Hey fellas, I'm going to the dark side for a while.......I bought a Jeep last Sunday and I am parting out my old '67.
I am going to put my '79 Dana 60 up front, and probably re-gear to 4.88s. Anyone have any leads on the best prices on new gears, lockers, axles?
Now my question. I have a '75 Dana 60, and a '79 Dana 60. Which one would be better to build? Who makes the most idiot proof disc brake conversion? And what axles should I stick in it (relatively cheap) to go with my 4.88 gears.
Whats everyone reccomend for lockers. I was thinking a Detroit rear, and a lockright in the front.....But I'm still open to suggestions.
It will be powered by a stock 4.0 with a 5spd and NP231 for now till I get the time and money to put together a Ford drivetrain for it.
Dang dude... You have been here a while now, has the search button eluded you?
Personally, I would do this:
79 Dana 60 in front, it will have good tubes and discs from the factory. Personally, I would look at Yukon for almost everything... I would look at CTM for joints. Yukon super joints have brought teh suck! Anyways, Yukon grizzly, and moly shafts with CTM's would be BOMB proof. My very own opinion!!:flipoff2:
I seriously doubt you could kill that combo, with the gearing in that 231... Even behind a strong V-8, and full size weight.
Try reading the entire post carefully before posting up trying to be an asshat and ending up looking retarded.
He's asking about a REAR 60, since he mentioned he's putting a '79 60 up front.
I don't think there's any difference between the two, but don't take my word for it. If that's the case I would go by the condition of the spindles. I'm working on a rear 60 from a '78 and looking at ballistic or ruff stuff for disk brake brackets. Not quite sure why the ruffstuff ones have a kink in them and the ballistics don't... But I think they're all generally the same.
The rear is what I was more concerned about. I know there is two different kits for rear disc brakes. One for pre '78 axles and one for the newer axles. I guess I'm not even sure if the '79 axle that I have is a full floater or not, whereas the 75 is.
The other thing I was wondering was on good replacement axle shafts for both sets of axles. I don't need to spend the money for the real bling bling parts as my 36" tires are being turned by a 6 cylinder and its not going to be in rocks but a few times a year. The front I will probably leave stock minus gears/locker/warn premium hubs. The rear I will probably upgrade as those stock axles are my weak link.
the 36's ain't going to break the stock stuff i would leave it all stock . save the money to pay rent or something. and both rear ends should look the same if there full floaters
Check out diy4x... They have a really nice disc kit, that allows it to unbolt after installed. Use plain old 3/4 ton cheby calipers, and I think you can use stock rotors on the 60 as well. I used their kit on my 70, it's a nice kit.
I don't know what years had coarse spline axles, but I would stay away from them. 75 might be coarse spline...??
Forgot about spline count. I think some rear 60's had a whole 9 splines...:barf:
(not sure of that number, could be 16...)
edit: yeah its either 16 or 30 splines.
I just welded up my diff and I'm turning 37's with a worn out 360, so I'll prolly end up replacing shafts sooner or later. So I'm interested in everyone's opinion on the best "bang for the buck" rear shafts.
edit:
Mr N said this in an old thread I found http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-545219.html:
"So you picked up a rear Dana 60 with 16 splines. Most likely it was from a 70-75 Parcel Deliver van or a 73-75 F250 Camper Special or a 70-75 HD 4x2 Pick-up. It came with the same length axle shaft on both sides, Spicer part number 35445-2 with 16 Splines and 34.56” long."
I guess I will use my '79 Dana 60 as it appears to be a full float with 30 spline axles. Now I need to find a locker and some 4.88s for it and I should be good to go.
/\ plus one here. 35 spline shafts, better clearance than a 60, better all the way around, I would weld the center section to the tubes though. Nickle based rod works well.
The Sterling isn't out of the picture. I just happen to have a bunch of 60 rears laying around at the moment. I haven't even called the scrapyards to see what a good sterling rear brings, might be worth pawning off a few of my other spare parts an getting one.
i may just be the lucky one but i stripped the pinion on my rear 60, never had a problem with axles. X3 on the sterling, thats what is going in my truck if I ever get around to it
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