So I have been pondering the use of rockwells into my hi boy and making it a dedicated mud rig.

Being a hi boy though I was wondering would it be more beneficial to retain the dana 60's with upgraded parts or move up to the rockwells and have bullet proof running ability.

Rest assured the power train will be more than enough to run the gears.

 

Rockwells do not make a bullet proof running ability, everything breaks with enough abuse. Even after you spend the money to buy them, then you have to build them and then adapt them to your suspention/drive line.

Since you have D60's already, you are more than half way home as far a axles housings. Just put the money in quality drive axles (long and short shafts), u joints, drive flanges.

And some more money in d/s, transmission, xfer case flanges, gears ect.....

In the words of a guy that seem to have his stuff together, have a little read of some of his thoughts. It might put a little different light on the subject at hand.

"I am running a stock block in all of the engines. 460, 521, 521, and 557. The block is generally not the limiting factor here. Some machine work and quality parts are where you will obtain reliability. Heads and cam will unleash the power, but use quality parts.

In any event, 700 HP is a nice goal, and I probably should have been a little more specific earlier. When I suggested that you set a goal and stick to it, I meant that you should create a reasonable goal, and do what you can to achieve it. Not too many fellas are in the 700 hp club, and when I hear this I truly expect 500 real hp's, but let’s talk about that. 500 hp is huge compared to the whopping 120 something you are making now.

I’m not ripping on the 351M, errrr, ok, maybe a little. But regardless, this thing made around 150 to 170 Hp's when it was new. A tired old "M" might make the same 30 years later. Add a big honking cam that makes power far higher than the engine is actually capable of reaching, or heads that can’t flow enough air to maximize that aftermarket carb, and you might actually make less than the factory spec. Consider that the engine is tired so it might be making 100 hp, and my original estimate was not accurate.
Being an optimist, I as shooting for a high number.

You can make 1 HP per cubic inch, or at least make slightly less. Either way, you will have a mill that is still over three times the power house that the 351M ever was.
Start with the 460 and never look back. Each time you upgrade you can’t count on the fact that you are one step closer to your goal, the reasonable one.

Guess this all boils down to priority. Is it a priority to complete what you have? I mean, it runs right? You decided that the priority was to build enough of a lift to clear tires large enough that your stock engine just won’t be able to turn?
Sounds kind of strange when it is put like that right?

How about building a bullet proof drivetrain, that can handle anything that you throw at it, and use a reasonable tire? 37's can be a ton of fun in a stock truck with some gears and a locker. Ever drive a 1 ton equipped truck with 1 ton gear, 35 spline axles or even chromo, locker, steep gears and smaller tires like 37's? It’s a blast! Hit it with some power and one may not ever change from this. Once the drivetrain is bullet proof, and you have installed all of the gear that will make it suitable for upgrades, now comes the bullet.

See since your drivetrain is bullet proof, you won’t ever worry about breaking it, and all of the money you save will go towards the next goal. No distractions, like broken axles or downtime. What’s next? The engine and trans. Meanwhile you are still wheeling the thing, and you are tearing all sorts of stuff up, but not the drivetrain.

So you have some fun wheeling the truck, and you are building a nice engine for it. Upgrades do not have to come right away, just a nice running 460 that will smash that little 351M. All of this is while you are still pimpin 37's.

So a little time goes by, and you have a nice bullet for the gun. A fresh 460 with early iron heads, flat tops, timing set, and a nice reasonable cam. Small carb, but that’s all you need right now. Its reliable, starts every time, runs like a champ and making over 350 Hp's easy. That’s about a 300% increase over the old engine. Thought you were tearing it up before, now you are just getting crazy.

Time for tires, since you already have nice 1 ton gear, and a bullet proof set of axles, you have the gears to turn a larger tire, you now set a goal for some lift and some tires that put you in a different category. Lift it and make some mods, but the axles are still working great, engine is as nice as can be, and you are still having a blast.

