a good ways back were some posts on heavily SHAVED (i like that word):) 60s. one guy said he got as much clearance as a d35! anyway, i was wondering how well yours is holding. how much did you take off the ring gear and if you did it again, would you take more? later z

I havent had any problems from mine BUT if I were to do it over I think I would use thicker plate than 1/2" and I wouldnt turn my ring gear down. No problems with it just a major PITA:D

anyone else? if you did it again what would you do better?

i shaved my front,, and i have a currie unit in the back that they shaved,, so far so good,, i used 1/4 on the bottom,, would use thicker next time,, both leak slightly,, no drops,, just little wetness,, the smooth bottom is the best,, u just slide over stuff
i prolly have a doven rides on mine,, one down the con and few at moab,, and bunch here in pa,, so far so good.. its a lotta work

otter:p

Mine's holding up pretty well. Shaved 1/4" off the ring gear, probably go 3/8" next time but that's really pushing it to the limit. I used a 5/8" plate and channeled it where the ring gear itself goes. Since I had to cut up the diff cover, I built a ring gear gaurd into it at the same time.

and here's the cover.

I got the wetness leaks until I got out the mig and welded it from the inside also.

aww fawk, wrong pic above. whadda ya expect it's 4 a.m. here.

Easy

thats alot of shavin :eek: did you get razor burn?:flipoff2:

yeah, it's a lot of shavin' but thankfully we're well setup to do it. Gettin' ready to do another one for a buddy of mine and then deliver it to him on my way to Moab next month. That is, if I get my top chopped and the full cage and seats done in time.

Easy

EasyXJ, how much clearance did you gain? Looks like a hell of a lot compared to a normal D60. Sweet job.....;)

that's seriously the nicest 60 shave job i've seen. Only thing better would be the new dynarape Pro60, but that's too much $$.

I think I gained about 1 3/8" but it's been a while so I don't remember now. I think there are others that have gained a little more than I did, but they used 1/4" plate on the bottome and I won't do that. My friends keep telling me I should advertise to start building these but I don't feel like paying for liability insurance yet.

Easy

what rod did you use to weld that plate to the bottom of the 60 housing? a high nickel or something more common like a 7018?

actually I used a rod containing a lot of stainless, it's called super missle. It's one of those "way too much to be using" specialty rods that I had laying around from some previous welding experiences. I think I'm going to just use the MIG on the next one and see how it works. 60 center sections (at least this one) are cast steel so it's not dissimilar metals that I'm welding so I really didn't need the stainless. I don't have DC capabilities yet and I can't seem to get 7018 to start an arc very easy for me so I have generally left it alone.

Easy

Originally posted by EasyXJ
I think I'm going to just use the MIG on the next one and see how it works. 60 center sections (at least this one) are cast steel so it's not dissimilar metals that I'm welding so I really didn't need the stainless.

Okay, I could REALLY use some clarification on this.

Are all d60 centers cast steel? If not, how do you tell the difference between the cast steel and cast iron?

If I should find a cast steel center fall in my lap, then plating it with a healthy MiG shouldn't be a problem, correct? Is there a "better" way to weld the plate on with a MiG, e.g. preheat?

cmk

my HP 60 front, and standard 60 rear were both cast iron, as proved by the grindeer check (hit the material in question with a grinder, feathery red sparks = cast iron, the more traditional yellow/white sparks = steel)

Originally posted by CrazyHorse
(hit the material in question with a grinder, feathery red sparks = cast iron, the more traditional yellow/white sparks = steel)

Perfect. Thank you.

cmk

pre and post heating is always nice, you can also tap your weld with a hamer to relieve the stress as it cools. both these and some high nickle content will eliminate cracking welds.

what wire are you running in your mig?

you could also seal your internal welds with soem of that RTV gasket maker, why not, ooze some on...

Good fun...

All of the Dana cast center sections are not cast steel, they are noduler iron, it is still cast iron, but is is one of the higher grades and is somewhat weldable. The missle rod is the way to go in my experience as well as pre and post heat.

What about brazing the plate in? It just seems that would be preheat taken to the extreme. Of course you'd have to take a hell of a long time pulling the heat back away..
I brazed the "half-a-bolt-hole" that was left in my lightly shaved 14-bolt and it has held up well beyond my expectations.

Originally posted by Slagburn
What about brazing the plate in?

brazing? is that like taking any oxy torch to it till its on big glob of metal?

It would not isolate the heat and Id imagine it may not crack the weld as you say its an extreme pre-post heat but its heat may cause the differental, if cast iron, to crack in a cold region away from your working area. It would weaken then metal with that much heat.

That cast is really sensative to heating, if you weld with nickle you will actually want it to look cold compared to a normal steel weld. Yea you can crank up the heat and get the weld to look like it has better penetration but this added heat will increase the risk of cracking the weld or the cast material.

less heat can be more when workign with cast. I need to spend some time on some old manifolds sitting around to get a better feal for it.

good luck...

Mine's holding up great. One thing - do it the way EASY did. A lot easier to seal. Mine is 1/2" plate and it's a PITA to keep it dry.
That 5/8" with the milling would probably work much easier.



Phil

I got the yellow/white sparks with mine. That's why I'm under the assumption it's cast steel. Does nodular iron produce the same colors?

Easy

Mine's holding up fine. It's got love scratches to prove it.

I have had since day 1 a very tiny leak at the diff cover (I've got it tweaked down to about 1 drop per day in the garage). I'm gonna fix that for sure the next time I change oil. I just need to modify my diff cover to add an extra bolt into the plate (my diff cover protection is in the way).

Anyway about the welding, I know many said not to use 7018, but I did (actually my shop mechanic did it for me), welded outside only (1/2" plate) and I've had no leaks from the welds.

Also, I don't have an oven big enough to pre-heat that thing, so we went against another rule. But again, no leaks due to the welding job.

Bob

Jim Peterson here in Farmington advised me not to do it!
He said he's seen too many of them let go like this.
On the other hand, Chris at WMS in Oklahoma told me there are some new gear sets out that have shaved-like edges ...
Anywho, I've got to address these choices to be able to go with 60's in Stock Modified with 35" meats. :confused:

What happened to that gear. It looks like they shaved the ring gear enough to get into the contact pattern and then some, and it looks like they shaved the housing so much that the ring gear still rubbed on the housing. I think you just need to be conservative on how much you take off the ring gear. I would have guessed some of the cut and welded housings would have cracked, but I have not heard of any of these yet.

EASYXJ: That shaved 60 looks fawkin sweet! Probably the best one that I have seen.

Wes

Here's mine. 7018 all the way with preheat and post heat...slow cool down.

Originally posted by EasyXJ
Mine's holding up pretty well. Shaved 1/4" off the ring gear, probably go 3/8" next time but that's really pushing it to the limit. I used a 5/8" plate and channeled it where the ring gear itself goes. Since I had to cut up the diff cover, I built a ring gear gaurd into it at the same time. Hey dude, the last one I saw done like that shrank .080 at the center of the carrier bearings steve differential eng. inc.

NICE!! I like the ways yours came out Chark! Perfect

Originally posted by Chark
Here's mine. 7018 all the way with preheat and post heat...slow cool down.

hey Chark, how much clearance did you gain ?

what's the distance from the bottom of the axle tube to the bottom of the housing now ?

- jack

Jack...I'll put a rule on it soon. I don't know!!! The ring gear is also ground.