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Dana 60 from back to front...

L

linksvu

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Littleton, Colorado
Has anyone ever heard of/done converted a rear Dana 60 to a front axle. I understand it would have to be narrowed and the brakes welded on, but I will soon have an older Dana 60 once this truck dies and I sure could use it up front and keep the 14FF in the back...

Any thoughts....
 
Its been done. One of the 4x4 rags did a series of articles on it when one of the staffers decided to do this by himself. IIRC the parts breakdown was as much as just buying one already built. You need a lot of stuff to do it. inner/outer shafts, knuckles, spindles, calipers/brackets, rotor hub assy. and then some sort of steering set up
 
Got a 14ff that I like...I am trying to get rid of the ifs in the K2500 Suburban and was hoping a could convert the rear 60 to a front.... no such luck
 
you could maybe trade it for a d44 front and get yourself set up w/ a sfa and then sometime down the line when you've got the cash you could swap to a 60. it would keep it an authentic 2500 too. ;)
 
Do you think a d44 up front would be tough enough to match the 14ff and 35's? I am just not sure. And if I am going for the sfa, I thought I might as well just go all the way...as much as I can anyway.
 
imo, a stock d44 (if the diff stays open) is fine for 35's.
you can spend the money - that would've been spent on a D60- on better shafts/u-joints if you want to run a full spool without worrying about breaking stuff. however, regarding the above, I'm just regurgitating info that I've read throughout the years.

personally, I didn't start having problems until I went to 38's on my old open 10b, which has the same shaft size/ujoint as a D44.
 
i'm gonna go with a '44 or 10 bolt on mine. 35-37" tires are the plan, and 6-9" of lift. with 35s, you shouldnt have much problem. 36s or 37s are pushing it pretty hard.
 
Really what you would want to do would be to drill out the plug welds and press out the tubes. Then re tube it to what ever offset you want and use an A/M inner and outer knuckle or I have seen outers sell on ebay for a reasonable price. Depending on how you measured you could use stock shafts.

The axle tube is fairly expensive though....I imagine it would cost more then buying a front D60
 
You would need all the 8 lug components from the brake backin gplate to the hubs. I believe the spindles are interchangeable though.

I sold a complete set that had been sandblasted and painted on here a few years ago for $100 or so, IIRC...
 
linksvu said:
What is the difficulty/cost level of changing the d44 over to an 8 bolt to match the bolt pattern of the 14ff?
Click to expand...

it would be easier to just get a 44 from a 3/4 ton burb or truck w/ the same gear ratio as what you currently have in your 14bff. or, you could pick up a set of 3/4 ton running gear and then sell your current 14bolt (as 3/4 ton gear is a d44 or 10 bolt front and a 14bff rear). i believe that the spring perches will need to be moved to mount up to your newer style frame.
 
Well that wouldn't be that bad, as long as the d44 can hold the 35's I plan and a detriot.... I was just hoping to stick with as strong as possible.

FYI I read today that Dana filed for chapter 13....no fun
 
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