Hello:

just wanna say first time poster here. I am looking to make some serious mods to my 08 Jeep wrangler. The thing came with a D30 upfront, which is ok, but for my future plans it wont hold up. So I am on the hunt for a D60 front and rears. Now the rear is not a problem, my local junkyard has tons of em. But the D60 front is quite elusive. However I may have stumbled across a jewel, but I need help making sure its a jewel. I found a 1978 F250 Camper Special 4x4. I have a pic of the front diff, but I can't tell if its a 44 or a 60. I was wondering if you could help me out. The outer hub is just shy of 4inches. and I beleive its 8lug. I am praying this is a D60 cause the yard only wants 160 bucks or it. Well here it is.

 

It's a 44HD, if the axle tubes are less than 3" in diameter. Fairly stout anyways, I put many miles on the low pinion version, and have the high pinion version (same as that one) prepped and ready to go under the front of my 72 F100. I'm intending to run this with 38s, it should be fine under a Jeep.

 

Welcome to the site:

Lets see yo have a jeep and decided to post in a ford site to help identify a D60. Yeag thats cool, again welcome.
The important part to this axle identification via pictures is the knuckle. Notice whether or not you are looking at an open knuckle and whether or not it has ball joints or king pins. The axle you desire will have king pins. All other will take quite a bit of modification to throw under your Jeep.

Ok thats all good, but lets talk about your intentions here. Do you really need a rock magnet like a D60 in a jeep? How large of a tire do you plan on running? The D60 is huge and is not really the strongest option for your jeep.
Many many companies offer options that might actually be less of a pain than the 60.
Do you plan to run this full width? You gonna narrow it down? This again is gonna start becoming expensive and time consuming.
Do you plan on running the current coil spring set up? Gonna run long travel control arms?
There are many variables here to consider, and just throwing a D60 in the front and the rear realy needs to be considered.

Also know that the rear D60 is a 30 spline unit, and the D44 is too. Your strength is compromised by small axles in the D60 and you have to sacrifice ground clearance. This takes too much time to modify the spindle to accomodate a real 35 spline axle. Plus this full floater design may not be the hot ticket for a light weight jeep.

Man, if I was building a jeep of this era, I would strongly consider a 9 inch axle with large outer shafts for the front. Some 35 spline axles would be stronger than a D60 with far better ground clearance.
The same is true for the rear. The 9 inch actually has a better pinion to ring gear contact area, and far better pinion support.
Combine this with the fact that the aftermarket is littered with aftermarket 9 inch axles that already have brackets for your current suspension makes this an easy choice.

Wanna get wild and never break with a stock jeep engine?
Try the hi-9 axles and never look back. You will be upgrading transfer cases and using stroker small blocks far before you destroy one of these.
Money cant be too much of an object since you are butchering a fairly new jeep right?

 

Well the JK jeep (07 to present) has a 65.5 inch axle. I was considering the D60 for a few reasons. Right now is the strenght of the D60. Currie sells everything to take a yard axle and convert it to a bolt in for the JK. I have a buddy who is a machinest and can narrow my axle for free.

but the main reason is for future upgrades. right now the JK has a weak 3.8V6. I have all the parts for my biggest upgrade. can someone say HEMI . The stock D30 wont handle the torque from the V8. and eventually I want to be running around 40's or 44's.

 

That 9 inch configuration that I was talking about is still stronger than the 60.
Ring gear diameters are almost the same, but the gear ratio reguired for such tall tires will mean that the ring to pinion gear contact will be limited to only a couple of teeth.
I mean run a 60 if you like, but, this can get spendy if you intend to run it in such a nice vehicle. Most guys dont run 8 lug axles, so they machine the hubs to run either 6 lugs are the 5 on 5 pattern. Most wont run the rear 60 due to the small and weak axles.
Regardless, this is a cool build I appreciate your ability to perform this on such a late model vehicle.
Take a pic of the knuckle, or just take a pair of wrenches to the yard. 9/16 inch fastener on the diff cover will be a 60, 1/2 inch bolts on the diff cover will be a D44.
This era vehicle would have a king pin axle (sno-fighter package) if it is a D60, and if you see a ball joint, then you have found a high pinion D44.
Pretty simple really.

 

I thank you for the information. And providing another point of view. I have been the 4x4 for a small while, but still learning. But I think we all keep learning.

 

That never ends, I offer a different point of view. Sometimes it is not what others would do, and perhaps not what someone wants to hear, but at least it is food for thought. Cant have too much info you know?