Rear Axle Questions

[duncanstives]

I am slowly building my Jord (Jeep gradually turing into a Ford) and I have a front ball joint D60 (the 99-04 one)... Its a SRW with 3.73 gears. I am looking for a matching back axle to replace my 14 bolt because I don't wanna hassle with changing lug patterns on one or the other... My understanding is that I should buy a 10.5 (vs. a 10.25) is that correct?

Also: What is the going price for these... More than a 14 bolt I assume?
How does the strength compare? I am thinking just as good or a bit better?
What about locker options? I see the detroit for it is in the range of other axles unlike the 14 bolt which is super cheap because it does not replace the whole carrier... Why is the 10.5 locker not like that?

Thanks.

[Mh4Runner]

You are better off getting knuckles out from an earlier ball joint 60 or having your bearing hubs offset drilled for the 8 on 6.5" pattern. Everything is much more money for the Ford 10.5" than it is for the GM 10.5".

The knuckles out swap is really your best mod you can do to one of those front axles.

[fatdan460]

Originally Posted by Mh4Runner

The knuckles out swap is really your best mod you can do to one of those front axles.

not to hijack, but you can do a knuckles out swap on a s/d d60 to get rid of the unit bearings and ghey metric pattern???? if it's possible why the fawk would anyone in their right mind pay the insane money for those dynatrac freespin kits???? just asking, didn't know it was as simple as a knuckle swap.

[duncanstives]

Originally Posted by Mh4Runner

You are better off getting knuckles out from an earlier ball joint 60 or having your bearing hubs offset drilled for the 8 on 6.5" pattern. Everything is much more money for the Ford 10.5" than it is for the GM 10.5".

The knuckles out swap is really your best mod you can do to one of those front axles.

This is a budget build and its gonna see trail riding with a 302 on 37s so nothing extreme... So no knuckle swap. Drilling the unit bearings is not a bad idea. Can I just stick them on a lathe, trace a circle of the correct diameter and mark for the holes by using a wheel as a template?

My 14 bolt already has disk brakes and a welded carrier so I would only need to put the 3.73s back on (I put 4.10s in awhile ago but this build will have an np435 so I am not gonna sweat the .37 difference in axle ratio)... How does the width of my D60 compare to the 14 bolt? (I have the D60 taken apart right now so I can't really measure).

[duncanstives]

Originally Posted by fatdan460

not to hijack, but you can do a knuckles out swap on a s/d d60 to get rid of the unit bearings and ghey metric pattern???? if it's possible why the fawk would anyone in their right mind pay the insane money for those dynatrac freespin kits???? just asking, didn't know it was as simple as a knuckle swap.

D60 knuckles are not cheap... Especially since they are probably very seldom seperated from the D60 they came on. Thus unless you're lucky you will have to buy them new... For that kind of money you might as well just get the freespin kit.

[fatdan460]

i'd still like to know if it's possible. i can find s/d axles cheap and i run across guys parting out older axles a lot in different spots on the web. spun tubes and busted housing, but good spare parts like knuckles and such. just curious if it is that simple.

[Mh4Runner]

Yes, that simple. Switch to 35 spline outers and lockouts at the same time for the an even better upgrade. No special machine work required like there is on the unit bearing front ends.

The unit bearing's version of the spindle bearing is the same as a 1966 Ford Bronco with a Dana 30. Imagine trying to stuff a 35 spline shaft through that without machine work.