I was at the pick and pull yard yesterday and noticed a 97 3500 Dodge 2 wheel drive work truck with a straight tube axle on the front that appears to be a Dana 60 without the center pumpkin. Any one know how easily the tubes, inner and outer knuckles, brakes, etc. could be used to build a 609? I'm gonna go back over when I get a chance to measure the tubes and the spacing between the ball joints and the bolt pattern for the unit bearing hubs but it might be a couple days. It's all way bigger than the D44 stuff on trucks next to it by but I didn't have a D60 to compare and nothing to measure with. Wondering if anyone has already done the leg work before I get too excited about pulling it.

After posting my original question, I did a little research and the ball joints are the same as the same year 4x4 as well as the UNIT BEARINGS! I noticed that there was a wierd plug in the back of the knuckle. It must be removeable to stab in the outer stub axle. I'm pretty optimistic about this being a cheap way to source outers for a 609 but has anyone already checked it out?

Anyone? If not, I'm heading back over there to make some measurements and I'll post the results. I'm assuming that I can buy the whole axle hub to hub for $75.

All I can tell you is that the truck with the Z3B payload option use the same knuckles, hubs and brake systems as the 4WD models with the D60. Yes the dead axle is pretty much the same as a D60 but I can't say for sure that the tube or the inner C's are the same so it's possible that they are not made to have an axle shaft inside. Personally I don't see the gain here as you might be getting a cheap start on your custom axle but you are going to be stuck with ball joints and unit bearings which to me, defeats the purpose.

Thanks for the info. It looks like the tube is a 3~ ish OD, .50 wall DOM, like the D60 uses, so the inner "C" should be the same too.