Hi,

I just found some (cheap?) Dana 60 front axles. Supposedly these came off Dodge trucks. Dunno which truck, but supposedly bigger than a W200, and equipped with a 6 cylinder gas motor.

The casting says "60 2T",
the axle tubes are 3" outside dia,
from kingpin to kingpin (center to center) is about 57",
from knuckle/kingpin to wheel flange (outside of drum) is 7.5",
from pinion center to one kingpin center is about 22", to the other 35",
Between the spring pads (c-c) is 3 feet.
The axle has drum brakes, for 6 lug wheels, with the the lugs on a 6.5" diameter circle.
Between knuckle and axle is a ball-joint of sorts, so the U-joint isn't visible, but protected/hidden.

Should i pick these up, and modify them for my W200, or should i look further? They're $200 a piece.

depends, some of those have smaller axles than d44's, and dana 30 joints. All depends. I woudl look at the shaft size.

I can't look at the axle shafts... They're hidden inside the knuckle ball joint, this is a similar setup to my 1967 Wagoneer front axle, though _much_ beefier. The drum brakes on these things are huge, more massive than the drum brakes on my W200 rear D60. Then there's some small bolts on the outside of the drum as well. Could these even have unlocking hubs ? The people that own them are in the scrap iron business, and hardly now anything about them. If these are must haves, it would be a waste to see them melted / scrapped. If you're 90% or more sure these have 44 or 30 sized shafts, it would be a waste of my money.
Decisions decsions...

This sounds like some old dana 70 fronts I have seen. Even at pick and pull. The closed knuckle design and drum brakes made me hold out for a Dana 60. A kingpin Dana 60 is definately worth the trouble. Especially if you have been busting Dana 44's.

You're describing a closed-knuckle drum brake 60. Only strength advantage over your current front axle is the R&P - axleshafts and joints are no better, maybe weaker. I'd suggest that you hold out for an open-knuckle 60.

Thanks everyone. I'll leave them, then.

This was an intersting place though, different axles stacked by the dozens, pto-winches galore, lots of Mogs, a few (probably ex DDR or USSR) missile carriers and so on and so on.

They also had front axles (supposedly also Dodge) which had no differential cover bolts, but a set of bolts on the pinion yoke side of the pumpkin on circular bolt battern, so you can pull out the entire gearset as one unit. I'm tempted to think these are Mopar 8.75" diffs, but i never knew these where made as front axles. These looked pretty massive as well... Maybe i'll pay them another visit, and measure these as well.

Thanks again.

From the sounds of the yard it's mostly military stuff. On the alleged Dodge axles with the drop-out third member, could've been from an old M37 or something of the sort.

Hey, if they don't have any good Dodge 60's and lots of military stuff, look for the axles out of an M1008 or similar (GM). These will bolt in directly and work fine in your truck. Only difference is ~10mm on front spring perch width, and the springs will take that much misalignment easily.

Does this yard have unimog axles??? 404 or 416's??? If so how many Euro? Not for me but I might consider if I can get enough people to buys some to help pay for the shipping.

Does the Dana 60 you were describeing look like this one???

http://www.bogginfreaks.com/phpreaders/view_photo.php?set_albumName=pornstar&id=ado&full=1 with the burfield joints?

The pumpkin of the axles in that pics sure looks like a D60, but i'm not convinced of the rest of it. The ones i saw were stacked by the dozens, naked, iow without a vehicle and/or wheels. Hard to tell.

On the Mog axles, i'll ask a friend of mine. Still, you'd need enough to stuff a 20' container, to "dilute" shipping costs. I'll get back to you on the axles, hopefully before the end of this year, probably sooner.

The Dodge axles you are talking about are 9 5/8 inch Dodge axles used in the later WC and M37s.
What place do you visited, Van Dam, Reomie ?
I know that Van Dam has the axles you are discribing, the closed knuckle Dana axles are out of the Kaiser M715 (D60 front-D70 Rear). I always like to go to the Military yards in the Netherlands, lots of exiting stuff there.

Daniel

Wolfgang, it wasn't van Dam. I try to avoid them if at all possible. Only Brouwers is even worse. I won't go into details here, but a lot of horror stories from several W200 owners overhere. Dunno about the other place you mentioned, never heard of them. The one i visited was in a small town near Groningen. If you ever find yourself in NL again, drop me an email. I didn't do business as i passed on the axles per the advice above, but i found these folks pretty friendly. I guess my next try will be Morlock in Germany.

Email me your phone number !
Like to talk to you on the phone !
daniel@tibus-offroad.com