Just bought a dodge front d60 from Chris Durham and it is pass drop. The good things are these: has 4.10 gears like my 14 bolt and is pass. diff, and has 2" spring pads like my scout. My questions lie in the install. Do i have to outboard the springs or will they bolt up? Steering is a big issue. I have hydro assist and a scout II pitman arm. What steering mods do i have to make and can someone please show me some quality pics of this swap. Thanks guys.

Last thing, how bad is it to run 4.10 gears with a 205 and an auto? Can't afford the atlas and i know nothing about the doubler or the klune.

Originally posted by Brawler
Just bought a dodge front d60 from Chris Durham and it is pass drop. The good things are these: has 4.10 gears like my 14 bolt and is pass. diff, and has 2" spring pads like my scout. My questions lie in the install. Do i have to outboard the springs or will they bolt up? Steering is a big issue. I have hydro assist and a scout II pitman arm. What steering mods do i have to make and can someone please show me some quality pics of this swap. Thanks guys.

Last thing, how bad is it to run 4.10 gears with a 205 and an auto? Can't afford the atlas and i know nothing about the doubler or the klune.


that is what I'm running for a 60, yes I had to move the springs out, since the dodge 60 has wider mounting than the chev 60, and I'm also running an auto with a 205, it sucked, thats why I went to the doubler. 203-205, I made my own arms out of one inch plate.

heres the arms

the drivers side

could i just mount the pass. side up and weld on a new perch for the drivers side? What pitman arm did you use, could you give me some more info please. Thanks!

Hey Brawler looks like Eric will have some more work on his hands huh? Hows the Scout holdin up? I used to work with Eric when the project was there, never got to see it run though?

Originally posted by harkinoff



that is what I'm running for a 60, yes I had to move the springs out, since the dodge 60 has wider mounting than the chev 60, and I'm also running an auto with a 205, it sucked, thats why I went to the doubler. 203-205, I made my own arms out of one inch plate.

the difference betweeen a dodge and a chevy axle are .5", i see alot of chevys with dodge axles, and dodges with chevy axles, and no change in spring mounting. But going from a stock scout to a full width, you either have to out board the springs, or narrow the axle. Check out www.offroaddesign.com to look at the 203/205 setup.

garrett

Originally posted by onewhitetj
Hey Brawler looks like Eric will have some more work on his hands huh? Hows the Scout holdin up? I used to work with Eric when the project was there, never got to see it run though?

Andy?

Can i get a little info on the outboard spring thing? Close up pics and materials used? Thanks for all the help guys.

But going from a stock scout to a full width, you either have to out board the springs, or narrow the axle....:confused:

Brawler'
I assume you are working on your Scout II. The GM D60 has almost the exact spring width as the Scout II factory springs. No modifications to the spring purch width is necessary with a GM axle.

Originally posted by Brawler
Can i get a little info on the outboard spring thing? Close up pics and materials used? Thanks for all the help guys.

PM JoshC He has a Dodge axle in his scout.

My GM 10-bolt measures 31.5" center pin to center pin.

My Dodge D60 (which I just got the outers for yesterday, which means I just need 'shafts and gears) seems to measure 32.5"

Since I'm putting it under my IH Fullsize, I intend to let the springs take up the difference and not bother with outboarding any springs.

Of course, since I'm told the GM spacing is a little wider than SII, and the Dodge is a little wider than GM, no idea if there's enough slop in the spring setup to make the Dodge work with no effort on a SII.

Originally posted by Old Scout


PM JoshC He has a Dodge axle in his scout.

Lemme see, we used 2" hitch tubing and 1.5" tubing to make the shackle hangers, and used the stock spring hangers. Welded that to 1/2" plate that was welded on 1/2" outside the frame itself. Messed up notching the hitch tubing for one of the bushing mounts so it looks a little crooked. Pics I dont have.

i think i will just die grind the drivers side perch off and move it over to be welded in the proper location. Good or bad? Don't really see why it wouldn't be ok.

Originally posted by Brawler
i think i will just die grind the drivers side perch off and move it over to be welded in the proper location. Good or bad? Don't really see why it wouldn't be ok.

As long as you're not worried about one tire sticking 1" farther out than the other side - "dog tracking".. go for it.

For that matter, why move it? Just redrill the center pin hole over. The stock SII springs are narrower than the 2.5" wide perches anyhow.

I don't see how the axle will move to one side an inch when all i'm moving is the pad. The axle will stay in the same place the pad will move. Am i missing something? If it is dog legging is that bad necessarily? I want to make this as easy on me as possible.

You're only moving ONE pad to take up the difference. The axle will not be centered under the rig that way. You have to move each pad by half the difference to keep it centered. Only problem with that is one of the pads is cast into the diff housing so you can't just cut it off and move it. There is no "easy" way to do it unless, like Tom said, you want one side of the axle sticking out farther than the other side (can you say hack?)

Originally posted by tsm1mt

For that matter, why move it? Just redrill the center pin hole over. The stock SII springs are narrower than the 2.5" wide perches anyhow.

As a matter of fact I ran mine "bolt in" and it worked. I thought the steering was a little sloppy though so went with outboarding the springs 1/2" on each side.

When I say bolt in.... The first side went in easy. :D The second side I had my feet up on the frame while I pulled the springs out an entire inch. Thinking about it now, I couls have just really loosened the shackle bolts?

Do I need to take pics of the fab work Mike explained?

Pics are always good. I would appreciate that.

I'm running the same housing. I mounted the front shackle hanger on 3/8" plate and welded it to the frame a half inch outboard. Then made a new rear mount out of 3" x 4" .250 box, that I cut in the middle to make a "C".

Here is a pic of the front mount
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?s=&postid=414721

wasn't the stock spring width at 31" ? I added 4" to my frame, then mounted the springs to match the 32.5" dodge 60 perches, plus I went to 47.5" leaf springs.:D

So if i want to outboard i need to go 3/4" out on each side or i could just move the pad 1 3/4" in and see if it drives and looks goofy. Has anyone done the dogleg thing with decent results?

Originally posted by Brawler
So if i want to outboard i need to go 3/4" out on each side or i could just move the pad 1 3/4" in and see if it drives and looks goofy. Has anyone done the dogleg thing with decent results?
Oh, it will look goofy and probably drive goofy too. Don't waste your time doing a hack job. Center the axle, the extra effort will be worth it.

Well i went through the trouble of outboarding the springs and was able to reuse the shackle hangers and rear hangers. The problem is two fold. When i welded it up it must have warped the steel a little so the front hangers on each side bow out ever so slightly. Also, is a ff14 bolt wider than a stock dodge d60? My front seems more narrow some how.