lets talk of axles, gears, tires, and other things.....

[LOGANSTANFORTH]

so im picking up a 60/14 locked combo with 4.56's (spare SM465 and 205 also).....these are going under my blazer which is strictly a offroad toy.....so i got a few questions to ask......the engine is all stock 350.....

1. how tall of a tire do you think i can go before the 4.56's lose their effectiveness?

2. how big of a tire can the stock 60 take?

now here is something else to think about......i got a set of 6.17 gears for the dana 60 and for a dana 70.......i plan to utilize them eventually......im thinking 60 front, 70 rear, both locked of course, under a factory frame, tube body buggy.....

3. with 35 spline all the way through the front, how much tire will the 60 hold under said buggy's weight?

4. just how big of a tire can i go before the 6.17's lose their effectiveness?


right now im thinking 37/38's with the 4.56's and stock 1 ton axles, with the 6.17's and heavy built axles im thinking like a 47 inch LTB/beadlock, of course there will be no body on it when i do that, just tube on the factory frame.........

 

[four_by_ken]

Thats a lot of questions and options... and there are a lot of variables that can change the answers.

What kind of wheeling do you do?
Heavy foot?

Just because its a tube buggy, doesnt always mean it will be light.

 

[LOGANSTANFORTH]

Thats a lot of questions and options... and there are a lot of variables that can change the answers.

What kind of wheeling do you do?
Heavy foot?

Just because its a tube buggy, doesnt always mean it will be light.

well it depends on the mood im in, sometimes its heavy (when it is needed), most of the time its not, I really like the LTB's and i can get them for a good price from my supplier.....just not a good amount of selections of the tire.....

 

[wayne]

so im picking up a 60/14 locked combo with 4.56's (spare SM465 and 205 also).....these are going under my blazer which is strictly a offroad toy.....so i got a few questions to ask......the engine is all stock 350.....

1. how tall of a tire do you think i can go before the 4.56's lose their effectiveness?

I know guys that run 44's with no issues on 4.56's. They also have auto trans to.

2. how big of a tire can the stock 60 take?

Depends on your driving. There again lot's of people run 44's on stock 60's.

now here is something else to think about......i got a set of 6.17 gears for the dana 60 and for a dana 70.......i plan to utilize them eventually......im thinking 60 front, 70 rear, both locked of course, under a factory frame, tube body buggy.....

3. with 35 spline all the way through the front, how much tire will the 60 hold under said buggy's weight?

Depends on the shafts you decide to run.

4. just how big of a tire can i go before the 6.17's lose their effectiveness?

Sell the 6.17's and go with 5.13's and put your money in t case gearing. You will be much happier with more t case gear options then 6.17's in the axles.


right now im thinking 37/38's with the 4.56's and stock 1 ton axles, with the 6.17's and heavy built axles im thinking like a 47 inch LTB/beadlock, of course there will be no body on it when i do that, just tube on the factory frame.........

IMHO if you want to run 47's or bigger just toss the 1 tons and go to Rocks.

 

[6.2Blazer]

I think different axle gears are much more noticable for highway driving then off-road in 4 low. With that said I would leave the 4.56's alone at least for now considering it's an offroad toy and if you decide you want lower gears later spend the money in the t-case area (doubler, Atlas, etc...). Going from 4.56 to 6.17 is about 35% lower, putting in a doubler is 100% lower. But still, with "only" 37-38" tires it should be fine for most situations besides extremely technical rock crawling.

What size tire can a stock D60 take? Lots of variables including necked or non-necked stock inners, age and previous use (fatigue life). I used a '77 version D60 front and grenaded the , presumably, original necked down inner and both 30-spline stubs all at different times with skinny 38's, locker, stock 6.2, and automatic trans. It was used fairly hard, but not thrashed on (IMHO). It now has new Spicer non-neckdown inners, Spicer joints, and Yukon 35-spline stubs with no issues with the now 39.5x15 Swampers.

A buddy broke a 35-spline Spicer stub and Lock-right at different times, but this is on a 6-7k truck (pending how many spares and tools) and a 550+ ft-lb big block with 42's. He now has Yukon chromo inners and outers, Detroit, and bling joints and beats on it hard.