wanting to upgrade my axles in my 86 1/2 ton. going to use the truck for a mud bogger and stock class pulling truck. my ? is i have a dana 60 and 44with 4.11 gears or should i use the dana 70 with 4.56 and get new gears for the front? i am planning on building a mild 360 and running a 727 trans. does anybody have any other ideas?

d60 front and use the d60 rear you have. Bulletproof setup. You could send that d70 my way:D if you dont use it. I like the d70's in my vehicles becuase they carry alot of weight sometimes, but more becuase my right foot problem. The d70 hangs down farther then the d60.

d60 front and use the d60 rear you have. Bulletproof setup. .

What part of a Dana 60 rear is bullet proof? Unless you are kidding?

Smaller shafts then a 9.25", same as a Dana 44, not sure why I would want one in anythng.

The future plans for my truck include d80 rear d70 front on 40's used for the same thing you want to use yours for. Gearing depends on your tire size but 4.56 or deeper should be decent. Trash the d44, use the d70 rear and pick up a front d60 (if thats what you don't already have).

d60 front and use the d60 rear you have. Bulletproof setup. You could send that d70 my way:D if you dont use it. I like the d70's in my vehicles becuase they carry alot of weight sometimes, but more becuase my right foot problem. The d70 hangs down farther then the d60.


Hey bro....Your a boner :shaking: The 9 1/4 has bigger shafts then a 60 rear.... And the 70 he has has better shatfs and better gears too....

wanting to upgrade my axles in my 86 1/2 ton. going to use the truck for a mud bogger and stock class pulling truck. my ? is i have a dana 60 and 44with 4.11 gears or should i use the dana 70 with 4.56 and get new gears for the front? i am planning on building a mild 360 and running a 727 trans. does anybody have any other ideas?


Yeah bro, use the 70 in the rear and find a 60 front, they are out there with the right gears in them or you can get one and re-build it.... If its going in the mud a re-build would be better anyways... Good luck.

Morons. A D60 is full floating axle, so the shafts only see the torque of the drivetrain against the wheels, it doesn't have to also support the weight of the vehicle like a semi-floating 9.25. A D60 is stronger in all ways. A D70 is stronger still, and is what I would use if I had one sitting around. Overkill is a good thing.

Morons. A D60 is full floating axle, so the shafts only see the torque of the drivetrain against the wheels, it doesn't have to also support the weight of the vehicle like a semi-floating 9.25. A D60 is stronger in all ways. A D70 is stronger still, and is what I would use if I had one sitting around. Overkill is a good thing.

:mad3:

:shaking:

A 9.25" will stand up to more torque then a D60. Trust me. Its even rated higher (torque not laod) . Most 9.25"s break inside the inner bearings where there is no load carried. Only troque being applied. It is at least 11% greater in diameter there then a 60 shafts typical break point which translates into a 50% greater strength (given the same material) The 60 is better if you are hauling something heavy. It certainly is not worth swapping one in, unless you truly are running tiny tires and low torque and are just looking for more load capacity or an 8 lug wheel.

Shaft torque rating is around 6500 ft lb vs 4500 for the 60.

Sorry for being not very up to date on 9.25 axles stuff, ive never used them. I dont even consider semi-float axles for anything after I had a shaft break on my friend and he almost died. But thats me. I do need to retract my "bullet proof" statment before, now it shall be, "very strong".:flipoff2:

p.s. I haul lots of heavy stuff. Try a 10k limo full of people? On a trailer(ok not yet but it will break down someday)? Anyone have a d80 laying around?

I'm curious where you guys get the torque rating for the 9.25. I have called the Star Center and a few of my engineering contacts at Chrysler, and they wouldn't tell me anything other than they don't feel that your rating is accurate. I was told that the 9.25 was just enough to support a stock truck at it's Gross Vehicle Weight. this is the reason the 1/2 ton Mega Cabs have 8 lugs as the 1/2 ton stuff just doesn't cut it.

Morons. A D60 is full floating axle, so the shafts only see the torque of the drivetrain against the wheels, it doesn't have to also support the weight of the vehicle like a semi-floating 9.25. A D60 is stronger in all ways. A D70 is stronger still, and is what I would use if I had one sitting around. Overkill is a good thing.


Hey bro, I was on your side...... Now I just wanna flame your a$$ but Ramv already got ya...
I think the only thing said is a 9 1/4 has bigger shafts then a dana 60... Wich does in fact translate a higher torque handling ability....... No one here said anything at all about hauling... He was asking about what axles to pute into a mud truck... To wich I still say that a dana 60 isnt what you want.... Use the dana 70, Hopefully it has 35 spline shafts and it is a "full floater".
I ran my 9 1/4 for two and a half years with no broken shafts, On the other hand I recently swapped 60's front and rear and I am on my third set of axles in the back... So :shaking: until you have some real world proof to back up your moron statement....Fawk off

Hey, I'm the one asking for facts, so keep the insults and flaming to yourself. I work in a dealership and 3 out of 5 9.25" axles have to be rebuilt by the time they have 70K miles on them. I see more of these axles in a year than any other axle combined and we probably do at least one or two a month and we are a very small dealership. Axle shaft size is not a true measurement of torque handling ability. Material and manufacturing methods play a large part. Again, I think the D60 would still handle more torque than a 9.25 simply because that's all the shaft has to do, is handle the rotation, not support the weight also. It's a simple observation, maybe not 100% correct, but it makes sense to me and probably half civilized world.

