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dana 61
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Freshman User
Joined: Dec 2001
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From: Green Bay
dana 61
I have a dana 61 rear axle with 4.11 gears and limited slip and I was wondering if this is stronger/weaker than a 60. I want to install this in place of my 9'' rear end. i run 38'' tires and want to beef up the rear. Any info would be helpful.
Senior User
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 193
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From: Western Slope, Colorado
dana 61
My 82 F-250 has a Dana 61 in it seems that they put these in camper specials. I had it rebuilt after a ring gear failure and put in a Detroit Locker, in my experience this is a very tough axle. I am running 4.10 gear and 35 inch BFG MTs. I know they have a different carrier than the Dana 60. I am not sure if it is stronger than the 60 but is definitely stronger than the 9 inch. Some one in the Transmission, Differential, Axle and Transfer Case forum may be able to give you more information on the Dana 61.
Wes
Wes
Senior User
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 499
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From: Michigan
dana 61
Somebody correct me if I am wrong.I think the Dana 61 is NOT a full floating rear end and has 8 lug bolt pattern and no protruding hub . It should be stronger than the 9 inch but, a Dana 60 full floater would be better due to the fact that it is a full floater and if you do break an axle shaft the wheel will not fall off the truck.
Senior User
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 193
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From: Western Slope, Colorado
dana 61
The Dana 61 does have full floating axles and the Hub does protrude about three inches. I pull the axle by removing bolts from the axle flange. The hub assembly and brake drum comes off after removing the very large retaining nut (with one of those special stamped metal sockets). It does have the 8 bolt pattern. When my ring & pinion went out I had the Detroit Locker put in and the paper work said Dana 61, the guy that put it together said it was the first Dana 61 that he had worked on. I have not rebuilt an axle and with the cost of the parts being so much it seemed worth paying him $150 to rebuild it, I thought this was cheep. The nice thing about a full floater is durability and load capacity, my truck is 8700 GWVR and its tare weight is about 6100 so I can put about 2600 lbs in the bed.
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Joined: Feb 2002
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From: Michigan
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Postmaster
Joined: Feb 2000
Posts: 2,759
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From: Auburn,Al
dana 61
the dana 61 was used in applications where a full floating axle was needed with gear ratio's below 3.54 , such an 3.07 etc. You are much mor limited in your gear selection with the 61, you must use a spacer on the ring gear to run a 4.10 gear, and for 4:56 i beleive detroit has a locker that you can use to run it, and some places can do some custom machining to make it work. They are often mistaken for the dana, as there is no noticable differencce on the outside.....you have to look for that little "61" stamped into the webbing for the chunk.
to answer the questions...they are the same strength as a 60...same ring gears and axle shafts (30 splines 1.3 inch diameter). There are some rare HD dana 60's that came with dana 70 shafts (1.5 inch 35 splines). these are very stong. the 30 spline 60's are really not that much stronger than a 31 spline 9 inch....shafts are basically the same size....just smaller ring gear and no full floating axles. Ok ill shut up now...i could go on for hours
to answer the questions...they are the same strength as a 60...same ring gears and axle shafts (30 splines 1.3 inch diameter). There are some rare HD dana 60's that came with dana 70 shafts (1.5 inch 35 splines). these are very stong. the 30 spline 60's are really not that much stronger than a 31 spline 9 inch....shafts are basically the same size....just smaller ring gear and no full floating axles. Ok ill shut up now...i could go on for hours
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Senior User
Joined: Mar 2001
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dana 61
I have an 82 f350 crewcab with the semifloating dana 60.It is 4wd and was an old air force truck.It is the original rearend but I have never seen one in a 1 ton before.Maybe the air force saved money this way as the truck also has NO options.
1st Gear
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Any info on bearing preload and torque procedure for Dana 61 rear? If it helps and it's a one axle nut system.
i ain't rite
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