Dana 70 rear hubs HD vs. "regular"

[78Buford]

I have had two broken bolts on my rear D70-U hub (where the axle bolts to the hub) for quite a while. Over the weekend, another one broke. A buddy of mine has located a mid 70's D70 from a Dually Dodge. When I put the D70 U under my Ford about a year ago, I used the ring & pinion from a D70 HD dually from a Chevy. At the time, I noted that the dually used 11/16" bolts (socket size) instead of the regular 5/8" (socket size) on my D70.

I'm hoping that all I'll have to do to make the D70 HD hubs fit on my D70 is possibly ream/drill the axle flange bolt holes a little larger to use the larger bolts.

Am I missing something here?
Are the bearings the same size (in the hubs)?
Are the hubs on a HD dually the same length as "regular" D70's?

I need to know if this will work before I have the guy spend all evening (tonight) taking them off a crusty/rusty old truck.

Thanks,
Roy

 

[tarussell]

The hubs are usually specific to each company that orders the axle from Dana . For example the GM HD 70 uses the same hub that comes on a dually 14FF. Dodge and Ford use different hubs as well . The Dodge hubs physically look different than the Ford style hubs and they use different bearings than the GM style hubs.
You might get lucky and parts will match up but I would not bet all my money on that in the hub department. Most parts in the diff can be swapped around from D70 to D70 but the hubs are not usually that swap friendly.
Some thing to consider if the bearing distance and size does work out for you is the axle flange to hub bolt pattern - I know Dana used atleast three different dimensions on the bolt pattern but there could be more variations???
Tom