Need a good used passenger side GM Dana 60 kingpin cap. Looking for an OEM cast cap! Thanks
CK5
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WA Passenger Side Dana 60 Kingpin Cap
- Thread starter MAXMAN
- Start date
44 or 53?
I'm gonna say 44, early units had this badass upper cap then later switched to stamped.
Yes! I've only seen them on the "early" 60's with the necked down axles but that cast iron upper cap is badass!
early 1-1.5 year of gm 60 or little later on ford if i recall .
you can fake one and be bigger with cutting off a driver side arm . . . but there selling for good money these days so dont do it .
i got one off my early 60 . . . . whats it worth ? ? ? i would have to go hunting for it tho .
you can fake one and be bigger with cutting off a driver side arm . . . but there selling for good money these days so dont do it .
i got one off my early 60 . . . . whats it worth ? ? ? i would have to go hunting for it tho .
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The OEM would have been the cast cap all the way through 1991. That's not me saying this, but my GM parts catalogs (Part #471750). I have had multiple (25-30) mid to late 80's K/V 30's and almost every one had the cast cap, and if not you can bet that someone replaced it with the stamped steel one when they were chasing a death wobble problem. I've had a spare cast one from time to time, but just don't have one at the moment for the project were on right now. I do have a couple of the drivers side arms, but I hat to cut them if I can keep from it.
like i said never seen them past much of 1980 and even then it was a ford axle . part# wise they must have super seeded it and never specified a difference .
and for reference here is 2 pics of my 60 cap i have someplace off my 1977 k30 original 34K mile axle . and you know it was oem . . . see the DOT tag on the brake hose .
and for reference here is 2 pics of my 60 cap i have someplace off my 1977 k30 original 34K mile axle . and you know it was oem . . . see the DOT tag on the brake hose .
A 6 digit GM part # started in the 70's! Did not change all the way through 1991! See attached. I have an 89 V3500 crew with the cast OEM cap on it as well as 2 84's and an 87 at the moment.
I wonder why you never see them on CUCV axles?
Good question! I have 3 CUCV's at the moment, I'm gonna look at all three tonight. I might have a "D" parts catalog around here somewhere. I will try and see what it shows for a part number on them. As you can see in that attached page, it didn't include any "D" bodies but it might just be that they don't include it in the modern electronic parts catalog.
Same part number in the "D" catalog! See attached. I just had my son check the CUCV's, 2 have cast OEM caps and 1 has the aftermarket stamped steel.
I think the military is very hard on those trucks! I have a documented M1028 with less that 10k on the odometer that has had the king pins replaced. I just pulled the front axle apart this week and both sides have definitely been into before, and both king pin bushings were broke. Pins also had significant wear.
GonicGM
1/2 ton status
I've had countless Dana 60's, many low mileage. I expect the cast cap is an early production thing or regional, if Dana Spicer had multiple axle supply plants, or both. Just because the part number didn't change doesn't mean the part didn't change. P/N stays the same legitimately as long as form, fit and function stay the same. I can give countless examples of this.
I highly doubt that even in the 1980's that you would get a cast machined top cap for $8.50 whereas the lower is $72.
These axles were likely supplied as complete units from Dana Spicer. There is a Dana Spicer number noted in the part notes. Order one and see what you get. Dana Spicer is definitely not aftermarket. It IS the OEM for GM, Ford, Dodge, Studebaker, etc..
I highly doubt that even in the 1980's that you would get a cast machined top cap for $8.50 whereas the lower is $72.
These axles were likely supplied as complete units from Dana Spicer. There is a Dana Spicer number noted in the part notes. Order one and see what you get. Dana Spicer is definitely not aftermarket. It IS the OEM for GM, Ford, Dodge, Studebaker, etc..
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Here is what I will tell you based on my 30 + years as a GM Parts Manager! I ordered many of the OEM cast caps all the way into the 90's. Same part number shown! And no, they were not cheap even then. That catalog shown is an original (D) catalog from 1984, but even if I showed you my 1984 civilian catalog the prices would blow your mind compared to today. The problem with the modern electronic catalogs is that they don't always show all the old discontinued parts and their original prices. We sold many V3500 crew cabs as well as cab and chassis trucks in the late 80's and while I didn't stick my head under every truck with a dana 60 we sold, I personally have never seen a production 60 with a stamped cap. I wish I would have had our front end guy Cris (who is still with us after 34 years) save every one he threw away when replacing king pins/bushings, I would have a garbage can full of them! My first 3 or 4 K30's all came from our lot as trade ins, none of them older than 1984 and I can 100% guarantee that they were all equipped with cast passenger side upper caps. Also as I stated before, at this moment I have an 81, 3 1984's, an 87, and an 89 and of them all only 2 of them have the stamped steel caps. If a stamped steel cap was ever available through GM, I have never seen one. I have however purchased many inside the Spicer box. I generally just go with them for the average rebuild, but I have 2 projects that I would really prefer the cast cap as they are most likely going to be thrashed on pretty hard. I will find a couple eventually, I can use a stamped version to get me back on the road.
Hey Gonic! I stand semi-corrected!! I just spoke with a buddy of mine who was also my GM district parts rep for many years (now retired) and he is also also a hard core GM square off road dude. He said it was a regional thing! Said they procured the 60's from 3 different plants and 1 of the 3 used the stamped caps into the late 80's and then 2 of the 3 used them towards the end. He stated that depending on where the truck was assembled kind of dictated which version you might get. He's a Michigan man, and told me that he remembers seeing a lot of stamped caps back in that area. He thinks most likely the the west coast trucks were probably shipped from the same plant which is why we never really seen the stamped cap versions. He also said the same thing I stated earlier about trash cans all over the nation with oem cast caps just getting thrown away when replacing pins/bushings. As far as the replacement caps go, he said he remembers the cast ones being available but doesn't remember if or when they changed. He thinks when production of the cast ones ended is when they discontinued the part number from GM. Thanks for all the info!!
my question is tho who would toss out a beefy part to replace with a stamped tin part ? ? ?
GonicGM
1/2 ton status
Couldn't agree more! I would have washed the cast cap and reused. I have only had one cast cap ever. I don't believe it came on a axle and may have come in a parts lot from elsewhere in the country. Cast caps don't exist here in the new england.
Honestly, I don't think the average farmer or contractor gave a crap back in the day! Those trucks would come into our shop with death wobble and our front end guy would have us get the rebuild kits that came with the stamped steel caps so he would just toss the oem caps and move on. It's super funny because after we were all talking about this cap deal I gave Cris our front end guy a call regarding a cosmo shim for the 60 I'm currently working on and told him about the debate. He kind of laughed and said he probably threw away 100 of those cast caps over the last 40 years (he worked at an independent shop previously). I'm pretty sure in retrospect that he probably tossed one or two of mine early on before I started doing my own work. Either way I appreciate all the input fellas! I would still like to find at least one, but today I took the bandsaw to one of my drivers side caps to move on with the current project!!
Seen that one! Thanks for thinking of me!!
