I recently picked up a '78 F250 "Sno Fighter" with Dana 60s F/R and plan to swap them into my '96 Bronco. My question is regarding the VSS (vehicle speed sensor) in the existing 8.8" rear (I don't really care about the ABS unless that too will mess up the Bronco).
Is there an aftermarket speedo that can work without the VSS in the rear? If not, should I look for a full floating 10.25" or 10.5" Ford axle? If so, which years had the VSS in them?
Any help would be appreciated.
--LR.
'96 Bronco, 351, 6" Superlift, 36" Swampers, 4.10s, Detroits F/R

 

I am new here so this could be wrong but from what I read the EDO4 tranny needs to have input from the VSS to work properly. Not sure what the solution is but this could be a big problem.

Sorry if this is incorrect

Tim

 

Yeah.................your '96 is really gonna want to see that VSS. A 10.25 would be the easy way... any 10.25 from '87-97 should work.

Otherwise there are ways to do external VSS's but I'm not familiar with them.

Talk to Kurt Hartsig, he did this on his '86, but he was using a '96 motor and ECM, search around 2bigbroncos.org. He fitted a VSS to his D60 rear but told me it works marginally.

Come to think of it, neither of those axles are gonna work all that great for you, unless you're gonna run front coils. If you're gonna run leafs, you'd be way ahead to get an '86+ D60 front.

Honestly, I think you should consider selling or trading those and getting a 10.25 rear and newer D60 front.

 

Woooo glad I was correct...my first bit of helpful info!

Tim

 

You go Tim!!
Hang around here long enough you will start to think you actually no more than you do! At least that is how it works for me.

 

Tim

 

i might be wrong on this, but i don't think i am. As far as i know 78 f-250's have either a dana 44 in the front or a Dann 44 Heavy duty, but not a dana 60.my 77 had a dana 44. The high boys had dana 44's HD. I could be wrong. maybe in 79 they had a 60, but then again. I could be wrong.

 

You were right about one thing

Notice the original poster said "Snofighter" package. Those did receive D60 fronts.

 

Once I thought I was wrong but I was mistaken.

 

If you end up deciding that you are going to sell I may be interested in buying the complete axles(depending on where you live).

 

like i said i might be wrong. I've never heard of a Snofighter, what is this vehicle, any one got some pictures? I apologize for being incorrect, but hey like i said. I might be wrong.

 

I swapped a '92 10.25 for my 8.8 about 4 years ago. I haven't had any problems at all with shifting or the VSS. Just make sure you plug in the electrical connector on the top of the pumpkin.'

I would echo earlier recommendations for you to find a 10.25 for the rear. It is a bigger, beefier ring gear than the D60, and full-floating 35 spline axles are really tough. I think the D60 will probably have a little bit better ground clearance at the diff, but its negligible. Besides, the 10.25 is like a wrecking ball, I've smashed it aplenty, and it's still ticking.

I've got more on the 10.25 - see the next post....

 

Here you go, 10.25 part II...

There are numerous reports and complaints regarding the hub oil seals on the 10.25, and I have had some of these problems. This is a big deal with a full floating axle, b/c when that seal fails, you get gear oil in your brakes, wheel, wheel well, etc.

For me, it turned out that the inner rim of the inner seal had failed simultaneously on both sides. It completely separated from the rest of the seal body, so it looked like a metal ring around the spindle. When I went in to replace the seal (after SMELLING the leak ), I didn't notice that extra metal ring, because there was one on BOTH sides (remember the simultaneous failure!). So I pressed the new seal on over that damn piece of metal that I should have pulled off. Of course, it cut the seal and that one leaked, too. I replaced the seals 4x over 5000 miles before I finally got angry enough to figure it out. I should say that I took it to a RENOWNED axle shop here in So. Cal, and they didn't find the old seal ring either. They wanted to charge me $500 to press on new spindles. Now, the whole thing seals up beautifully.

You should be able to pick up a 10.25 for $350-400 and I KNOW you can sell that D60 for that much!

Oh yeah, and the ARB for the 10.25 is a great unit, too.

sorry for the long one, I got excited.

 

Never seen that but good info. I've had good luck so far with the Chicago Rawhide seals, they're about $40 each but seem to work better than less expensive seals.

So how many times did you forget that the driver's side spindle is reverse thread?? LOL I think I forget every time....

 

Funny you ask, honney... I finally got a white paint pen and wrote "RH" real big on the drivers side lock nut!!! You know, you figure out it goes the "wrong" way real quick, but don't you feel like a dummy when you start the other way EVERY TIME!!