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Dodge Ram 2500 4x4 Dana 60 Hub removal and converison to Ford Knuckles

533K views 715 replies 159 participants last post by  NorCalJalopy 
#1 · (Edited)
So all in the efforts to avoid replacing a wheel bearing and stop the death wobble, I converted my 97 Dodge cummins knuckles to 92/93 Ford knuckles.




Place two pickle forks behind the rotor and hit it really really really hard and it'll come off!




Me setting up the ball joint installation/removal tool

My techinique for pressing the ball joints in and out. =] Gotta put my whole body into it!

Dodge Knuckle off, time for ford knuckle!!!
 
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#523 ·
Anyone close to the Northwest Arkansas area happen to have these parts laying around?


Also, are there any other options out there for running larger brakes on the ford stuff? F450 or F550 stuff maybe?
I know of the older GM D60s, there are a few people running 14" P30 rotors. Just curious if anything similar is available for the ford stuff.
 
#524 · (Edited)
AMS247, That is a nice conversion.

I am redrilling ford spindles to use on dodge knucles. What is everyone using for spindle bolts? I would prefer to re-use the stock unit bearing bolts but matching nuts are probably going to be hard to find.

Nevermind figured it out. M14x1.5. Hard to find in class 10 but found it class 8 at Ace.
 
#525 ·
just did this swap but with drilling the dodge knuckle to ford pattern

with the 79 ford rotor the rotor needs to be spaced off the hub about 1/8th inch or grind the knuckle where it mounts

also with the extra width from the swap my truck with stock 12 bolt h1's looks perfect and with the longer control arms on it will be perfect (even with stock lowers it doesn't rub during normal driving
 
#526 ·
i got my swap all done. really showed how much play is in my steering box. luckily my buddy had a brand new AGR box sitting around from his 1999 dodge 3500. got that off him for $200. so after the new box and an alignment. the truck tracks kind of weird. seems to follow any bump in the road. any ideas?
 
#528 ·
pic of steering, bump steer? mine did the same until I dialed in the panhard with the draglink
 
#527 ·
probably something to do with your alignment specs, know caster/camber #s by chance? You change any suspension parts by chance: trackbar, control arm, etc?
 
#530 ·
ding ding ding!!!! Bump steer is introduced when the angle and length of the drag link and track bar don't match. Here's a good steering thread Danny from DOR did comparing different steering designs: DODGE OFF ROAD • View topic - Heavy duty steering options for 94-12 Dodge Rams

Anyone have an idea what I should sell my Ford knuckle conversion for? Selling the Ram I was going to put it on, just the hard parts, no new bearings or wearable parts: knuckles, spindles, hubs (DRW or SRW), stubs and locking hubs.
 
#531 ·
What tie rod end are using at the pitman arm? stock dodge?
Is the drag link steeper than the trak bar?

If you answered yes to both of these, you can probably swapout the tie rod at the pitman arm with an ES2011R which has the same taper but a larger minimum diameter. This will allow you to re taper the pitman arm from the bottom up and install the draglink under the pitman arm thus lowering it inline with the drag link. At least that worked near perfect on mine
 

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#532 ·
I just read through the entire thread and it looks like there isn't a definitive answer if 99.5-02 can be converted? Obviously they can't use Ford knuckles but can anyone confirm the TTB spindles do work?

I'm putting a 01 Dodge D60 in my 90 F250 with a D50 so I have both complete setups for mixing and matching and should only have to buy the stubs. That is of course if the TTB spindle fits the 01 Dodge knuckle.
 
#534 ·
After further research the 94-99 and 00-02 stub shafts and unit bearings do have different part numbers, and I have a length of 7.05 for the 94-99 stubs and 7.375 for the 00-02.

This doesn't tell me a whole lot unless I knew the depth of the unit bearings. If the 00-02 wheel bearings are .325 thicker than the 94-99 I would say the TTB spindles/hubs have a good shot of fitting and the stubs engaging.

Since it's been established that the stubs on later Ford D60s and TTB50s do not use a retaining clip, it may not matter if the 00-02 knuckles push the hub out farther.
 
#538 ·
I will try and check my 3rd gen wheels over a Ford hub soon, but don't hold your breath waiting on me since I have a back procedure tomorrow
 
#541 · (Edited)
Hello pirates, first post, been lurking for years. I just picked up some Knuckles-out from a '97 f350 WOOHOO! going on my '96, no lockouts, but I'll find some. Anyway, as for steering with this setup, from what Ive gathered the 08.5 steering upgrade will bolt in, the ford knuckles have the larger taper to accept the tie rods. I was just on the phone with Moog and the Ford tie rods are .613min./.723max taper, and the dodges are .590 min/.750max dia., I couldn't get a taper length, but we talked about it and the min/max dia difference is most likely just due to a longer taper, and its not really that much. I'm still trying to piece this together, heading back to the junkyard to get the steering off the ford to see if I can get that to work also. It looks like the dodge drag link might bolt up to the ford tie rods, I'd like to be able to use off the shelf parts just for ease of replacement. Hopefully I can get this figured out in the next week or so and I'll report back. I know most people are just using the stock steering, or the 99HD upgrade, with a washer to make up for the taper, but this will should be the right taper, and much heavier parts. One thing I need to figure out is the tie rod breakage issue on the late model dodges, this is why I kind of want to use the Ford tierods/dodge drag link . Thoughts, concerns, comments?
 
#542 ·
Just use your current steering from your Dodge, or the 99HD Steering. I have a 98' that came with what everyone calls the 99HD steering, and I have not had a single problem yet. You can make ANYTHING work, why go through the hassle though if all you need to do is pick up is a washer. A washer is an off the shelf part.
 
#546 ·
Certainly the easiest way to go. If there isn't something that matches up you'd be into custom stubs anyway. I'm sure you reread this thread in your search but I thought some lengths had been discussed for the AAM axles.
 
#548 ·
Don't the AAM axles have the balljoints going the opposite way of the older ford live brg setups, so the knuckles won't swap over
 
#549 ·
pretty much SOL as far as I know....none of the older solid hub vehicles had front ABS or any ball joints in the knuckle side, so no known candidates for swapping. Can make your own custom something..but nothing simple IMO.
 
#552 ·
I've read through this whole thing a couple times, each time leaves my head spinning because of all the BS that doesn't have to do with the d60 specifics. I remember seeing your post about the flipped drag link, I thought it was a good idea, looks like it keeps the drag link and track bar pretty parallel, I was going to mock it up see if I liked it. I still want to see if the pitman arm that is recommended for the '03 up trucks with the steering upgrade will fit the 94-99 steering box, it seems like its bent more to get the drag link angle more like what you have, but mounts the rod end on top.
 
#553 ·
I don't recall the 03 pitman arm what was that story?
 
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