I am about to trade a guy my ford 9 for a dana 60 rear. Before I do it I want to make sure I get something thats worth my time. He says his 60's are from 70's fords w/ 4.10's. Now I don't want a high pinion right? lots of power is gonna be fed through this thing. What spline count options came on these rears. anything else I should know? tips on avoiding a 61. I'm kinda oblivious here.

Thanks
Daniel:p

AFAIK, there is no "high pinion" on rear Dana 60's. They are also generally 30 spline axles, full-floaters and your gearing options go all the way up into the 7.xx range. Search "dana 60 bore spindle" if you want to learn about what it takes to upgrade them to 35-spline chromos. 30-spline chromos are available but the conventional wisdom seems to be they aren't significantly stronger to justify the cost (30 spline chromos will run you 3-400). Locker choices are infinite - Detroit, ARB, etc.

Avoid the early 60's rear Danas, as they are a 16 or 17 (?) spline coarse pattern and they are not desirable as buildup candidates.

Rear 61's are rumored to have had 35 spline axles from the factory - might want to search and check me on that. But, you have to use a different gearing setup in the 61. A "dana 61" search here will give you that information.

Rear disc conversion on these is also easily accomplished and there are many kits available from vendors here on the board.

Note that many folks will tell you that your 9" can be built just as strong or stronger than the 60 and it has the advantages of better clearance and a drop-out 3rd member. Something to consider.

Duck and cover....

I'd rather have a 9in for ease of gear install with the third member.

Aside front that theres no such thing as a high or low pinion rear. You set your pinion correct when you weld on perches/buckets,arms. That rear is gonna be way wide. IDK what your WMS to WMS is on that 9in (I'm assuming its out of an Early bronco) but this sounds like its a step backwards for you.

If its not a fullfloater your definatly moving backwards.

well call me crazy but I'm keeping it mopar. meaning no ford 9's yes the 60 is out of a ford but dodge used 60's also. plus I am in no mood to deal with matching the bolt pattern on a front 60 with the ford 9. So don't use any 60 rear thats not a full floater is what you guys are saying? Are they harder to find. How do I tell if they are full floaters? how do I tell if its one of those early coarse spline axles?


The ford 9 is 63.5 wide, and I'm gonna go full width on h1 wheels, so theres another reason I want the 60.

Thanks

There are much better options out there than the 60,I got one stupid cheap and decided to build it,spool,disks with E brake ,5:38s,all new bearings,diff covers and decided to go 35 spline shafts.After boring and everything else I spent way more cash than guys who went 14 or 70 and may even have a weaker axle.My 2 cents.good luck
Read this,
http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/D70/D70.htm

I definately agree with you, I guess I shoulda stated what I'm doing with it earlier. Current tires are 35's, it will never and I repeat never have bigger than 38.5's. will be fed by a 383B np435 dana 300 combo sitting in a yj. So a 14 bolt seems big, heavy, and lacking of clearance to be a real benefit to me. Dana 70 is also quite a pig compared to 60 ain't it?

your thoughts?

ff 9 would suit your wants better..

ff 9 would suit your wants better..

well yeah in a way but the amount of $, plus the pain in the ass, and compromises involved in getting the lug pattern to match a front 60 is just not worth it to me when a rear 60 will work just fine for these tire sizes.

I just want a yj on some one tons its that simple, now please anybody tell me some usefull info about rear 60's so I don't buy or trade for a shitty one.

like

1. how do I recognize a full floater
2. how do I recognize a coarse spline shitty 60
3. are there varying spline counts on full floaters?
4. anything else you got for me?

Thanks

maybe get the tag off the cover and look up the "born-on" number. it should also have "60" stamped on the center section, to the side of the cover, facing the rear of the vehicle. the axle shafts will un-bolt from the tubes with 8 bolts. pull one and count the splines.takes all of 5 minutes:flipoff2:

1. how do I recognize a full floater -the big hub comming thought the wheel
2. how do I recognize a coarse spline shitty 60 -If you are going 35 spline does it matter?
3. are there varying spline counts on full floaters? -See above response
4. anything else you got for me?

Thanks

Measure the axle first to make sure it will work with your front. The full float hub is hard miss. I can only assume you will convert the 60 to 35 spline which means new carrier and shafts. There are plenety of kits out there to go disc brake if you want. Deffinatly check the BOM if you are still worried and look for the "60" in the casting.

The FF will be easily recognizable. If you look at the hub, it will have bolts mounting the axle flange to the hub and it will be obvious just looking at it that you could pull those bolts and pull the axle (see pic below).

As for the coarse splined units, there is no external way to be sure. Generally, if you avoid anything earlier than 1970 you should be okay as I think the coarse-splined units were all 60's vintage. If in doubt, pull the axle and check before you make a big mistake.

Honestly, I don't know if it matters on the coarse splined units if you are going to bore for 35 splines. Either way, you would need a 35 spline locker, spool, or carrier. Seems like I read somewhere the coarse splined axles neck down in toward the pumpkin causing other clearance headaches with 35 spline replacements, but I could be talking out of my ass on that.

Odds are, you've got a 30 spline FF unit if it's a 70's or 80's Ford or Dodge rear 60. Generally, the Dodge units were in vehicles like the M880 and they generally look like this (on left):

http://www.texas4x4.org/gallery/albums/album23/ambition.jpg

The simplest (not necessarily strongest) relatively inexpensive thing to do with it to beef it a bit is go with whatever gears you want, have someone skilled weld the carrier and drop in 30 spline chromo aftermarket axles from Moser or Dutchman. Go with a Chevy disc conversion kit from one of the vendors here. I personally wouldn't bother with the caddy caliper setup for e-brake if you need one- even if you can find all the crap to make it work, they are still balky. For the money, you could just as easily go with a t-case e-brake solution if you need to be street legal. If you don't care about that, a line lock should do you.

If you go with a rear disc conversion (and your rig doesn't already have rear discs now), don't forget to plumb in a proportioning valve.

sweet sound like I am good to go, thanks for the help and pics everybody!

any vender u recommend for d60 disc conversion/brakets

Ebay is your friend if you want to go cheap and easy:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ford-Dana-60-Disc-Brake-Conversion-Kit_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33728QQihZ016QQitem Z260190743629QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

If you want to go high $$ and get ultimate stopping, www.wilwood.com (http://www.wilwood.com) for lightweight four piston stop on a dime brakes.