Can't seam to find a 78-9 dana 60 front end in the NW for a fair price (like under $1500) to save my life so I've decided to retube a 92 balljoint 60 to fit my highboy. I've had the axle laying around for a while and it's in great shape and I found 78-9 dana 60 axleshafts and new joints for $100. I have a machine and welding shop, but haven't retubed an axle before. I will be shortening the long tube 3" and replacing the shortside tube with one 3" longer to get the right offset. After I mill out the center chunk to axle tube plug welds press out the tubes and press new ones in, Should I use anything special for the plug welds or will plain mig welding suffice? I have welded on many early dana 44 and 60 housings without issue, but I did have a 94 60 front housing crack on me while welding some bracketry for an early bronco install. The late model housings are considerably thinner than early axles and the iron doesn't seam to weld the same. Any input??? Thanks.

Dustin

 

Have you tried LMC Trucks? they have good stuff

 

I've never welded cast, but I think they preheat it to keep it from cracking, may be a different rod too.

 

This is a job far uglier than what you probably want to do. I've turned C's on the D60's and that's a nightmare in itself, let alone retubing. Not to say that it can't be done but I honestly don't think you want to bother. You need jigs to set the tubes proper, set the caster correct, etc. A lot of guys can't get the tubes back in without the help of a 40 ton press and then when they do get them in they're not perfectly straight which ends up ruining the tolerences on the housing, etc.

IMO, what I would do since you have all the equipment is just fab a set of widened front hangers for the truck and then fab shackle brackets that sit just outside the frame rails. You can easily do this in one day and then you'll be good to go with the axle you have. Otherwise you're looking at a LOT of work which could result in butchering a perfectly good D60 axle. Besides that, even if you got it all together you'd need new inner shafts which will run you another $150 or so.

If any of this doesn't make sense or you have questions just post up. I don't mean to shoot your idea down but I've worked with these axles and it turned out to be 10X the headache that I anticipated.

 

I had the spring perches offset before and made nothing but a ton of problems. I have already built the jigs and fixtures to hold the tubes and C's in alignment and I have a 40 ton press. Perfectly good dana 60's are very easy to find, it's just paying the cash to get one. Perfect, uncut 68-72 8500 GVW f-250 4x4 frames are near impossible to find in any shape. I already have the 78-79 inner axleshafts like I said in my first post. People retube axles ALL THE TIME. If Dana can build it in the first place I can unbuild it and make it my way. FYI, Offsetting the springs 3 inches a side is a nightmare. I've done it and have swapped frames to fix the mess that offsetting the hangers caused. Just trying to figure out what I should use to weld the plug welds back together. I have nickel welded plenty of cast iron, but nickel is not very tough and if the center housing is nodular cast iron its fine to weld with standard methods.

Dustin

 

So does that make you "aboveaveragef250"?

 

FYI, there are several guys on this forum who have offset the spring perches. It's a simple job next to the task of re-tubing an axle. I'm just a dumb backyard fabricator, nowhere near your skill level obviously, and I could fab widened perches and shackle brackets in less than 6 hours. I'll tell you that it took me almost 12 hours just to remove the C's on my D60. I learned a few tricks along the way that sped things up but it's still a very involved process. I've seen plenty of guys on Pirate scrap center housings and call Dyna-Trac to build it for them because they screwed up their re-tubing. I'm not saying it can't be done, I'm just not sure why you wouldn't widen the hangers and save the hassle.

If it helps, here's a good link on welding to center sections. I can't link directly to Pirate from here so click this link and then the link inside it: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...0&postcount=22

Also, make sure you check the case spread before you remove the carrier and after you remove it. Then remeasure after the tubes are installed. If you stretch or compress the case too much in the process of re-tubing then you may as well toss it in the trash. I don't remember the exact specs so you may want to check then in a Dana manual. I'd like to say .025 is the maximum stretch and beyond that will permanently deform the case to the point you'll have problems with your gears. Again, not 100% if that's the right figure, it's been a while since I did it but look it up and be sure not to stretch or compress beyond that while re-tubing.

Are you pulling the C's off the axle and putting them on the new tubes?

 

Not trying to say my way is the best here, but I've been fighting problems that were created from offsetting the spring hangers for the past 6 years And I'm done with the offset crap and can't say I'd recommend anyone else try it. Offsetting the hangers wasn't difficult, but overcoming the associated problems has been an uphill battle. My truck is a nice old work truck and gets worked very hard. It has just a wee 4" lift and 35" BFG's. To offset the springs 3" in the front was easy. I just built a new crossmember from 3/8" plate. The rear wasn't hard either, but for the rear I had to cut slots in the frame for the shackles to fit through. These slots weakened the frame and over the years the frame has begun to bow around this area. The front driveline has issues with the header collector. Also steering off the drag link does not work well. That's a ball joint axle problem, not a spring perch problem, but still an issue I'm going to fix.

I am pulling the passenger C off, shortening the tube and replacing the C. The driver tube will be completely removed. I have some 3.25 X .563" wall DOM I'm going to turn to 3.125 and bore the housing side for the axle seal to replace it.

I am holding off as I might be picking up a kingpin 60 tomorrow. Will still have to retube it, but will be far better than the ball joint axle.

 

The C's on these axles are cast steel, not iron so when it comes to welding them to the tube you don't need to do anything special. Check out this thread if you get a chance as it may assist you in removing/reinstalling the C's and possibly the drive's side tube too: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...d.php?t=358295 FWIW I don't recommend trying to press the tubes out of the C's. The sledge seems primative but I've seen pictures of a press shaft that shattered on a 40 or 50 ton press (don't remember precisely) trying to push the tube out. It's unbelievable how tight the press fit is on these. If you do press it just be careful that you're well clear of the danger zone. I'm not sure on the measurements but if you have enough room the best option is to cut the tube off at the edge of the C and then cut through the tube in 2 places with a sawzall. Then you can knock the remaining portion of the tube out with a hammer.

Good luck, keep us posted on the progress.

Btw, just a side note here but the best way to go for the shackles with an offset hanger is to just drill 4 7/16" - 1/2" holes and a custom bracket. It will be very similar to the shackle bracket for the rear axle. My personal preference would be to weld it to the frame but I understand that you don't want to do this. 4 small holes will not weaken the frame. Non-reinforced large holes certainly will though.

 

If I had a camera, I'd take pictures of the rear shackle mounts I built and how I reinforced the frame. You wouldn't think it would be weaker than stock, but it has managed to bend. I have had the front tires off the ground from tongue weight and hauled things I shouldn't have in the bed. I bought a 92 kingpin 60 today. Same year as the balljoint axle, but with kingpins and in better shape. Thought 91.5 was last kingpin front axle. Must have been a left over or someone swapped it in. I will update tomorrow.

 

Short tube came right out with the porta power. I turned the old weld and tube out of the C on my big lathe and pressed the new longer tube in with a little heat. Put the short tube and C in the freezer and put a little heat to the housing and the tube almost dropped in. Mig welded everything in place and good to go. The longside was the same. The only issue I have is the complete 60 housing is about a 1/2" to big to chuck in my 20" lathe. I wanted to face the longside tube end after I cut it on the bandsaw, but couldn't without pulling it out of the housing. Don't notice the saw marks with the axleshafts in anyway. Whole operation took about 4.5 hours from milling the plug welds to finished housing. Still need to assemble it, but going to hot tank sandblast and paint it first. Have to get a stubborn broken off trunnion cap bolt out as well.

 

what about a 05 front dana 60 ? are the tubes fixed or removables?
thanks