D60 vs. 14 bolt FF

[firefighter184]

I'm looking at the two. 60 has mucho more ground clearance and weighs about 200 pounds less. For somebody who plans on 35s or MAYBE 37s at max, I'm thinking the 60 is a better deal. This is figuring on similar pricing. 60 rears just dont get what the 60 fronts do for $$$. What do you guys say?

 

[Leper]

Lower gears availiable on the 60, but 14FF are everywhere. 14ff average cost 150.00. D60 cost, I don't know. Lots of spares for the 14FF in most yards.

 

[stockk5]

i have a 60 rear.. the perches and shock mounts have to be moved... but i havent put it in my truck yet.. there is some guy on here w/ a truggy style truck runnin a 60 rear w/ 37's and it seems like hes serious on the rocks and he says he hasnt had problems at all, i say go for it.

 

[jekbrown]

ff14b is cheaper... you can shave it.. they are common as hell... tend to come with decent gears (4.10 / 4.56).. they are stronger and detroits are dirt cheap for them. Other than that, go 60.

j

 

[atho]

I have a D60FF under the rear of my GMC (stock). It seems like a decent axle, has carried tons of stuff and has been way overloaded many times. 3.73's and open diff.

I am swapping it out because it is just too expensive to regear and Detroit than a 14 bolt (or Eaton, which is the route I am taking, but it is very similar to the 14b). That and I bought an Eaton with a Detroit for $100.

 

[Leper]

BTW...14 is stronger. I have only heard of two 14 FF axles breaking in all my time on the internet. I have seen more broken 60 axles than that.

 

[bigjbear]

The 14 is uber strong but its also huge. Rear 60s are as cheep as the 14, just look in Fords and Dodges. The Dodge is cool if you plan to inboard the shocks, because they come that way stock. For 37s I wouldn't bother w/ a 14, I know they suck w/ 35s if you plan on wheeling.

As far as modifications. People bitch about the moving the the mounts but you have to do that w/ 1/2 the 14s anyway. More choices for the 60, but the 14 is gaining ground. The only draw back is the course spline count many 60s came with. If you're looing at SF60s and not just FF60s, broaden your search to the SF14. Be prepared to spend more money upgrading a 60.

 

[sled_dog]

60s are easy to upgrade and not bad cost wise. 35 spline shafts and a spool will set you back a few hundred dollars. Sure a 14 bolt has nice 30 splines and a good carrier to start, but the gained ground clearance is a nice feature on the 60. I've often considered going with one. Only reason I haven't is I already have all the stuff for my 14 bolt.

 

[mrk5]

I kinda like the sounds of a D60 rear, but I haven't researched them much.

If you do a 14b, I say shave that sucka first.

 

[muddybuddy]

a d60 detroit is like $550, i bought my 14b detroit for $379

 

[CyberSniper]

A 30 spline D50 is just as strong as a ... 12 bolt. Same shaft size.

If you find a D60HD with the large spindles... itching for 35 spline shafts... or one that came with 35 spline shafts... then yeah, I'd go for it. But if all you find is a regular D60 with the little spindles and the 30 spline shafts I'd stay away from it.

 

[6.2Blazer]

I have a good real world experience................

I have a 14FF in the back of my Blazer with the standard minor shave job (bottom lip ground smooth with the rest of the housing). A buddy in our club ran a 60FF in the back of his fullsize truck. We both had the exact same tires.

We ran the same trails quite a bit and I don't ever remember a time where the little bit of extra clearance the 60 had made a difference.

With that said the other guy finally ditched the 60 and swapped in a 70 because of strength concerns with the 60. As mentioned, most rear Dana 60's came with the smaller 16 or 30-spline rear shafts and will not easily accept the bigger 35-spline stuff without machining out the spindles.