Dana 60 Installation

[padam]

I'm installing my ne Strange Dana 60, and I'm running into a few issues.

The 8-3/4 I removed had much larger holes in the spring perches. I made wedge's at the time that fit the 1/2 pin thru the spring and had a 1-5/8 pilot for the perches. See pics.

The new perches have a 5/8 hole. Is there a 5/8 to 1/2 bushing that I'm missing?

 

[m79ded]

do you have a 73 and up 8.75 diff with rubber ISO, then you'll have to either make holes bigger to match or better yet delete the rubber ISO system and go to the 72 and under. On my 79 magnum when I put the Dana 60 I deleted the rubber ISO stuff

 

[padam]

Yes I deleted the rubber years ago, but must have used the iso wimp spring perches.

I just made a couple bushings, so I think I'm past this little hurdle.

 

[dvw]

Easy shim the hole. 1/2" black pipe from the local hardware. Cut the threaded portion off. Make it long enough to just contact the housing. That way it won't fall out. Ream the rough inside edge after cutting.
Doug

 

[Cranky]

Been there more than I care to be.....

 

[padam]

Yeah, I made bushings from some junk I had in the garage.
Thanks for the tips though.

 

[padam]

Got the housing mounted, and the Caltracs in. Wanted to get that far so I could measure for the driveshaft, I will take it to be shortened tomorrow.
That's as far as I could get this weekend.

 

[m79ded]

Do you happen to have any pics of the bushings you made?
Thanks

 

[padam]

Do you happen to have any pics of the bushings you made?
Thanks

No, but they are just stone simple. Just like DVW described in post 4.

I found a long bushing that was close, drilled the inside to .500, ground the od on each end so it slipped into the holes, appx .650.
Then I hack sawed each end of to .700 long. Chamfered edges.

 

[padam]

Local drive line shop turned it around 6 n a few hours.

 

[RemCharger]

Nice. How much shorter was the driveshaft?

 

[padam]

I had them make it 1-1/2" shorter.

According to my measurements and all the conflicting info I could find, it could have been from 1 to 1-3/4 shorter.
It seemed a touch on the long side with the 8-3/4.

The length seems good now, but the rear u-joint is really tight in the yoke, so I have an email into Strange.

 

[padam]

I got the driveshaft installed, there were a couple of rollers out of position. Rookie mistake. Strange did get back to me to their credit.
I'm impressed with Strange's quality.
The axles have 2 extra 5/8 hole patterns drilled, it's nice to have options for other wheels. The only problem is that there's no hole that lines up with the retainer nuts. I usually just take the brakes off as an assembly when I pull axles, but for these I had to take the shoes off. I got new brake parts, but am waiting to install them til I get all the other new stuff working. So a little redundant work to do.

Tires still clear the springs which was another concern.

The Caltracs went on easy, and I'm impressed with the quality.

I ordered a set of 4 Viking shocks from PST. Unfortunately, the called and told me they no longer make the fronts.
So I need to find a set.

The 8-3/4 sure looks wimpy sitting in the garage.

 

[Cranky]

I had them make it 1-1/2" shorter.

According to my measurements and all the conflicting info I could find, it could have been from 1 to 1-3/4 shorter.
It seemed a touch on the long side with the 8-3/4.

The length seems good now, but the rear u-joint is really tight in the yoke, so I have an email into Strange.

Years ago a buddy stuck a 60 into his 69 Bee and had 1/2" of yoke showing and told him it's not enough but he wouldn't drink the water and it cost him his transmission.

 

[padam]

Years ago a buddy stuck a 60 into his 69 Bee and had 1/2" of yoke showing and told him it's not enough but he wouldn't drink the water and it cost him his transmission.

So due to the rear end movement, it jammed the yoke into the transmission?

 

[AR67GTX]

It can but if you have a transmission rear seal with the boot on the end and around a 1/2” of yoke showing past that I would think you should be safe.

 

[Cranky]

So due to the rear end movement, it jammed the yoke into the transmission?

Yup

It can but if you have a transmission rear seal with the boot on the end and around a 1/2” of yoke showing past that I would think you should be safe.

He didn't have the seal boot on it.....

 

[padam]

So, Im still making progress but keep running into snags.
The brake drums are interfering when the wheels are bolted on.
The old drums interfere at the outside edge of the shoe. There's a step there from previous turning, so I dropped them off at the machine shop to get that cleaned up, and to turn the insides. I'm not confident that will fix it.

The new shoes I got (ac Delco china) interfere on the outside facing edge of the backing plate. About the only thing I can do here is space the shoe out a little, or take the backing plate off and modify it. Or maybe I can get new backing plates. Anybody know?

I did run it for awhile without the drums, and everything else seems cool.

Also took

time to cover the giant hole I cut in the trans tunnel 35 years ago, with something other than rubber.

 

[padam]

Finally!
Got the brakes sorted out, took it out for a drive, about 5 or 6 miles.
Everything seems good.
Gonna try to get to the track this weekend.

 

[padam]

Finally!
Got the brakes sorted out, took it out for a drive, about 5 or 6 miles.
Everything seems good.
Gonna try to get to the track this weekend.