Swapping to Dana 60 rear???'s

[Big89Burban]

I've searched around and found no help. I'm swapping to a D60 out of a 79 f250. I mainly just wanted to know what U-joint I have on my truck (89 1/2 ton burban) and what U-joint the D60 had on it.

I've seen the yokes they sell for D60 to convert them to what you have but I dont know what I have

Can anyone shed some light please?

Thanks!

 

[chevyin]

just thinking{scary}

Sorry but I want to bumb this thread. I have not researched it out, but I found A D60 rear mounted in A newer Dodge this afternoon. Truck is headed for the crusher soon and I dont know if it is worth the time for me to grab it?

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

First I would like to warn you about a very common misconception about rear dana 60's. They are a very marginal upgrade over your stock axle. The shafts from a full floating dana 60 (30 spline) measure smaller than my old stock 12 bolt shafts. Given, the housing, ring and pinion, wheel bearings, etc. are all much stronger, but the shafts are what break. Unless you are upgrading to 35 spline shafts, this swap is probably not worth your time (unless you want the full floater for payload purposes). Now that I am through that, your truck probably has 1310 series u-joints in the driveshafts and the dana 60 can have 1310, 1330, or 1350 (depending on the application, my guess would be 1330 based on the fact that it is a 3/4 ton). You will need to take measurements or get u-joints to find the correct size. If the 60 is 1330 or 1350, NAPA carries conversion u-joints.

 

[kennyw]

First I would like to warn you about a very common misconception about rear dana 60's. They are a very marginal upgrade over your stock axle. The shafts from a full floating dana 60 (30 spline) measure smaller than my old stock 12 bolt shafts

I'm sorry but that info is very wrong. The strength the Dana 60 rear has over the 10 or 12 bolt rear comes in the form of the Full Float setup. The axle shaft no longer bears the weight of the vehicle, the full floating hub/bearings and housing now do. Only the stress in the torsional application of torque rather than the combined load of shear and torque are now applied to the shaft. Therefore a smaller diameter shaft in a D60 rear is under less load and less stress in a comparibly loaded 10/12 bolt.

On top of this you now have a larger ring gear, larger pinion gear, larger bearings... Now comparing this axle to a 14FF is a different story. They are not the same beast, but a Dana 60 rear axle with 30 spline shafts is a major jump over a 10 or 12 bolt rear. A 14FF is just that much better overall.

 

[u2slow]

The D60 pinion yoke probably takes that special 'Ford 1330' joint that uses a 1-1/8" cup instead of the normal 1-1/16".

 

[6.2Blazer]

I'm sorry but that info is very wrong. The strength the Dana 60 rear has over the 10 or 12 bolt rear comes in the form of the Full Float setup. The axle shaft no longer bears the weight of the vehicle, the full floating hub/bearings and housing now do. Only the stress in the torsional application of torque rather than the combined load of shear and torque are now applied to the shaft. Therefore a smaller diameter shaft in a D60 rear is under less load and less stress in a comparibly loaded 10/12 bolt.

On top of this you now have a larger ring gear, larger pinion gear, larger bearings... Now comparing this axle to a 14FF is a different story. They are not the same beast, but a Dana 60 rear axle with 30 spline shafts is a major jump over a 10 or 12 bolt rear. A 14FF is just that much better overall.

Exactly what I was going to type! Guy in our club beat on the even weaker 16-spline D60 in the back of his big-block, 7,000 lb., 38" tired truck for several years and never broke it. It's not the ultimate in strength and I'm sure he would have eventually broke something, but it held up quite respectably.

Regarding the '89 Sub, if it's a stock shaft than most likely it will have the S44 joints. I doubt you can get a S44 yoke for the D60, but you should be able to find a conversion joint to run between the S44 driveshaft and whatever yoke the D60 has.

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

I agree with you that the full floater should make the shaft be able to take more torque before breaking. My strengths class (I am an engineering student) says that normal forces on a shaft do nothing to the torque load that it can withstand. There has been tons of argument about this on Pirate and it seems that most agree that people overrate how much stronger full floating axles are. Now, given that, I run 1-tons under my Blazer with a FF14 bolt under the rear. I think that the full floating does add a little extra strength, but most of the 14 bolts strength comes from good shaft design (the special taper on those shafts allows it to twist more than most before snapping) and 1.5" shafts that are through hardened (built like many aftermarket shafts). I think I measured the FF60 shafts at like 1.20", 12 bolt shafts are 1.31". Given that the 60 is FF, I would say the FF60 is marginally stronger (shaft wise) than a 12 bolt. BTW, I have seen TONS of people swap in rear FF60's (mostly into Fords, Dodges, and Jeeps) and every one I have seen has broken shafts over and over again and wishes they had gone to either a 35 spline 60, a 70, or a 14 bolt.