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DANA 70H.D. DRW v/s GMT400 14Bolt DRW WMS dimensions?

tarussell

tarussell

“Seven years of college down the drain”
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I am needing some solid information on WMS dimensions for an axle change on my ride.

My truck is an hour away at a buddies shop so I can’t measure it at this time and there is WAY too much bad ( so very bad ) info out there on the web that I just can’t trust what I am reading.

IIRC the square DRW D70HD WMS is 74” wide and the front D60 with bud wheel hubs WMS is a little wider - what is that dimension?

Also, the GMT400 ( 88-98 ) DRW 14Bolt WMS dimensions are 72” ( IIRC but I don’t trust my memory ) is this correct ?

I’m wanting to use a GMT400 DRW 14Bolt instead of the DRW D70HD ( using H1’s ) and don’t want to use spacers for the rear to work with a bud wheel front D60 for proper track width.

Thanks for any solid known WMS dimensions , Tom
 
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Believe d60 drw is ~77”. If you swap 14b SRW hubs onto the D70HD is just a hair (i believe 1/4”) wider than the 60drw. If you swap the hubs on 70HD then you have to go disc (if that matters to you). I ran that setup (60drw + 70hd with srw hubs) with H1’s and it was a perfect match (within 1/4”)

Someone will confirm exacts
 
muddybuddy said:
Believe d60 drw is ~77”. If you swap 14b SRW hubs onto the D70HD is just a hair (i believe 1/4”) wider than the 60drw. If you swap the hubs on 70HD then you have to go disc (if that matters to you). I ran that setup with H1’s and thought it was perfect.

Someone will confirm exacts
Click to expand...
Thought about the rear SRW hub swap too but I’m kick’n around if it’s worth hunting down one of the later models GM Van 4500 Cab Chassis DRW extra wide 14Bolts with the 4” tubes and am just trying to get dimensions on all axle options before I commit to a plan.

Although using the SRW hubs on the GMT400 housing ( converting to discs ) is my fallback plan if I can live with the narrower rear track width ( after verifying the WMS ).

Appreciate the input !
Tom
 
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Well, I thought I was going to be the sly smart guy and went to the D60 and 14 bolt bibles but, surprisingly, they didn’t have solid info.

Per the bible’s….

An SRW GM D60 has a 69” WMS, the only measurement given for a DRW axle was that the hubs make the WMS 4”-5” wider per side.

The 14 bolt bible makes one reference to a wide DRW axle 72” but there is no year or model info given for this version. There is no mention of the big 4” tube version axle.

I was surprised each bible wasn’t more specific.
 
nvrenuf said:
Well, I thought I was going to be the sly smart guy and went to the D60 and 14 bolt bibles but, surprisingly, they didn’t have solid info.

Per the bible’s….

An SRW GM D60 has a 69” WMS, the only measurement given for a DRW axle was that the hubs make the WMS 4”-5” wider per side.

The 14 bolt bible makes one reference to a wide DRW axle 72” but there is no year or model info given for this version. There is no mention of the big 4” tube version axle.

I was surprised each bible wasn’t more specific.
Click to expand...
I know what ya mean - I read ALL the known axle info bits and surprisingly there is very little rock solid DRW type info out there that can truly be trusted. Even the Bill-A-Vista stuff was way too vague.
And there ain’t squat worth of info out there on the big super wide 4500 14Bolt axle…

This is why I come to the brethren here to receive some trusted stats.
 
Dug back through my olddddd posts, some confirmed 77” drw 60, with 14b hubs on 70hd its 77.5”, couple links in that thread, dont recall how to access since they are so old

14BFF hubs on a Dana 70

Who was it on here that did this swap and why? I remember reading it but that's about it.
ck5.com ck5.com
 
Appreciate that MuddyBuddy!

Just for kicks have ya got any good pics of your ride that show the track widths compared to the fenders ?
THANKS, Tom


Now I just need confirmation of the GMT400 axle WMS.
 
muddybuddy said:
Dug back through my olddddd posts, some confirmed 77” drw 60, with 14b hubs on 70hd its 77.5”, couple links in that thread, dont recall how to access since they are so old

14BFF hubs on a Dana 70

Who was it on here that did this swap and why? I remember reading it but that's about it.
ck5.com ck5.com
Click to expand...
I just got through reading that link and saw the pic of your ride ( very cool by the way ) - if ya got more pics would like to see them but if not I got a good view from that one pic.
Thanks!
 
tarussell said:
I just got through reading that link and saw the pic of your ride ( very cool by the way ) - if ya got more pics would like to see them but if not I got a good view from that one pic.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
I can try to dig up some pics, but i regretfully sold it back in ‘16
 
tarussell said:
I know we talked about this the other day but help me keep what you did straight - you had F. Gilmore’s Shop take 4” outta the HD D70 and you are still using the DRW hubs on the rear so that would put your rear WMS right at 70” ?
Click to expand...

It’s narrowed 2.5” per side so it’s 69” WMS to match the front D60. I’m using the original dually bearing hubs.
 
If anyone can confirm the GMT400 DRW 14B WMS dimension that would be great - one of the last pieces of this puzzle for me.
Thanks, Tom
 
I found this on Pirate, user is “49willys” but I can’t find any other pics. So close to what you want but it does give the rear view which is the hardest to find.

DRW 60 & 70

IMG_6326.jpeg
 
tarussell said:
It is - it was in a thread that he linked to earlier.
Love the frt/rr track width on that thing!
Click to expand...

:doah: I completely missed his link. Well, he can be proud he’s world wide, I found it via the google on a ford forum. :rotfl:
 
nvrenuf said:
I found this on Pirate, user is “49willys” but I can’t find any other pics. So close to what you want but it does give the rear view which is the hardest to find.

DRW 60 & 70

View attachment 463307
Click to expand...
What I am concerned about is if the DRW 14B is actually only 72” wide ( assuming I stayed with the DRW hubs ) the rear track width is going to be too narrow ( loosing 2” ) compared to a doable width of 74” using the D70 set up.
Even going the SRW hub route it will be 2” narrower after all is said and done - decisions decisions…
 
Just putt’n this out there for reference in case anyone uses this in the search system for info.

The GMT400 DRW 14-Bolt housings are narrower then a square Dana-70 HD - the 14-B WMS measures out at 72” compared to 74” for the square D-70.

That’s just wrong shorting us a full two inches like that - wrong I say, the ladies shall not be happy about this…
 
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