Whenever I read an article containing a list of so-called "best axles ever", I always see the 78-79 kingpin ford dana 60 front axle on the top of the heap. If it is so hard to find and so desirable, why is it that I own two of them and have had trouble selling them? Are they really that much stronger than other axles because of their reverse rotation or are people just drooling over them because of the extra clearance the high-pinion driveshaft allows?

P.S. I have one of these dana 60's in the bed of my truck right now, ready to go if anyone is interested!!

 

The high pinion adds additional ground clearance which is never a bad thing, "reverse rotation" is a bit of a misnomer, the gears don't actually spin in reverse, the pinion gear engages the ring gear above the center axis and when on a front diff makes it stronger because it's "pushing" the gears as opposed to "pulling" them, how much you asking for the D60?

 

Where you at? Location plays a big role on the axles that I buy.
In actuallity the 78/9 axle is not the strongest factory axle available. This generation axle uses tapered inner shafts that have to be upgraded to be strong.
Later model axles actually have stronger factory shafts. These too are high pinion which are stronger than a standard cut gear.
The main desirability comes from the location of the differential and the short side axle tube. See the axle tube length makes this simply a more versitile axle with regards to retrofits. This axle works or can owrk under just about anything, where the later model axle is limited to vehicles with slightly wider frames. Even coil spring set ups for the later axle is not as easy to pull off as the 78/9 axle.
The78/9 axle is just something that is easiest to fit a veriety of applications thats all.

 

Yes the 78 -79 is nice but with the cut down shart like the dana 50.
Where are you located & how much ya want I ahve a 69 Bronco that needs a 4.10 PM me if you want to get rid of one.

 

Now that got me curious about my front axle...I've got a '97 F350 4WD (came standard with Dana 60 front axle). How "desirable" is my front axle versus the 1978/79 axles? It's a 4.10 LS.

 

I'm in Busti New York. It's a little town just outside of Jamestown, NY about 70 miles south of Buffalo. I'm asking $900.00 for it but at this point I'm open to offers. My back is so screwed up that I can't move it anymore and I just want to get rid of it.
Oh...one more thing, it has 3.54 gears for anyone who is interested.

 

$900 obo is certainly a fair price, are you advertising it on craigslist?

 

Same deal in my area. Can't give one away. I can think of at least a half dozen or more of them that could be bought up, but I won't take in another one in unless it's free or close to it. Lots of people do want them but the shipping always kills the deal.

 

2 X
3.54's are going for around 5 600 round here in MI, 4.10's 7 - 800 for a set or newer ones. I am lookin in th MI area for a 4.10 if anybody has one. I will postit in the classified area. Front only.

 

From what I have read and heard is that these axles are so popular not only because of the current Dana 60 trend in off road rigs, but also because they share the same spring spacing as a jeep (maybe CJ-5 or CJ-7?) and they are also a near bolt in for converting an IFS Chevy POS to straight axle.

I have found that the majority of these axles are in the New England / East Coast area mainly because the 78-79 F250 Sno-Fighter package came with this axle. These trucks were perfect for mounting heavy snow plows on the front to handle the heavy snowfall tha the eastern states get in the winter. I know a guy in PA that can find at least 5 of them within 30 minutes of his house!

 

They do seem to be more prevalent back east, around here one will easily fetch $1,200 to $1,500.

 

Hah, yeah I just finished posting it.

 

Unless your area is over saturated with HP60's i don't think you'll have any problem selling it for $900 obo.

 

No, around here they are few and far between. Most of the high-pinion 60's here are ford versions from 87-91. I have only found 2 78-79 ford dana 60 fronts within a 100 mile radius in all my years searching and I have bought both of them. The one is still in use in my 78 F350 4x4(for sale) and the other one I pulled at a salvage yard a while back. As rare as they are around here I figured I would have no trouble selling them. Everyone says how much they want one and how they are searching for one and as soon as I put one up for sale, all buyers disappear.

 

Sorry man, took a while to put everything away today. Long day of wheeling.
Anyway, the last if the D60 front axles that you have is a decent axle, but fits just barely above the super duty axle as far as desireability goes. This axle that you have is a ball joint axle, which is strong, but lacks the option of a bolt on steering arm like a king pin unit would. This means that an entire new knuckle would be required.
That being said, this axle also has the short driver side axle tube and the diff that is offset to the dirver side further than the 78/9 axle, limiting this axle to later model trucks, or needing some mods to make it work under a different vehicle.
All Dana 60F apring perches are cast into the driver side diff, but the diff is closer to the knuckle on the later model axles. Trying to use this in a vehicle with a narrower frame might place the spring right on top of the diff itself. Real hard to put a u-bolt around the diff ltself, so this makes this axle a little less desirable.
78/9 axles can be installed into later trucks, but the later axles are very difficult to install into eariler ones, or vehicles with narrrow frames, without some fancy fab work.
FWIW, I can get ball joint axles for about 500 hundred bucks in my area, and SD axles for about the same.