I have some questions regarding the dana 60 front axle from a 1994 f350 vs. the dana 60 front axle from a 1978 f350. I'm currently looking to buy one of these, and I was wondering what would be better to swap under a jeep. The guy selling the 1994 axle wants $400 and the guy selling the 1978 axle wants $900. He said that the 1994 might be a metric pattern for the lugs. And even though I want kingpins, the $500 difference makes me want to buy the 1994 axle. Any opinions as to which to get?

Thanks

Any opinions as to which to get?

Bj's are for the front seat at the drive in. If you are going to the trouble of swapping in a d60 use a kingpin d60.

:lmao:

I agree... A king pin is a much better axle for building.

anyone have images or real world info on BJ d60s (other then the new SD crap) failing?
they drive nicer then the kingpin ones, or it just seems that way after fighting death wobble on my kp's

FWIW: they didn't change the bolt pattern until 1999.

I don't have any experience with BJ 60's, but if it were me (which it is at the moment for my build) I would prefer the King Pin 60.

A good friend of mine is running a BJ 60 in his YJ. With full hydro and stickies. I have not seen a problem with it.

Use the '94 axle. That's a great price if it's complete.

Use the '94 axle. That's a great price if it's complete.

Damn right it is...and you better jump on it before the seller catches wind of what he has. Some folks have paid three times that amount for a kingpin 60.

Another thing to consider if you are running coils is that the 77/79 D60 have a little more room to mount the buckets.

The diff is offset more to the pass side because of the narrower leaf spring spacing on the older frames.

I like driving the ball joint 60's a lot more on the road. They track better at higher road speeds. The king pin 60's just offer more options for cross over steering and or high steer.

I am going to run a ball joint 60 on my truck, no worries about it breaking.

I am talking pre super duty dana 60's.

***EDIT***

I have seen a lot of dana 44's give up the ball joints. I have seen maybe 9 axles total break. I have never seen a dana 60 give up a ball joint though...?? I wonder if the ball joint wrap, could be based on dana 44 carnage??

Blah blah blah.

http://pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=749990&highlight=

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=361573&highlight=broken+balljoint

I think in both of those threads, there was only 1 account of a broken BJ knuckle or BJ itself. I'm sure they are out there though.

The 94 axle has non neckdown shafts and stronger knuckles. Oh wait...it has balljoints. It can't be used.:flipoff2: If you don't need high steer, scoop up the BJ axle. That's a hell of a deal. That's why I am running one. You can always swap kinpin inner C's and knuckles down the road if need be.

the ball joint cost alot more to replace than a kingpin kit and tend to wear out faster. I think the ball joint have come down in price but i say do it once and do it right go kingpin.

or else buy the balljoint for cheap and re sell it for more . . then buy the kingpin.

spring width differences are important for swapping
iirc 36 for the BJ60 and 32ish for the 78 d60f

I've only used the newer 94 and up 60's on all my apps. From what I've learned from others the only thing that can't be had with the newer BJ axles is high steer. With all of the Ford BJs the steering is already basically a cross over setup anyways. As for steering, I think the scattered opinions are due to lack of replacing parts upon rebuild and variances in spring and steering setups. Like someone said earlier there is more room for a coil bucket setup on the earlier KP axles. I've also used the newer SD axles on some rigs with good success. The 99-03 axles are easy to strip of perches and brackets for an unlimited spring setup but use the 8 on 170 bolt pattern. The 05 and up axles have some awesome upgrades, but cutting the radius arm mounts off is too time consuming, so unless someone is planing on using the exact attachments its not worth it. With the 05 and newer axles the driver arm brackets are part of the casting and Dana is using a 10 Ton press to set the housings so heating and braking down is next to impossible. For those wanting something bigger for 05 and newer SD apps the Super 60 (Between a 60 and 70) in the 450s can be modified to the F350 setup but still has the radius arm attachments. Peterson's just did an extensive writeup on that one.

my BJ 60 has been runnin the same balljoints i put in it back in 04, not one single issue related 4d's bein its tire of choice. plus it comes with axles that neck up instead of down, there just harder to slap high steer onto, my .02

High steer arms and full hydro equals broken knuckles anyways. I have seen a shit ton of king pin knuckles crack and or break. King pin axles have after market knuckles, ball joint axles have after market knuckles as well. Its just a matter of preference at that point...

I have never actually seen a broken dana 60 ball joint... I have seen some sloppy ones, but none broken.