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Dana 60 IFS

33K views 37 replies 26 participants last post by  Plankton 
#1 ·
I've got a street truck I'm building. It's a 1989 K-1500 that has a 1998 Vortec 454, 1998 4L80E and a NBS 14-Bolt with disk brakes. The only thing I'm worried about is the 8.25 front end. A SAS is out of the question, I want to retain the stock height and look. I saw an article in Petersen's 4Wheel that had a new Ford F-150 that had a HP Dana 60 in place of the stock front end. Has anybody done anything like this with a Chevy? I'm wanting to get a Dana 60 like the one in Petersen's Ford with the width of a 9.25 IFS front end so I can use 3/4 or 1-Ton CV Shafts and the mounting points of the 8.25 IFS so it can bolt into my 1500 frame.





Tomorrow or Wednesday I'm going to measure the 8.25 and 9.25 front ends I have sitting on the floor. Once I do I'll have to call up Dynatrac and see if the dimensions I need are possible.
 
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#4 ·
Yeah, I know anything can be done with enough money, it's just the question of how much exactly. I already know this will probably be pretty steep, it just depends on if I can swallow the exact number. Either way I'll take pictures and measurements and post up what I find out. Even if I talk to Dynatrac and it's too much for me I'll still post everything up. It would be good information for the forum and who knows, maybe someone may pick up where I left off.
 
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#5 ·
I see Dynatrac makes a Pro60-IRS unit for Dodge Chargers and Challengers that are machined for stub shafts. I'll have to ask them about getting one of their normal front center housings machined for a stub shaft on the driver's side and a tube on the other side.

 
#7 ·
From what I understand, I'm no drivetrain guru thus the reason I'm here, the problem with CV shafts is when they are articulated their durability decreases. I believe that the further you articulate the CV shaft, the easier it becomes to break it. That means that when the CV shaft is straight it's the strongest it can be. Since I'm not wanting to lift my truck, nor off-road it to the point that most of you guys do, I believe that 1-ton CV shafts will be fine for what I want to do. I also believe the problem with the Ultimate F-150 was a super long travel suspension and actual off-road abuse, neither of which my truck will see. Absolute worst case senario, I can always upgrade CV Shafts later.

As far as the size of tires, I'm not there yet. It's going to be a daily driver/drag race truck, not a hard core off-road truck.
 
#8 ·
they also might have had to use a reverse rotation gearset (for the rear mounted diff to be flipped around backwards), just a guess on that though. what the hell are you pulling that you need a dana 60 front diff? your front shouldn't be pulling that hard. as far as the axle shafts, depending on the total width of the new center section, you may have to run custom axle shafts anyways if it's narrower/wider. unless it's exactly the same width with the inner stub shafts in exacly the same location as the factory front diff, the cv's could pop apart or bottom out.

FYI, if i remember right the RCV cv joint is actually a modified porsche 930 turbo cv shaft.
 
#10 ·
they also might have had to use a reverse rotation gearset (for the rear mounted diff to be flipped around backwards),
Please tell me you're joking.....


Unless it's a high pinion, all front ends are essentially just rear ends flipped backwards(with some notable exceptions with reversed rotation on the front driveshaft)
 
#9 ·
the 8.25 will take alot of power just not a large shock load
people are running twin turbo 1600+hp LSX motors with 4 wheel slicks and the front diff lives (search for Parish8 on the interweb)

and just run a 9.25,it will be stronger then the 3/4t-1t cv shafts you want to run
 
#15 ·
8.25 (1/2 Ton) and 9.25 (3/4 & 1-Ton) comparisons.

8.25 is the dirty one, 9.25 is the clean one.







1/2 Ton CV on the top, 3/4 & 1-Ton CV on the bottom.





The 9.25 fits into the 1/2 Ton frame rather easily. it looks to me like grinding off the top ear would be the wrong move since the CV mounting surface touches the frame.



Using the stock upper mounting ear looks to be the correct move.



Unfortunately, this problem arises.



Maybe the right move would be to cut the lower mount off vertically. Then, weld a flat piece of steel on and move the mount to the correct place for the 9.25. One cut, two welds, a little grinding and a custom bar mount on the passenger side and I could have a 9.25 in the front of my truck.

Thoughts on this?

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I remember watching Parish build up his truck before PerformanceTrucks.net split from LS1Tech. IIRC, when Parish went to twins the most power he made was around 1,200 WHP. True, he did race it a lot but IIRC he had some prototype Eaton E-Locker for the 8.25 and ended up having problems with his front end.

if you use stock cv's from GM, I don't believe the 1/2 are any different then 1 ton as I have both and only thing I've found that is different was the inboard hub or plunge hub. If you call Randy, he did a little work to the stock cv's to withstand years and years of abuse with 37's and little failure once he got over the learning curve, I have the Red Racer now and know Randy fairly well....
1/2 ton and 3/4+1-Ton CVs are, in fact, different. The inboard hub is different, as you stated. Also, the shafts are different diameters and the 1/2 ton shaft is longer. I've seen the Red Racer on the internet numerous times! Unfortunately there aren't many good pictures on the net of the front suspension/drivetrain that I have seen.

