefore calipers) are not interchangable. neither are the spindles as they only have 5 holes as well. also the FORD stub shafts are slightly shorter the the chevy by about 1/8". therefore, all that remains is, are the hub/rotors interchangeable?? i dont know, anyone out there know?? i have 35 spline warn premium hubs, will they bolt onto both ford and chevy if in fact i can use the ford rotor/hub?

bob- what did you mean by machining off the dually flange and making it a single wheel assembly?? sound like alot of work. why not just buy single wheel hub/rotor, what do they cost from dealer or autozone??

uh they cost about 300-400 a piece for a rotor/hub assembly last i checked. Patooyee on took the hubs to a machine shop and they took a lathe to them. then drilled holes for wheel studs.
later
bob

From my own swap and mix and match front end. Started with a '82 Dodge D60, dually setup. Now have Ford hub/rotors (78-79 variety) on the Dodge spindles.

The Chevy and Dodge single wheel hubs and rotors are nuts for price. The Fords were $100 a side, as in $200 total, hub and rotor together new studs and races pressed in right out of the box, anyway...

I took the Dodge spindles to the lathe and turned them into Ford spindles. The Dodge calipers stands and calipers (same as Chevy) line up fine on the Ford rotors. Basically, you have the pattern. Take the Chevy spindles and use the Ford spindles as your pattern for your lathe work. Base all the measurements off the inner wheel bearing surface. You're going to move the outer wheel bearing surface in towards the mounting flange about 5/8" and then cut the same amount (distance) of new threads on the spindle, then cut off the same amount off the end of the spindle. Make sense?

Only thing I have left to do is swap in the Ford stubs.

The Ford stuff is right at 5/8" shorter, not an 1/8". Inner bearing and wheel seal surface is/are all the same. The difference is where the outer wheel bearing resides. The Ford is 5/8" closer to the innner bearing vs. the Dodge/Chevy.

Don't see why this wouldn't work on the Chevy D60, Dodge and Chevy use the same spindle, caliper stands, calipers and pads. I verified this while I had a buddies Chevy D60 (78) in the shop all tore apart for an overhaul.

This was the cheapest way out to get mine converted to single wheel configuration. I needed new rotors anyway, and a buddy did the lathe work on trade. You're one up on me you have the Donor Ford D60 there. Although for the cost of 2 stubs and the hubs and rotors you may want to keep the Ford D60 complete. All the wheel bearing, races and grease seals are the same between the Ford, Chevy and Dodge.

Everything has been verified using friends D60's. Like I said I tore apart a Chevy and 78-79 Ford before I chopped up my spindles.

Measure twice cut once... :D

One advantage to swaping in the Ford outers is they are shorter by about 5/8". Not a lot but every little bit helps when the lock outs are sticking out in harm's way.

The other option for you is just swap all the parts you have. Take both axles apart at the knuckles and swap the whole works, including the stub shafts, from one to the other. Kind of leaves that Ford housing as a basket case though. Depends on your cash flow and the potential to sell that Ford housing. IMO it's not worth much after you strip from the knuckles out off of it. All you will be left with is the housing and inner shafts.
The new parts really aren't that expensive. All you need is the hub/rotor assy, 2 stubs and 2 joints for a 78-79 application.

I"d be interested in your ford housing and the chevy dually outers knuckle out if you do in deed swap everything.
later
bob

Don't waste your time trying to swap the ford stuff onto the chevy.As outlined above there are differences in the caliper bracket, spindles,calipers, stub shaft is shorter and the bearing hub is shorter than the chevy hub as well.So if you use the ford stuff you will not be able to use 35 spline dana 70 stub shafts without shortening the 35 spline stub or creating a spacer to space the spindle out to make up for the difference.Also, the only way to swap this over onto the chevy without redrilling holes in the spindle is to swap the outer knuckle from the ford to the chevy.This is not a good choice because the ford outer knuckle is prone to cracking and breaking around the king pin. The easiest and best thing to do is keep you chevy 60 intact and do the following: Unbolt the rotor from the bearing hub. Take the bearing hub to a machine shop(unless you have access to a lathe) and have the outer ring where the lug studs are machined off.Then you need to redrill the holes in the rotor and bearing hub to fit the lug studs.Presto you now have a single wheel bearing hub and rotor assembly with a lot less headache and you can sell that ford 60 for some cash :beer: Hope this helps.:D