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I have to disagree with these D60 being very stout. The one behind my 76 was only 16spline as were many of the era. ND (Bill) can confirm for sure dates and such. A healthy 390 and for sure a 445 Can grenade it without much trouble. Off road- driver dependent but almost for sure only a matter of time with larger tires unless it's only slick mud. Towing- might make it an extended(ish) while.. or you might have to start on a blind hill with 5k+ lbs on you and as you roll back and then give the skinny pedal a healthy mash to get out of the way and up to speed.. Snap crackle pop. Same scenario on a boat ramp. There are better cheaper axles to upgrade.
To the op the weight rating is(was?) more important to you before you wisely decided to tow the camper instead of do the slide in and no amount of "building" can change tube thickness. In such a case it would be much better to go to a 1ton D70/80 or Sterling or Corp with a rating high enough to handle it.
Sleepy445FE, What have you seen/done that makes you question suitability of the Dana 60 for the OP's intended use? And what did you do to improve the situation? I agree (and eluded to to it earlier) that a 445 can hurt a Dana 60 if you hit it hard in low gear. If you hit it in 4Lo with big tires, especially if you have a locker, then even more so. If the OP, has 1310 ujoints, then I'd expect them to break first.
Dana 60's were used for a long time by the Big 3 in 3/4 ton trucks with up to a 460 under the hood for what the OP is planning.
Sleepy445FE, What have you seen/done that makes you question suitability of the Dana 60 for the OP's intended use? And what did you do to improve the situation? I agree (and eluded to to it earlier) that a 445 can hurt a Dana 60 if you hit it hard in low gear. If you hit it in 4Lo with big tires, especially if you have a locker, then even more so. If the OP, has 1310 ujoints, then I'd expect them to break first.
Dana 60's were used for a long time by the Big 3 in 3/4 ton trucks with up to a 460 under the hood for what the OP is planning.
I don't understand what hes getting at eather. All the info and specs I have been given and researched on the Dana 60 (full float). Is that there bad *** axles. while not the strongest they do rate top ten in axles. and for my application it be more than effective at towing OR HAULING heavy loads
[QUOTE=Airborne-F250;17148069
But for all their griping and all their complaining and all they're telling me it's dangerous nobody had a better idea
That's one of the main reasons why I don't listen to half of the people on here.
They talked a bunch of crap. But they don't give any ideas or solutions to the problem at hand[/QUOTE]
Sometimes there is no better solution short of a more suitable vehicle. I really don't get the idea that anyone is talking a bunch of crap. Many of us have done crap stupid stuff and try to use the forum as a teaching experience and reality check for those who come here and run their ideas by us and learn.
That said, many years ago when speed limits were 55 mph, I took a most enjoyable two week back roads vacation in a regular cab pickup, cabover camper with two adults and two children packed in the cab. Would I do it again? No way. BTW, no AC.
Thanks man!
ya I remember being in pawpaw's (great grandfather) old bumpside riding in the back. I agree if was rough. but it had no seats in the bed
ill be putting a bench seat with seatbelts in the truck bed under the topper.
and I also remember the HEAT!
that's why I'm connecting the cab and the topper by taking the rear window out and sealing the truck cab and bed together with accordion boot seals and the inflatable tube (double up for a better seal).
also installing a small exhaust fan in top of topper to help pull heat/air from cab to bed
I don't understand what hes getting at eather. All the info and specs I have been given and researched on the Dana 60 (full float). Is that there bad *** axles. while not the strongest they do rate top ten in axles. and for my application it be more than effective at towing OR HAULING heavy loads
I like to think most people are trying to help so if he got into some scenario where a Dana 60 broke then I'd like to hear if he did any upgrades that worked.
I'm confident stock Dana 60's can handle more than slick mud. And yeah, if you hitch up a load, let it roll back and then floor it in low gear you might break something on any truck. I'm sure I can set up scenarios that will break Dana 60's with a 445 and I can also set up scenarios to break a 445 with the same Dana 60. I don't want to break things just because I can.
You can get stronger than stock axles for your Dana 60 but with what you have planned I don't think you'll need them.
well I haven't gotten to that part of the build yet
but I am taking the rear out and sending it out to the driveline shop to have it rebuilt.
because i am having them replace all parts in it with stronger heavy duty parts WHEN AVALABLE and then all other parts that cant be replaced with HD will get high quality replacements
that way the BIG 3 (motor, trans, axle) have all been poured over and HD rebuilt for strength and durability
do it right once and don't worry for 10+ years!
I had to take a break for a while I had some medical problems that are all good now!
but even so I still made some progress
the bed has been patched, rewelded and remounted on the frame
the brackets for the bench seat is all made up
its all ready to get rhinolined (that is this weekend)
the engine bay is ready for cleaning and paint
along with the front clip is striped and ready to paint as well
had a snafu with the pistons bought press fit wrist pin style needed float style
got some nice hypereutectic aluminum pistons will be going 40 over on bore and crank and rods are 30 over
with some luck they may get it all rebuilt before the end of the week!
besides that still a long list of other things
cab floor repairs
undercoating the whole truck
removing and rebuilding the rear
just straight cleaning the crap out of the nooks n cranny's
finishing the topper
then all the doodads I want to put on it
Here's a bunch of pictures of the progress so far
There's a couple pictures of the topper put on the truck now looking good!
When you got a couple pictures of the engine bay before I painted it
Then there's a couple pictures of the inside of the cab after we pulled the bench seat and the carpet and padding up got a bit of repairs to do there
Besides the fact that on the outside bottom back Corners where the trim is the cab is completely rotted out in those Corners behind the trim so I will have to get some repair panels for those outside bottom back corners and repair those
good thing I like welding
So now that the bed is done moving on to the interior and exterior of the cab
04-27-2017, 09:20 PM
