Ok so the past few weeks I've been looking everywhere for a dana 70 rear for my 73 f250 pickup. I found one out of town and on the phone I told him what to look for to see what size it was,confirmed it was a 70 and now the guy wants $450 because now he thinks he has a little gold mine after he did some reasearch on it. **** me off. Went to look at another dana 70 rear tonite out of a 92 dodge 2500hd deisel truck with disc brakes for $500. When I got to the guys house there sat on the floor of his shop a HUGE rear end! I immediatley flipped it over and on the back near the fin was stamped a large 80. Axle tube diameter was at least 4- 4 1/2 diameter. Rear yolk was massive looked like for a 1410 ujoint. Took a measurement of mounting surface for rim side to side and it measured 72 1/2 wide. Ok so heres my dilema. Spring perches arn't a problem I'll tilt diff up and reweld anyway but diff seems wide. Axle is definetly a single rear wheel axle but my measurement for my d60 is ballbark 68"s (measured with wheels on in the dark) So has anyone used one of these diffs before and can I just get offset wheels so my tires are more inwards about 2 inches and does a ford wheel fit dodge. The other thing is I reasearched d80'd tonite and supposivley only 2001-04 dodges have disc brakes with E brake and only 94 and up dodges ever had a 80 so I'm thinking the rear end is way newer than the 92 truck. He did tell my it was owned by a heavy duty company of some sort so maybe they swapped it out. O and I kept it a secret that it was a 80

 

You can probably find a sterling 10.25 for a lot cheaper and still be a good bit stronger than the d60 rear.

Don't know anything about dana80's though.

 

From what I researched not too many do know much about these rear ends. Dana 70 rears have a 10.5" ring gear and dana 80 has a 11.25". Pinion is much larger as well. I want a rear end I can spin 44 swampers on bare pavement with no worries. With my custom 1 ton cv driveshaft I just had built it would be indestructible!!!! I'm almost possitive this thing will have a power locker in it as well I didn't want to open the pot in fear he would just want more for the axle when he saw it.

 

80s are beefy, but what is the gearing/parts availibility for them?

A D60 or a Ford 10.25/10.5 has a lot of options out there, gear and shaft wise.

 

Weakest to Strongest Axles - Jp MagazineCheck out this link it says 80s are even stronger than a rockwell and the availability is good for gears and lockers. The axle is 3:54 so those would have to go!

 

Hey, if you can get gears for it, do it. A Ford 10.25 is only cheaper if you can actually find one.

And I didn't read good enough, I thought you were stepping up to a D60 for some dam reason.... i'm retarded

 

Sterlings sure are a big ugly lookig diff! lol. I'd much rather have a 70 they're rated really well for strength so is a corporate 14 bolt but who wants a bowtie diff out back. I'd rather have at least a dana even if its from a dodge.

 

Change of plans! looked into diff a bit more and the width is the issue. My d60 measures 67 1/2 "s wide for a total of the 80 being 5 inches wider. My tires already stick out enough as it is and custom wheels just don't sound like an option after looking into it. I'm going to have to find something narrower. So now does anyone know what year/make trucks have dana 70 rears with a width of 67"s. I've been searching into early 80's ford f350's but are these going to be the same for width.

 

I think the dodges are in that ballpark. I would have to go measure mine. Also, fellow user "scottfreeman" put one out of a 91 cummins dodge into his bumpside.

 

No way a 14 bolt is stronger than a Rockwell. If that were true every mud rig with 5 foot tractor tires would be runnin them instead of rockwells.

 

thats in stock form, stock rocks are not very strong actually, but as it says they can be built up stronger than the dana 80....

 

The biggest thing that is over looked is the reciprocating mass. Parasitic loses are never taken into consideration. Losses in efficient pruction of power is in many case overkill. Weight and clearance has to become a factor at some point.
How many times is the ring or the pinion broken? Next to none right? At least it is a very small percentage. How much more horsepower does it take to turn the larger ring gear, and how much of a sacrifice does a larger ring gear give up in ground clearance?
Bigger is stronger, but this is not always better.

Dollar for dollar, the corp 14 bolt has the advantage! With the added pinion support and ease of gear set-up, the 14 bolt is very hard to beat.
Super strong, super stout, and a tough axle.

 

I definetley agree. 14 bolts are mean but 70's are said to be just a little better. 14 bolts do have the advantage of the gear setup for sure. By the way looks like I got a d70 lined up for tomorow from a 81 f350 2wd truck that will be free!!! My girlfriends dad is looking for a truck and I found him one for $300 but I told him I want the rear end in return I'll fix the electrical problems like blinkers and headlights and then just swap in my 60. I'll see how this goes maybe the thing is 4:10 gearing and has a powerlocker!! prob. not though. I bet its open and 3:54 lol.

 

I dont know where the D70 has any advantage. Yup, cant think of a single one.
depending on which D70 you have, it may have a few dis-advantages. Not all 70's were created equal.
I have been busting stock D70 shafts on a fairly regular basis.
Image of Broken 35 spline axle - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting
This occurance required me to purchase chro-mo shafts. So far no problems, but my larger truck with a stock 14B has not even thought about failing.
So far the 14B has been far superior and more reliable. Parts were way less expensive too.

 

hmmm interesting. But don't they share same axle diameter 1.5"s. 14 bolts are 30 spline as well too. Everywhere I read dana 70's seem to have the advantage. Also my 1350 forged yolk I just bought for my 60 will bolt right onto a 70 when I get it for my new 1 ton driveshaft I just had built.