Did DANA make a 61 rearend? Hello everyone. I hope all make FTE brothers and sisters are doing well. Finally started working on my beast in earnest once again.

 

I never heard of it, but here is what wikipedia says. Seems reasonable from all the posts on this forum for guys asking for better highway speed.

A variation of the Dana 60 known as a Dana 61 was made to accommodate gear ratios that allowed for better fuel mileage. This was done as a direct result of the 1973 oil crisis. A 3.07:1 gear ratio was common for these axles and unachievable in a regular Dana 60. To allow for the different gearing, the Dana 61 had a greater pinion offset. This offset meant that a different carrier and a different ring and pinion had to be used.

Dodge Cummins pickups from the "First Generation" that are not equipped with an overdrive transmission commonly have the 3.07:1 Dana 61 front axle because the higher gears are necessary to achieve reasonable road speeds at the low 2500 rpm governed speed of the Cummins engine in those pickups.

The Dana 61 was made in semi-float and full-float axles for select 4×2 and 4x4 Ford ​3⁄4-ton and 1 Ton Pickups and Vans from 1974 to 1987. A Dana 61 front axle was selectively used in Dodge 4×4 ​3⁄4-ton and 1 Ton pickups from 1987 to 1993. Although 3.07:1 and 3.31:1 gear sets are common for a Dana 61, lower gear sets deeper than (4.10:1 on down) are not.
Dana 61 external case is similar to Dana 60 HD in its use of dual ribbing: a reinforcement truss extends from the tube all the way around the differential case, in addition to raised cover flange. This is better than on Dana 60 “standard duty” where tube reinforcement extends diagonally to join with the cover flange.Some Dana 61s shared a common carrier with the Dana 60 part #706040x,[2] which means the gearsets (3.07-4.10) will interchange between the two. Dana differential case #706400[3] (3.07-3.73) shows in Dana's parts catalog to be Dana 61-specific[[i]citation needed]. The 706040x carrier can be purchased relatively inexpensively and used to install lower gears in a Dana 61 axle, such as when replacing a broken or damaged Dana 60 with a Dana 61 while retaining the factory gear ratio.

 

Thanks JSC83

Any of the long timers here ever had or put in a 61? It seems like this would be at least some of the solution for better fuel mileage and lower rpm's at todays hwy speeds. As any bump owner who has a FE knows, Over 70, is basically an exercise in beating the crap out of your engine (AND ACTUALLY BEING ABLE TO WATCH YOUR GAS GAUGE GO DOWN! ).