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My front d60 experiment.

Y

yellowxj

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Ocala, FL.
DSC03403.jpg

DSC3405.jpg


Its a d60 from a 97 ram...4.10 gears...spent a lot of time measuring and I can use a lot of the stock brackets...maybe all...and most of the steering and I'm even going to try and modify the stock track bar...yah I know its no ford high pinion 78-79 blah blah blah...but its still a couple times stronger than my d30...cant wait to get the long arms on this baby and ride again my xj looks sad, neutered, in the garage

mjpitride0027.jpg
 
yellowxj said:
DSC03403.jpg

DSC3405.jpg


Its a d60 from a 97 ram...4.10 gears...spent a lot of time measuring and I can use a lot of the stock brackets...maybe all...and most of the steering and I'm even going to try and modify the stock track bar...yah I know its no ford high pinion 78-79 blah blah blah...but its still a couple times stronger than my d30...cant wait to get the long arms on this baby and ride again my xj looks sad, neutered, in the garage

mjpitride0027.jpg
Click to expand...

So you're ditching the front leaf springs?
Billy
 
the leaf springs were great for something I could fabricate myself at that time/place I was at...they worked great, flexed good, gave big lift, and it was easy to set up, (I was never happy with my steering though) and I enjoyed it for a couple years, another thing was I never had to butcher the body to put leaves on it so I could always go back to stock suspension....then I started checking out bigger axles or shafts and steering options and found that a nice hp 44 or 60 from a old ford would be the next cheapest improvement I could make, but finding them started to look hard and not that cheap. So i'm in the drive way of my shop one day looking at my buddies dodge and I'm staring at his suspension and it was a whole lot like a stock xj, so I took some measurements, guestimated a bit, and was able to find this d60, with stock 4.10 for $500. I plated my subframe with 3x3x1/4 angle iron (wound up costing about $225, didnt have time to do it myself)
mjpitride0025.jpg

and I have to spend a couple more hundred on steel, bushings, and heim joints
 
BrettM said:
don't the dodge 60s have 32 splines and a disconnect? :puke:
Click to expand...

Do they? Never followed D60 stuff close enough to hear that. Since all other front D60's are 35 spline (inners) why would a Dodge be different? Still, it's the axle joints that usually break, or the stub shafts, and the D60 joints and stubs are better than D44 stuff, even with 30 spline stubs.

The only negative to me when I was going to install a front D60 was the size and the weight.

Looks good.....glad to see someone coming to their senses and ditching the leaves for coils. :laugh3: :laugh3:

:D :D
 
Goatman said:
Looks good.....glad to see someone coming to their senses and ditching the leaves for coils. :laugh3: :laugh3:

:D :D
Click to expand...
Yeah, but he'll be going with longarms.

From the frying pan into the fire. :laugh3:
 
Goatman said:
Do they? Never followed D60 stuff close enough to hear that. Since all other front D60's are 35 spline (inners) why would a Dodge be different? Still, it's the axle joints that usually break, or the stub shafts, and the D60 joints and stubs are better than D44 stuff, even with 30 spline stubs.
Click to expand...
I can't speak to the spline count, but my 99 Dodge 2500 CTD D60 front is a disconnect.

And blowing up the first pic, that one looks like a disconnect as well.
 
I'm going with a custom(converting rear housing) D60 up front in my 90. I used to have an '01 Dodge 2500 and I never made the connection with the suspension geometry. I probably could have saved big $$$ pulling one of these so-called "wimpy 60s" out of a bone yard. Let everyone know how it turns out.
 
yep its got the disco...never been much of a problem for me with the d30's and I've enjoyed the easy change axle shafts...i did do the solid axle conversion on my disco 30 but that was cause I tore up 2 outter shafts when the ujoints popped...its wide though...I've got a line on some H1 rims and I'll be trying them on to see if they'll clear the steering
 
Re: My front d60 experiment.--update

Ok so its in now...32" radius arms...coil spring perches mounted on the old dodge coil perches...6" skyjacker coils cut down a hair to keep the lift at about 8 or 9"...I've got the stock steering hooked to the xj pitman arm and I think I can make that work good...got the stock dodge track bar mounted to my stock xj track bar mount too...mounted my radius arms to the stock dodge link brackets...pretty easy as far as d60 installation goes...still got tons of stuff to do, and then the testing, breaking, rebuilding etc...got a D70 for the rear out of the local salvage yard for $150 and it has the 4.10's to match the front...yippie...$650 total for my axles...got lucky with that part...
 
yellowxj said:
the leaf springs were great for something I could fabricate myself at that time/place I was at...they worked great, flexed good, gave big lift, and it was easy to set up, (I was never happy with my steering though) and I enjoyed it for a couple years, another thing was I never had to butcher the body to put leaves on it so I could always go back to stock suspension....then I started checking out bigger axles or shafts and steering options and found that a nice hp 44 or 60 from a old ford would be the next cheapest improvement I could make, but finding them started to look hard and not that cheap. So i'm in the drive way of my shop one day looking at my buddies dodge and I'm staring at his suspension and it was a whole lot like a stock xj, so I took some measurements, guestimated a bit, and was able to find this d60, with stock 4.10 for $500. I plated my subframe with 3x3x1/4 angle iron (wound up costing about $225, didnt have time to do it myself)
mjpitride0025.jpg

and I have to spend a couple more hundred on steel, bushings, and heim joints
Click to expand...




How is the sub-frame attached to the unibody? It is all welded?
 
so it all just bolted up?
 
the subframe reinforcement is spot welded and formed to the unibody...and it sorta bolted up...used all the stock brackets on the axle, steering, and track bar from the dodge. Just drilled out the xj pitman arm and track bar mount to accept the dodge stuff. Had to trim some of the brackets to clear the steering and track bar, and bent the inner tierod end at the pitman arm to ease the angle there, made the radius arms from 2x2x1/4 steel and other bits and pieces...

the best thing about working on it today was the 89 dodge 3/4ton d60(?) rear was a virtual bolt in...spring pads were perfect width, pinion angles good, about 65" wide but not bad considering how wide the front is...
 
Last edited:
is the front disconnect, or has that been covered.what model did it coem from
 
the front is from a 97 2500HD ram, yep it is a disco axle which I'll be connecting to my stock vacuum system...I know its not the super desirable high pinion high dollar axle everyone wants but it was available...and I shouldnt be breaking it
 
no the shock isnt attatched...its the only surviving rear shock and I havent found a good place for it yet...funny I never really noticed a difference having one rear shock instead of two...thats on the laundry list for this week...
front drive shaft
mount 3 shocks
get the steering centered and front end alignment
decide if I'm raising the rear an inch or so or lowering the front
 
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