Found ford truck dana 60 what do I need to know

[RT K_line]

I am starting to research putting a truck dana in my car. I think I saw that someone said that what they did. I hav a line on 2 for dana 60s for 500. It sound like a good deal, both have 410s and one has limited slip but ring and pinion is bad. I thought I would take the other ring and pinion out and put it on the one with the limited slip but don' know much about danas. Does the open and posi use the same ring and pinion gears? I also read somewhere that the posi has 30 splines and the 8 3/4 axles will work too. Does it sound worth it? I know I'll need ends and spring perches too. Any help would be great, thanks
Ken

 

[1967coronet440]

i believe zack has done the swap @5.7 hemi

Or @Cranky

 

[Cranky]

Full floating axles or semi like an 8 3/4? The semi floaters might have the 2 3/4" axle tubes but you can still weld the the spring pads on using some 1/8" diameter spacers.....

 

[Cranky]

Check the top part of the nose of the rear end. If there's a 501 casting number, it'll have the 2 3/4" tubes. Can't miss it....the 501 is large. And if you are going to mess with swapping parts, you will probably come out better just starting out with new gears instead of paying that much for 2 rear ends and then doing that work and you should probably pull an axle to make sure it's 30 spline. Not sure about what Ford did (they do crazy stuff) but a limited slip rear end is usually a floater on a Dodge unless it was behind a diesel then even the open rears were usually full floaters.

 

[RT K_line]

Ok when you say floater you mean the axles bolt on at the ends. Because I think they did. The add is on my computer at work so I can't check the pic until tomorrow.

 

[Cranky]

On the older pickups with the full floating axles, the axle is bolted to the hub/drum. The newer trucks, the axle bolts to the hub and has a slip on drum. You can actually pull the axles out on both setups without taking the tire off or jacking up the truck. On a semi floating set up....well, that's what an 8 3/4 is....

 

[5.7 hemi]

Full floater axle means you can pull the axle out without taking a wheel off.
The Dana 60 I bought was a full floater, brakes, axles and the ends all get circle filed. But it did have 3:73’s, so I checked them over, deemed good to reuse, kept all shims as they are a good starting point for reassembly. I got a 35 spline power lock (sure grip) from Cranky and then ordered a master ring/pinion rebuild kit and got busy.

Now my buddy wanted to do the same, found another Dana 60 and it was a semi floater, it was a 30 spline, but he’s gonna go to 35 spline. Tore into the power lock, clutches were shot, so he ordered a new kit from Dr. Diff, along with new cross/spider gears. Now I’m in the middle of measuring it so it can fit his Duster a 4 link.

Now both of these Dana’s have 3/8’s thick tubes and are 3.125 in diameter. Not a big deal, just be aware of it cause if you plan on reusing your u-bolts, not gonna fit.

 

[Cranky]

Definition of overkill redefined lol

 

[5.7 hemi]

Forgot to mention that your gonna need to narrow those Dana’s, figure 2-300 for that job. I had a few 8 3/4’s narrowed, decided to do the Dana myself, had the narrowing pucks made and got a centerless ground 1.250 solid bar, 6ft in length and did it myself, also had the pucks made for the 8 3/4, so I can now do both.

 

[dvw]

Rather then swap the ring and pinion, just swap the traction lock into the existing open diff housing. Measure the backlash before disassembly and duplicate it. Tube diameter isn't a big deal on leaf springs as you can fudge the spring plates and housing mounts gusset from the front and rear. Egg the holes in the plates. Get new U bolts. You can buy new ends or cut off a pair from a scrap 8. 3/4. I weld the housing mounts and ends on for $100.
Doug