Hi, I have been looking for a front Dana 60 to swap into my pickup. But I have a question about the steering knucke. Is it different between an axle for a dual rear wheel and single rear wheel or is it just the hubs? The track is obviously wider on a dually, but if I just needed different hubs and maybe spindles, it would open up a little in the search. Thanks for you help, it is much appreciated. Ryan

 

Welcome to FTE. What are the year and model of the truck you want to swap the axle into? There are differences in the framerail spacing between some models that limit straight across swaps.

 

Fordworth is correct, you will not find a 78/9 dana 60 front axle that is a dual wheel axle.
This 78/9 front axle is the only bolt in axle. Later D60's use a wider spring perch spacing than the 73 to 79 truck. Using a later axle is difficult to do without moving the springs outboard of the frame.

Converting a DRW front axle and using SRW hubs and hardware is not a difficult swap, but there are other variables that can make this a swap that requires more work than meets the eye.

 

I'm planning a solid axle swap for my 3/4 ton chevy after screwing up the ifs for the gazzilionth time about a month ago. I guess I'm not really sure which year axle I need. Thanks for your help, Ryan

 

Also because of your frame width you will need the 78/9 solid front axle. Just like everyone else, you need the most desirable and the most expensive D60F available.
This is what creates the demand and drives up the price of the axle sooooo much.

 

I'm a little confused. This forum is specifically about 73 to 79 Ford trucks. You're not going to find anything about converting IFS Chevys to solid here. I guess that explains your avatar. Maybe try pirate4x4.com or coloradok5.com. You could probably find some info there.

 

Thanks for the other sites to look for some more info. I guess at this point I was looking for specific information on the axle, and I figured nobody is going to know Ford truck parts better than the people who work on them and love them. But your right for the conversion, I would probably need help elsewhere, unless I find a 7.3 for a good price, then I may be back. Thanks again, Ryan

 

According to some info that I looked up the later axle can be accomodated with many chebby conversions. Looks like ORU has one that can accomodate the 36" wide spring perches so you can run the later D60F.
Now you just need to find one, and you have a DRW front axle.
Well these axles are almost identical, and you can change the hub, rotor and lockout and convert this to a SRW type axle. Now this axle will still be slightly wider than the standard SRW axle, but this is minimal.
It has been recommended to not interchange the DRW and SRW stuff, and the overall width is actually wider on the DRW axle.
I dunno, but this is what I am passing along. I see this as a rather expensive alternative to finding the correct axle. I mean buying all of the correct parts might put you over the cost of a SRW axle in the first place.
Unless you are getting a smoking deal on dually axle, then you may keep on looking.

Other wise just watch out for the ball joint axle, as these require a complete knuckle assembly to accomodate any type of crossover steering.

Hope this answeres your questions. The statement that the 78/9 axle never being available in a DRW configuration is correct. Thats probably why you did not recieve too many bites here.

 

So what front axle would a dually have come with? I found one for $100, and I'm sure I could scrounge parts togeather to put it to a srw. Or does this guy not know what he has. The ad just says 78 ford front axle and he replied it was for a dually, but never said if it was a 60. Is it maybe for a different year truck than he thinks or is it something completely different? Thanks again, Ryan

 

Yeah Ryan, the guy is mistaken, but probably only on the year. It has to be for a different year. This era truck was never offered in a DRW configuration / 4wd.
In order to verify which D60 that you may have you will have to verify the spring perch spacing. The 78/9 front axle will have a 31 inch spacing. Really a 31.5" but for the sake of verification the 31 inch measurement is fine.
Later axles (anything later) will have a 36 inch spring perch spacing.
We could get into the driver side axle tube length and stuff like that but this spring perch spacing is reliable.
Ok, so you will be looking for a 36" spring perch spacing, and you probaby want a king pin design. This will have a 4 bolts or studs on top of each knuckle. Should look like this:




Later model axles (after 92) will have gone to the ball joint type.

The DRW axle is only available as a D60F so you should not have problems there.
You will spend about 450 bucks, maybe more to convert, unless you are a savy machinist. If you are, you can remove the adapters and machine the hub itself as well as re-drill some new holes for the press in wheel studs.

The 100 bucks sounds nice, but you will have to make sure that the solid axle swap kit that you purchase does indeed work with an axle with this spring perch spacing.
SInce the perch on the driver side is cast into the diff housing itself, it cant be moved in. You can add some material to make the spacing wider, but not narrow.
Keep this in mind.

You should also keep in mind that Super Duty front axles were out there, and these had similar dimensions, but used a unit bearing design that is not al that popular. WMS dimensions are plenty different.
These are also ball joint axles, so this might be something to at least inquire about.

If you can post a pic, I can try to help with identification. I see many D60F axles, and have gotten pretty good at spotting the visual differences.

Here is an example of a late style ball joint axle. This has a pretty short driver side tube and 36" spring perch spacing:

 

Well, I emailed the guy and asked for the measurements and a couple pics, and it turns out he has a rear axle. I looked at the ad again, and sure enough, it just says axle, I guess I should learn to read a little closer. But I will defenetly keep in mind what you have told me in my search, and thank you again for your help. It is greatly appreciated, I have no blue oval friends to rely on for help, so your advice will help a lot. Thanks again, Ryan.

 

I guess we can let you slide on that. I'll admit I actually have some Chebbie friends. I suppose you have some Ford friends now. BTW, not being well versed on Chevys I'm guessing they moved the diff to the driver side on the IFS trucks and that's why you're looking for Ford info. Is that correct?

 

This is correct. Driver side drop transfer case. Go figure huh? As if we did not have a difficult enough time finding front axles for our own trucks, the Heep, and Chebby guys want them too.

 

Don't forget the Dodge boys. I have a friend with a 90's Dodge with a Holy Grail 78/9 HP D60 under it with leaves and real selectable hubs. Everyone wants to be like us cuz we rock.

 

Ahhhh the ford D60F. Everyone wants one. Ohhh, I just picked up another one too......excitement.
Always looking.........