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Another dorky Dana 60 question I have (plus a 14bff question)

colbystephens

colbystephens

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So I'm looking for an SRW Dana 60 right now. As I'm considering different potential axles, do I need to be cautious of the gearing that's in the axle? I am going to have 5.13s installed, and would rather not have to install a new carrier in addition to gears. Is the carrier from a Dodge 60 the same as the carrier from a Chevy 60? Seems they would be, Dana is dana is dana... maybe? Obviously all 60s aren't the same between manufacturers.

Also, I have a 14BFF w/ 4.10 gears and a Detroit. I'd like to have it regeared for 5.13s and I'm curious to know more about the thick vs. thin gears. WIll I need a new carrier in that axle?
 
Dana 60s come in 30 and 35 spline inners. Make sure they are the same. Not sure if the dodge carrier is any different, but the splines might be.

You can run the thick cut gear and your detroit on the carrier you currently have. I didn't even realize there was a thick cut gear, so I bought the "larger" carrier and gear for it lol. I would have saved some good money if I just went thick cut.
 
Ok, so I notice that the gear split for the carrier in a 60 is 4.10 and down versus 4.56 and up. Do they make a 5.13 gear that would fit a 4.10 and down carrier, or no?
 
for some reason they do not make a thick cut for a Dana 60 "smaller" carrier. Only in reverse rotation. I am in the same boat, but looking at getting a shim to run the "larger" gear in the "smaller" carrier. Seems nobody have a problem doing so. The 14b however has thick cut gears.

PS> I'm only doing the shim because my cousin has a nice 4.10 and down Detroit he would sell me for cheap. Add the shim and I'm still way less than a new "larger" detroit carrier.
 
haha! with more reading on the Dana 60 Bible I'm finding the answers to my own questions... sheesh. Looks like nobody makes thick gears for a standard cut 60, only reverse cut. Bummer. Would you be willing to offer a lower price to someone based on the fact that you're going to have to replace the carrier too, or...?
 
K85 Octane said:
for some reason they do not make a thick cut for a Dana 60 "smaller" carrier. Only in reverse rotation. I am in the same boat, but looking at getting a shim to run the "larger" gear in the "smaller" carrier. Seems nobody have a problem doing so. The 14b however has thick cut gears.

PS> I'm only doing the shim because my cousin has a nice 4.10 and down Detroit he would sell me for cheap. Add the shim and I'm still way less than a new "larger" detroit carrier.
Click to expand...


Wait, tell me about the shim.... :ears:
 
you can't have SweetK30's shim, he will prolly be selling that to me, since I already have a D60 :) The only difference (IIRC) in carrier "size" is where the ring gear mounts. The smaller carriers are a little thinner and set the ring gear closer to the center. A thick cut gear is needed when going to 4.56 and up, so the gear is pushed back towards the pinion gear. The pinion gear is also a different size I believe. The larger carriers are already thick where the ring gear sits.

Thick cut gears (IMO) are stronger than standard cut.
Larger carriers are (IMO) stronger than smaller ones.
So it's a toss up anyway

Check EBay under "dana 60 spacer or shim" and you will see a few

PS> I'm still just scratching the surface on this stuff, so hopefully there are no inaccuracies.
 
I just found that the Dana 60 Bible indicates a few vendors that sell just the carrier for about $170. I imagine all the bearings and goodies associated with it are transferrable between the carriers? $190ish if you get it with the spider gears installed.
 
I got mine with bearings on it (unknown condition) for $80 off EBay. I needed an install kit anyway. so those bearings aren't used.
 
colbystephens said:
Wait, tell me about the shim.... :ears:
Click to expand...

A ring gear spacer is NOT a good idea. The spacer moves the ring gear further away from the carrier that is supposed to center the gear and over the years i've seen many issues when a spacer was used. It would be best to either buy a new carrier for 4.56-up or find an axle that is already 4.56 geared then do your gear swap.
 
colbystephens said:
So I'm looking for an SRW Dana 60 right now. As I'm considering different potential axles, do I need to be cautious of the gearing that's in the axle? I am going to have 5.13s installed, and would rather not have to install a new carrier in addition to gears. Is the carrier from a Dodge 60 the same as the carrier from a Chevy 60? Seems they would be, Dana is dana is dana... maybe? Obviously all 60s aren't the same between manufacturers.

Also, I have a 14BFF w/ 4.10 gears and a Detroit. I'd like to have it regeared for 5.13s and I'm curious to know more about the thick vs. thin gears. WIll I need a new carrier in that axle?
Click to expand...

the carriers are the same between both 60's...

You have the same 14 bolt I found on c-list, 14bff 4.10 detroit. I wanted to have 5.38's, so I just got thick cut gears and a minimum install kit (no bearings) and swapped it in the existing 4.10 carrier. Bearings were in great shape already. It ended up being right around 300 iirc for gears and the install kit. Its got to have about 10k miles on it by now...
 
ryoken said:
ECGS sells the thick 5:13's to run on the 4:10 down carrier... Nitro's, it's what I'm buying....


http://eastcoastgearsupply.com/i-5831319-dana-60-5-13-thick-nitro.html
Click to expand...

Thanks for that link!!

onetonbb74 said:
the carriers are the same between both 60's...

You have the same 14 bolt I found on c-list, 14bff 4.10 detroit. I wanted to have 5.38's, so I just got thick cut gears and a minimum install kit (no bearings) and swapped it in the existing 4.10 carrier. Bearings were in great shape already. It ended up being right around 300 iirc for gears and the install kit. Its got to have about 10k miles on it by now...
Click to expand...

So what's it going to take to get you to come over here and install my gears... :wink1:
 
eh, just go 5:13.. it'll work perfect when ya up the tire size as we all like to do... :whistle: in the meantime it'll just be a bit snottier off the line... ;)
 
That's the first link I have ever seen to "thick cut" low pinion D60 gears. I always wondered why the aftermarket hadn't addressed this setup before.

Regarding the ring gear spacer on a D60, from my understanding the "step" is deep enough to where even with the spacer the ring gear still hits this step and is centered. The issue on other types of axles is that the step is smaller than the spacer and therefore the ring gear is not centered by the carrier and thus causes the problems described in a previous post.

Thick cut gears for the 14-bolt are very common (i.e. 5.13 gears that fit a 4.10 carrier, and from my research generally more available.
 
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