This truck has seen minimal downtime, and you have been rolling it around all over the place. What do we upgrade next? Who knows, because we've built a decent drivetrain, and it runs well, but we need some more puppy power, so we head to the speed shop, and up the cam, port some heads, step up the carb and maybe intake. You have already found a used intake on Craigslist, and got it for a song, and look at that, the National Dragster has a guy selling a Demon carb that looks like it has been unmolested, and it is cheap. Kind of see where I am going here?

None of us have the pockets to build a fire breather on the first go around, and none of us have hit it out of the park on the first swing, but I am sure that everyone of us would have done things a little bit differently, and some wish that we had.

Everyone can build a truck in any order they wish, but it seems to me that most build them backwards.They lift it, put some big honking meats under it then struggle with broken parts, and have to limp a sorry engine around to try to turn the things,
backwards I say.

Gimme a nice 460, and some 1 tons that won’t break, I’ll throw in a Detroit out back, and Ill wheel it with white wall tires. Probably do as well or better than so many of those other trucks that I see on the trail. Wimpy little engine, no traction devices, we can see this because it is stuck on wet grass. Busted axle or u-joints, Oh….but it has some big ol meats and it looks nice, Can’t get out of its own way, but it looks nice.

Cracks me up............

For the OP, not baggin on you, just throwing out some examples and some ideas. Its your rig, and in all honesty, I applaud your efforts. You do have the desire and ability, keep that up, don’t lose that. Only one way to gain experience my friend, only one way."

 

Very nice been a while since I have seen a good persuasive post.

Here we hit the root of the problem.

It would look freakin sweet lol

P.s. tried shootin you some rep but apparently my rep gun is out of ammo for you.

 

I would rather have a truck that was a 4 wheeling "climbs like a monkey on crack" truck, than one that "looks freaking sweet".

Save that for the HS mall crawling kid blowing his daddy's money, you want a reliable fun and go get it done truck.

But trust me when I say I understand where you are coming from. Also running D60's it will still be streetable to a certain degree, depends on the gearing and locker.

Thanks for the rep offer, its all good, it not like I get a bonus ck or anything .......

 

Is the Front Dana 60 a 77.5-79 specimen? If not, you might want to try and find a high pinion.

With some paint, and creativity, you can make a radical mud truck turn every head, and still be a blast to drive.

As far as the durability of your Dana 60 goes, though you didn't ask about it, I have burnt two trannies up and broke a detroit locker in the rear end, while my Dana 60 in the front with a lock-right has been trouble free.

Also these trucks built properly work great as a dual purpose seeing both highway and off-highway miles. Granted I live in MS where laws are more lenient than most States.

 

usa army- what kind of tires do you plan on running? most guys use rockewells on floation or tractor tires. Another good axle is the chevy 14 bolt ff for bigger tires. They got big axles shafts and double pinion bearings.

 

One problem your gonna have with rockwells is that your gonna have to use some tall springs to get enough clearance for them.

 

77&79F250.....A tip of the hat to you sir for the above post.

 

It is a true factory hi boy just in the 74 year.

Red Barn Customs, 2.5 Ton Rockwell Axles, Mud Boggers, CNC Plasma Cut, Yale Mich
they make custom rims for rockwells and I wanted something reminiscent of the old wagon wheels or some such


with possibly
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes
or
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes

I am not sold on any rubber as of yet. The nice thing about tires is as long as the biys are working to find that new all mighty compound things will change so it would'nt be until I have every thing set up that the rolling stock would be added anyways. to roll around I would most likely use some old military tires and rims I have laying around.
That was accounted for I know these axles are huge not to mention heavy.

 

I think his work on The Saturday Evening Post was classic......

 

Thanks for the hat tip grinn, but just quoting ol F350 and some of his words of wisdom. I would pass the tip but he is not really on here much more???

US Army T remember its always more fun to be able to drive to your favorite mud hole, than trailer it in and put tires on.....that does not sound like fun IMO.

 

That is true there are lots of things to consider for the whole process I already have a tow rig that is only going to0 get better but no trailer.