im wondering what the difference is between a HP axle and a LP axle? im working on my 1978 f250 project and trying to put d60's front and rear and im just wondering whats the difference and which is better? its going to be mostly a wheeling truck. and which year are the best for Dana 60's? thanks ahead of time for any help.

 

Here is a link so you can identify the axle for the front:
Mr.N's Dana Article

The most desireable is the 78/9 D60F high pinion axle. The pinion will contact the ring gear above the axle center line thus making the ring gear a reverse spiral or reverse cut pattern. This configuration makes this area much stronger than others that contact even, or slightly lower than the axle center line. Early fords were low pinion (up to 76)

You may reconsider the use of a D60 rear unless you modify the spindles to accomodate the larger 1.5" axles. The stock dana 60 rear axle uses a small 30 spline axle shaft, and is considered weak. Front and rear D60's are not the same. You may consider a different 1 ton rear axle for ultimate strength.

 

Well I am no expert, But I was under the impression that HP axles were nice as they keep your U-joint and yolk out of the way when wheeling, also it lessens the shaft angle into the dif.

That and you can get away with a little more lift without having to lengthen the drive shafts?

I am probably wrong on all accounts though. SO if I am I will at least learn something.

 

ok thamks for the link. and for a rear axle im no expert but how much better would a d70 be than ad60? betweeen groung clearance and gears etc?

 

If you're going to do a lot of wheeling I'd stay away from the LP D60 because they have small shafts and external locking hubs (same as D44). Ask me how I know. I've broken plenty of them. The short shaft is easy to find since you can use one from a D44, but the long one is different and not nearly as common. The HP's are much stronger with 35 spline axles in internal hubs, but only used in 78-79. Later ones aren't a direct swap because of the different framerail spacing. The 78-79 versions are getting hadrder to find. I had one shipped to CA from CO and it cost me $1400 exchange. It was complete rotor to rotor but used ot rebuilt. However, when I was looking I seem to remember your area having a lot to offer. Having run both in the same truck I can definately say the HP is much better in terms of strengh, pinion/U-joint, angle and clearance.

 

Don S. You are correct, the higher pinion does offer additional ground clearance and can help with pinion angle, but these are truly secondary. Strength has got to be higher on the priority list that some angle issues. This could be a windfall issue, but when it all adds up, the HP becomes that much more desireable.

As far as the rear axle is concerned, the D70 is desireable, because it is larger, stronger and will have 35 spline shafts. These 1.5" shafts are pretty stout, but I seem to still break these.
Not all D70's were the same, and not all had 35 spline shafts. There were some odd ball shafts out there.
I use GM's 14 bolt rear axle in many of my rigs, and have yet to break a stock shaft. Alright, I did break one, but I know of no shaft that would have taken that abuse.
These may only use 30 spline shafts, but the minor dimension is huge, and rivals anything dana has to offer. This rear axle does also have an offset to the pinion much like a 9" ford, and has a shorter pinion than anything dana in the same size category. This too helps with d-shaft angles. The added pinion support makes this a bomb proof axle, and these are super cheap to buy, build and upgrade. Compare Detroit lockers prices, and even disc brake swaps, and you can almost built two 14b's for the price of one D70.

 

haha well thats kinda of what i wanted to hear. because after leaving my college classes today i visited 3 junk yards and found atleast a dozen dana front 4X4 axles a and another dozen dana rear axles and for sure one rear dana 70. im not sure of exactly what each axle was and definetly not sure of the gears they had. in them. so i have two questions. 1) if i buy a dana axle and want to switch gears for something like a 4.56 or 4.88 how much does it usually cost per axle and how much does it cost to put in power-loc in both axles also? i guess i have 3 questoins but how easy is it to bolt up a 14 bolt axle to a 1978 ford, is the conversion easy? thanks for the help always greatly appreciated.

 

Yeah I wasn't aware of the strenght difference, stuff like this is good to know, cause I a little, about enough to be dangerous. So I am just taking in the info.