In the hummer forum there is a thread called "H3 long travel build" have a read through that he did basically the same thing you are asking but used a 44. He built a sub frame to mount the center section to. I doubt your going to be able to squeeze something like that in where your 8.25 lives now but give it a try and let us know.
I saw that before I made this thread. Definately an interesting build.

The 3/4 & 1-ton cv's are a lot bigger than the half-ton stuff. But can't really see the 1/2-ton stuff having problems with the kind of usage the OP is intending.
3/4 & 1-Ton CVs are a lot bigger, like you said. I figure if I'm going to make a custom front end, I might as well make it compatible with the heavy duty stuff.

One of the guys on gmfullsize did the exact swap, but his photos no longer load. I can't remember his name, but PM him if you find the writeup.

I know on the NBS with a knuckle lift swapping CV's is really easy with a mounting bracket, but i know the OBS is a bit trickier.

It absolutely can be done, but it's going to take some really good measurements :)

Keep us updated b/c a lot of guys have wanted to do a complete 1/2t to 3/4t IFS.
I know that guy (on GMFS) and know of the build. He originally had the RCV CV shafts and broke them. He ended up going back with 1/2 Ton (or maybe it was 3/4 Ton) shafts and hasn't had a problem since.
 
#11 ·
if you use stock cv's from GM, I don't believe the 1/2 are any different then 1 ton as I have both and only thing I've found that is different was the inboard hub or plunge hub. If you call Randy, he did a little work to the stock cv's to withstand years and years of abuse with 37's and little failure once he got over the learning curve, I have the Red Racer now and know Randy fairly well....
 
#12 · (Edited)
In the hummer forum there is a thread called "H3 long travel build" have a read through that he did basically the same thing you are asking but used a 44. He built a sub frame to mount the center section to. I doubt your going to be able to squeeze something like that in where your 8.25 lives now but give it a try and let us know.
 
#13 ·
The 3/4 & 1-ton cv's are a lot bigger than the half-ton stuff. But can't really see the 1/2-ton stuff having problems with the kind of usage the OP is intending.
 
#14 ·
3/4t and 1t CV's are definitely larger and offer slightly more articulation. Unfortunately they are longer and 2mm thicker (80mm) vs the 1/2t 78mm shafts.

The 9.5" 3/4t case will fit into your 1/2t, but you'll have to trim the fins and cut off the top mounting point.

One of the guys on gmfullsize did the exact swap, but his photos no longer load. I can't remember his name, but PM him if you find the writeup.

I know on the NBS with a knuckle lift swapping CV's is really easy with a mounting bracket, but i know the OBS is a bit trickier.

It absolutely can be done, but it's going to take some really good measurements :)

Keep us updated b/c a lot of guys have wanted to do a complete 1/2t to 3/4t IFS.
 
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#20 ·
Seriously chief, either keep the 1/2 ton IFS or swap to the 3/4-1ton IFS. The DMax guys routinely drag race and sled pull with the stock 3/4-1 ton shit and only occasionally blow it up. And they are making a SHITLOAD more HP/TQ than your 454.
 
#22 ·
the red racer is sitting in my garage, I can take any pictures you need...I've interchanged the 1/2 ton crap with the shafts on the truck (1 ton) just to make sure it works and it did...didn't wheel it as it's only an emergency spare....most likely I didn't see the change as it was contained in the plunge....
 
#25 ·
I think it'll be cool to do what we did with a 60 instead of a 44, and yes it's easy enough if you keep all the same geometry.

I would think you need more than weld on brackets with the 60. The drop basket enabled us to remove the t-bars and use coil-overs instead. That is why we used it. We did use the 3/4-1 Ton shafts.

Use the 60 and cut your axle tubes to fit. Measure, plumb, measure, plumb, measure. :grinpimp:

 
#27 ·
Any progress? Or are you sticking with stock chevy stuff? I read the same article you did and I like the idea just need to find a cheap way to do it. I don't think it's really worth it if Your spending more than like 3k. But regardless seems like ifs is the way of the future and considering there are only 3 vehicle manufactures that even put them in there cars its a worthy cause.
 
#28 ·
I am not really certain why you would want to do this? You said your not gonna do any hardcore off-roading? You dont want to lift it? So why in the hell would you wanna spend I am just guessing 8k maybe 10k on an ifs that your never gonna use? Your stock ifs will hold up fine... Maybe you just have to much time and money on your hands? If so I will gladly take some of that off of you.
 
#38 · (Edited)
Quote; "Maybe the right move would be to cut the lower mount off vertically. Then, weld a flat piece of steel on and move the mount to the correct place for the 9.25. One cut, two welds, a little grinding and a custom bar mount on the passenger side and I could have a 9.25 in the front of my truck."



Did you make a bracket, any updates? Thanks
 
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