Dana 60 front & 14 bolt question

[78Buford]

Hi guys. A couple days ago I bought a 14 bolt rear and a D60 Chevy front axle. I bought them for a decent price with the intent to resell them. The front D60 has automatic hubs. The axles supposedly came out of a 1987 1 ton (obviously). Were auto hubs very common?

I do not know the gear ratio. I'm familiar with Fords using tags on the diff covers. I know I can count the pinion rotations to figure out the gear ratio if I have to.

My questions:

1. Were auto hubs very common? Were they only available certain years?

2. Is there a simple way to tell if the 14 bolt has a gov-lok or if it is open without pulling the diff cover?

3. Did GM use any sort of tags for gear ratio's like Ford did?

Thanks for any advice,
Roy

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

1. Were auto hubs very common? Were they only available certain years?

I've never heard of auto hubs on a D60, but they were common on 10 bolts. Are you 100% positive its a D60?

Its certainly possible that it is a D60 with auto hubs, I've just never heard of it.

2. Is there a simple way to tell if the 14 bolt has a gov-lok or if it is open without pulling the diff cover?

Nope, you have to pull the cover to know for sure.

3. Did GM use any sort of tags for gear ratio's like Ford did?

Yes they did, but its still no guarantee on what's actually inside the diff.

 

[78Buford]

It is a D60, it has kingpins. Here is my ad (only picture I have at the moment): http://columbus.craigslist.org/pts/813576048.html

This picture may show up slightly larger...it is the same one:

I know that some 1990's model Ford's used auto hubs on their front D60's. I (like you) did not know that Chevy used them.

Thanks,
Roy

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

^^ Good deal for someone in OH

 

[thatK30guy]

D60 auto hubs were on plenty of hubs. I had a set on an '85 D60 once. I've never had another set after that one and I've gotten quite a few D60's since then.

They're not the greatest nor do they perform better than anything else. 1/2 and 3/4 tons saw more of them as usual.

 

[Wrench]

I may be wrong about this, but my understanding is that a shift-on-the-fly NP205 was attempted in the early 80's and that GM used them for all '82 'tons, but after '82 they abandoned the idea and just used up remaining stock as they came off the shelf. Any truck that came with one of these 205's would have had a D60 with auto hubs. My '82 CC has the factory sticker on the driver's visor with instructions on shifting in and out of 4x4. After shifting the 205, you had to back up 10-15 feet to unlock the hubs or something like that . . .

 

[RockinChevy]

My 82 one ton didn't have auto hubs, and learning from another thread, obviously didn't have the syncro'd 205 either. Ever since I got the ford 205 and the GMC crew cab, I'm starting to pick up a lot of details about them. Before that, I ignored them thinking I will never afford them.

Also my K30 has the tab on the diff stating it has 4.10s, so not only the fords have those tabs.

 

[6.2Blazer]

The auto hubs on the D60's are not that common, but are around. Can't remember if this was discussed recently here or on Pirate4x4 but it talked about the syncro'd 205's and auto hubs on the D60's.

I used to think that the auto hubs were not available for the D60 until later on like the late-80's until '91 (when the all truck models were finally switched over to IFS) because those are the only ones I have personally seen, but apparently they were available earlier. Overall, I bet I've only seen 1 auto hub 60 for every 100 factory manual hub one out there.

 

[k30bb468]

3. Did GM use any sort of tags for gear ratio's like Ford did?

Most of the tags are long gone or unreadable, but the tag would be on one of the cover bolts if it was still there.
This one is actually readable 4:56's (I'm just not a very good photographer)

Best way to get ratio is to either get the #'s stamped on the ring gear or to get a tooth count from the ring & pinion, & divide the larger # by the smaller #