i have a full float dana 60. i was thinking that since it only takes a few minutes to pull an axle, is there any reason i wouldn't want to run a spool and 1 axle? was thinking could cut one off at the flange and put the flange on to seal it up. the truck sees almost no road time, this was just a thought for the occasional drives to the mud drags so im not scrubbing the tires bald.

 

R you talking about the rear axle? What are you hoping to accomplish?
Why would you want to take an axlle out, and why would you run a D60 rear shaft with a spool? You will break it in no time at all. Even if you remove an axle, you will still bust the shaft that you have left in.
Ever dirve with just one axle shaft? The truck pulls pretty hard. Not a great idea.
If you are gonna run a spool, run a spool, but be prepared, and dont try to take short cuts. You wont gain anything by removing an axle. Really.

 

When the left rear axle broke on my D60 I thought the trans was slipping cause the truck would barely move. Turned out it was the right rear was spinning way too easy with just the one axle and a locker. It was hard to take off from a stop sign and not have it spinning. It was kinda cool to be driving at about 30 mph and then floor it. It would smoke that one 38 inch ground hawg all the way down the road.

 

i think we missed something. my thought is to run a spool offroad, and most of the little time onroad in the rear. but, when i have to go 50 miles or more to some of the tracks around here, pull one of the axles and just put basically the bolt on cover in place(cut the actual axle shaft off so i have just that flange). it's not something that would be run constantly, only for the occasional long trip. i wouldnt be beating on it when i was driving with one shaft, just easily driving it while allowing both rear wheels to turn independantly of each other. i know running these things is a major compromise on the road, i just figured this might be something that would make the truck easier to control for the occasional drive to wherever.

 

Its actually harder to control. The truck will pull pretty hard to the side that no longer has an axle. I have driven my truck with a busted axle (spool in back) and it pulls hard under aceleration. This is not like running an open diff. The open diff send power to the wheel with the least amount of traction, and this provides a rather smooth transfer of power. The spool will provide power to both axles, and with one removed, all of the torque has to be applied to the only axle it has left.
Nobody missed anything. You are making this harder than it has to be. 50 miles or 100 miles, even more than that is not such a long drive. You are probably not makng turns the whole way anyway. Keep your tires inflated correctly, and the same from side to side, and driving a spool on the street is not so bad.
Pull one axle, and make a turn to the opposite direction, and the truck still fights to turn. Putting power to the oustide wheel is still tough on the axle. You wont scrub tires, but you will still bind the axle to a certain degree.
I have run spools in the street and it is not that tough on the components. You will actually make it harder on yourself to try to install an axle again once the hub has turned. You will have to lift the wheel in the air to install the axle again, or you will never get lucky enough to align the splines and the 8 retaining bolts after the hub has turned.
This will be a real pain.
The spool will be hardest on the small D60 30 spline rear axle though. The shafts will break in a hurry. Leaving some sort of "fuse" like an open diff helps the little shafts survive.
Poping these axles right at the splines is not so tought to do. Getting the spline section out of the carrier is a little tough though. Fortunately if you do use a spool, you can pull the opposite axle and use a rod or something to push the piece of axle shaft out.
Getting the busted piece out of the spindle is another story.
Lots of techniques for removal here. Thats a fun job.
Run a spool, and drive it, you will see that it is not all that bad if it sees limited street use. Once it breaks the axle though, you will see what I mean.

 

I run welded diffs, same as spooled. No problems on the street, actually I think it drives fine, goes straighter down the road, not as much "wandering" while cruising. Just a little aggrivating while driving around haripin turns in the mountains, alot of dragging ans scrubbing of the tires, just need to take it a little easier, esp when wet, its easy as heck to cut a donut on wet asphalt with a spool.

 

ok gotcha. im looking at upgrading my differentials in the spring and was just exploring my options. i was laso figuring that the 36s would have enough give in the sidewalls to flex some and absorb some of the turn. im probably looking at tossing a 14 bolt in and getting a minispool. right now im just brainstorming to see what would be best to do. the truck will see very limited use, and minimal road use. a locker would be nice, but if i can do both axles for the price of 1, with minimal consequences i will. thanks for the input from everyone. ive heard the dana 60 isnt very strong, but i figured since im running such a small tire id be safe. im only running a 36x14.50. 14 bolts are very easy to get around here. welding on spring mounts and stuff isnt an issue, im also thinking a later model spring would be better too. at this point im just trying to get an idea of the direction i want to go. thanks for the input.