Front Dana 60 conversion
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Front Dana 60 conversion
I have 73 F-250 standard cab long box pickup with a Dana 70 rear and I want to put in a 60 in the front. They are pretty expensive and the 77 1/2-79 is a direct bolt in but I was wondering if a 60 form a an '80's-mid 90's leaf sprung truck would be a feasable conversion. What are the spring center pin to center pin measurement of both? What is the wheel mounting surface to wheel mounting surface of both? I can seem to find the newer ones cheaper than the older ones and theres more of them. Is a good idea to do this or not? I am doing a four link suspension with coilovers on the front. any help would be appreciated.
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From: wyoming
On the 90's they are a little wider than your 77 ford rear. I run front with 4 link and front is about 2" wider than 85 dana 70 rear. On the frt 60 compared to 70's highpinion 60 the pumpkin is moved further to left compared to older truck. this will help on driveshaft clearance issues near oilpan with newer 60. Did not know this until I did mine. i run L@L headers also. which created a problem also on link system. My truck has air bags up front. I have about 9" of lift on truck with suspension. The biggest problem was building my trac arm bar to axle to fame and getting it as level as I could. I've been running about 6 or 7 yrs now and works great. I used QA design end links 1" and 1" fine threads. I run on 40" hawgs and has 14.5" travel at bags when in bypass. Drop me a note if any questions. I had to build everything from scratch and worked out great.
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Forgot to mention on the wider axle up front it helps with turning in tighter circle or in tight spots. my tires rub on header a little with 17" wide hawgs but with skinny tire like 38.5x11" bogger it turns on a dime. People cannot believe how well it does for a big truck. It surprizes most people and I have a bigblock up front also. swinched front/rear.
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Forgot to mention on the wider axle up front it helps with turning in tighter circle or in tight spots. my tires rub on header a little with 17" wide hawgs but with skinny tire like 38.5x11" bogger it turns on a dime. People cannot believe how well it does for a big truck. It surprizes most people and I have a bigblock up front also. swinched front/rear.
Lead Driver
Joined: May 2007
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From: Costa Mesa, CA
I have 73 F-250 standard cab long box pickup with a Dana 70 rear and I want to put in a 60 in the front. They are pretty expensive and the 77 1/2-79 is a direct bolt in but I was wondering if a 60 form a an '80's-mid 90's leaf sprung truck would be a feasable conversion. What are the spring center pin to center pin measurement of both? What is the wheel mounting surface to wheel mounting surface of both? I can seem to find the newer ones cheaper than the older ones and theres more of them. Is a good idea to do this or not? I am doing a four link suspension with coilovers on the front. any help would be appreciated.
.Not to get
here, but are you doing a parallel 4 link with a traction bar, or a triangulated 4 link? I have a buddy who is building a 69 bronco for a customer and the track bar moved the axle 5" sideways at full droop
5" seems like a lot to me (and him as well), so he is changing to a triangulated 4 link (really a 3 link) and it looks like he can loose the track bar
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Just as a note, the later axles do not have tappered inner shafts, and are considered to be stronger than the more desireable 78/9 front axle.
You do have to watch the compound angle that the front d-shaft will be working at.
This becomes important if you plan on using giant joints like a 1410 or 1480 joint(s).
You do have to watch the compound angle that the front d-shaft will be working at.
This becomes important if you plan on using giant joints like a 1410 or 1480 joint(s).
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Fleet Mechanic
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another problem I ran into...the post 1980 dana 60's are about 2" further to the driver's side to line up with the newer BW1356 and BW1345. You will notice a small difference when mounting from your NP205 or NP203.
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From: Costa Mesa, CA
Worse case scenario you have to nodify the driveshaft.
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Dont worry about redundance, all info is appreciated. as far as a gallery i am buying my first house soon and everything is in a storage unit and my trucks are at my grandparents with no front clip, and no drivetrain and a crap load of **** in the back so when i get the truck to my house in the garage i will get pictures after i get a digital camera(you know young and poor). So a wider axle will turn tighter? I thought it had to do with the degree of Caster? I'm not sure, does anyone have the skinny on this. I would like to make the axle turn as sharp as possible and I know old trucks dont do this very well, how do I fix this on the 60 axle?
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From: wyoming
the 60 will turn but ususally the tire is the issue. Another thing to work into situation is lower link if possible have a bend in it because mine does run some when turning hard. When turning hard need to check u-joint clearance so it won't bind. Spray with black spray paint or something and turn hard and see if paint will rub off when turning on jackstands. Look closely on u-joint bind because once you find your binding point you can set your stops to protect axles. Something else you can work on later after you do build up.
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From: wyoming
My truck is a modified parallel system. I think the 3 link system would be simpler. but If you do my system outside headers will be a issue on up travel. Also on driveshaft splines mine only moves 3/4" total with 14" of suspension travel. On photos gonna have to dig up photo's because I did this one several yrs ago. gonna build me a shop next year in my new home and do a dodge for a good friend of mine. Was looking into a 3 link system for him and air bags because he hauls snowmobile trailer. Adjustable ride height is nice.
Lead Driver
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From: Costa Mesa, CA
Didn't mean to come off as being harsh - so sorry if it sounded that way. I just often see people re-posting info that was 2 replies up because they were too lazy to read and it gets annoying.
Adjustable ride height would be nice! As for the link setup - it seems ANY link setup would be difficult with the long tube headers that go over/outside the frame rails
My truck is a modified parallel system. I think the 3 link system would be simpler. but If you do my system outside headers will be a issue on up travel. Also on driveshaft splines mine only moves 3/4" total with 14" of suspension travel. On photos gonna have to dig up photo's because I did this one several yrs ago. gonna build me a shop next year in my new home and do a dodge for a good friend of mine. Was looking into a 3 link system for him and air bags because he hauls snowmobile trailer. Adjustable ride height is nice.
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