Makes perfect sense to me Elwenil. The way I look at it is this...the guys who get paid the big bucks over at Chrysler, the engineers as we know them, know what the axles can handle. Even in the torque aspect of it all...if I remember correctly, 1/2 ton trucks were VERY rarely equipped with a big block...where as the bigger trucks, which were standard D60 equipment, were equipped with big blocks. Now...last time I checked, big blocks putout a hell of a lot more torque than a small block did...so why do the D60's handle the torque of a big block?
It is simply common sense if you look at it. And as Elwenil said, you cannot assume a component is stronger just because it is bigger. There are soooo many variables including material used, heat treating, manufacturing processes, and the list goes on and on. If you want the stronger of the 2 axles...D60 is the only way to go, hands down.
Just my .02
Kyle

Hey, I'm the one asking for facts, so keep the insults and flaming to yourself. I work in a dealership and 3 out of 5 9.25" axles have to be rebuilt by the time they have 70K miles on them. I see more of these axles in a year than any other axle combined and we probably do at least one or two a month and we are a very small dealership. Axle shaft size is not a true measurement of torque handling ability. Material and manufacturing methods play a large part. Again, I think the D60 would still handle more torque than a 9.25 simply because that's all the shaft has to do, is handle the rotation, not support the weight also. It's a simple observation, maybe not 100% correct, but it makes sense to me and probably half civilized world.


Listen -- You're the one who called us MORONS.

The #s I was quoting were published in Petersens's about a year ago. I don't know where they got them, I can ask David Kennedy if you like.

The Mega cab is too heavy for the IFS too. ITS TOO HEAVY. HEAVY as in load carrying capacity. AS IN FF Is the way to go for something that is HEAVY.


Torque capacity is another thing. It is the ability to torsionally load an axle. You are correctly that tri-axial loading reduces pure torque ability, however that is why the 9.25" is tapered, to 1 5/8" at the bearing end, to allow for more load capacity. Nissan and Isuzu also do this on rear Dana 44s. You will see most of their failures at the splines where the axle is not seeing any vertical loading. These axles are deisgned for semi-float use, and to handle a fair amount of torque.

Since you need factory Dodge refernces, note that only the weight capacity results in Dodge to change from the 9.25" to the D60 in the 3/4 ton. Both are available with 4.10s (2nd gen), 5.9ls and autos.

Dodge does not feel that the 60 is up to the torque of the CTD/v10 so they use 70s and 80s, and yet the truck still has the same GVWR.

I know you hate 9.25"s, but your arguments become biased. We are not talking about "crush sleeves", or other assorted things. We are talking about a good axle for a heavy wheelin rig, which a 60 is not. The shafts don't liek torque in 30 spline variety. Now if you upgrade to 35 spline, I'm all for a 60. a 9 3/4" RG is pretty decent, and of course has better ground clearance.

However since he has a 70 available, thats easier and better

It's a simple observation, maybe not 100% correct, but it makes sense to me and probably half civilized world.

Half the civilized world is below average intelligence.

I'd go so far as to say more than half, but I'm probably shooting myself in the foot, lol. We keep talking about weight and torque as if they are unrelated, when in fact they are very closely related. Think about what axle you want in a heavily loaded truck, or perhaps a heavily modified one with added weight from bumpers, rails, cage, equipment, etc. and then think about how much more torque is applied to the axle shaft when pulling up over a rock. A lighter vehicle can more easily get over it since the axle doesn't have to "lift" the weight over the rock. The more weight you add to the vehicle, the more torque gets applied to the wheels in order to move it. Perhaps the shafts in a 9.25 are stronger than the shafts in a D60, but I feel that the full floating axle design take a lot of stress off of the shaft itself. All the force against the C clip, center pin, and axle flange are eliminated from the shaft in a full floating D60.

It's true I am very biased against the 9.25, mainly from having to shell out my own money to rebuild them. I will never own another truck with one, though I will own a Liberty with a similarly designed 8.25, but it is a daily driver for street duty only. I never even had issues with the 8.25 in my '72 Charger and it put up with 160MPH runs with nothing but lube changes with 130K miles on it. Don't ask me why the 9.25 seems to be so horrible to me, all I can say is what I've seen and dealt with myself, lol.

I'd go so far as to say more than half, but I'm probably shooting myself in the foot, lol. We keep talking about weight and torque as if they are unrelated, when in fact they are very closely related. Think about what axle you want in a heavily loaded truck, or perhaps a heavily modified one with added weight from bumpers, rails, cage, equipment, etc. and then think about how much more torque is applied to the axle shaft when pulling up over a rock. A lighter vehicle can more easily get over it since the axle doesn't have to "lift" the weight over the rock. The more weight you add to the vehicle, the more torque gets applied to the wheels in order to move it. Perhaps the shafts in a 9.25 are stronger than the shafts in a D60, but I feel that the full floating axle design take a lot of stress off of the shaft itself. All the force against the C clip, center pin, and axle flange are eliminated from the shaft in a full float 60

You are adding weight. However, that weight = traction when combined with torque snap.

I would not ever swap out a 31 spline axle for a 30 spline one. If you want to see the epitomy of a semi-flaot, check out some of the 40 spline 9"s.

Also, the example above (not yours) on the big block half tons....

GM ran semi float 14 bolts in SS 454s due to torque.
The SRT-10 Dodge gets a Dana 60...................... in semi-float 35 spline variety.

Flat out, bigger is better.

This probably helps little to none, but I thought I would just mention that in a motor (not under the hood, a mechanical device in its simplistic form) torque is defined as force multipied by distance.

An example being with basic gears. A 2-lb. gear that is 10 inches in diameter would have 20 lbs/in torque.

So by definition weight plays a very important role in torque, but manly just on the mechanics itself. From the motor, through the transfer case, to the rear axle there are going to be quite a few factors that are going to affect the change in torque, but the weight upon the axle is an independent factor not directly associated with the mechanical torque itself.

That was probably not helpful at all, but maybe someone got some tid bit of info out of it.