Rear Dana 60 question

I picked up a D44 front that I'm going to putting under the XJ at the end of this season. Right now it is full width (67") and I was debating about narrowing it a few inches before I put brackets on it. What I end up doing is dependent on a few factors, but mostly what rear axle i can pair with it.

Here is the question- Is there such a thing as a FF Dana 60 that is 63ish WMS to WMS? I already know that you can get a 63" 14 bolt, but right now the front is geared 5.38 so I would prefer an axle that can take that ratio. Making a custom width axle would cost more than re-gearing the front, so that’s out.

The narrowest FF I have ever seen/had was a 65" d60 out of a '75 dodge.......... :lecture:

HTH

you can get a FF ford 60 at about 64.5"

5.38s are supposed to be out any time now for the 14 bolt. What tire size are you looking to run? also, a lot of people (myself included) like having the front axle wider, so also consider some narrower axles. D44s can easily be run with 5on5.5, 6on5.5 and 8on6.5 bolt patters, so you have tons of options.

63" was narrower than i planned for the front. I dont plan on taking much off, just to bring it down a little bit to 64-65 with 4 or 4.5 BS on the wheels. I like the extra stability that the width offers, and here on the east coast I dont have to worry as much about fitting through tight spots, but full width is just too much IMO. I am going to cut and turn the C's anyway, so while i got it apart, I figured I would get it to the width i want.

If you say that 5.38 will be availible in the furture some time, I might wait it out for a bit. The front wont be going in for a while, so i can stand to wait if they will be out by the fall or soon there after. Though clearance will be a problem even with a shave. As of now, i am planning 36-37" meats on 16-17" rims to make sure I fit the brakes on high BS wheels.

I'm doing this right now. I used a D44 from a WIDE trac Wagonner/Cherokee. With the Dodge 8 bolt outers I will be about 66.5" wide on the front. For the back I'm using a Dodge D60 thats about 65" wide. Its wider than I wanted but the trails here are fairly wide so I'll be ok.

Remeber that if your D44 doesn't already have 8 bolt outers converting it to 8 bolt to match the D60 will add another 2" to the overall width.

Some Dodge vans use a narrower, offset D60. I had considered cutting down the long of the housing to match the short side and running two of the short side shafts. If I find my current width to be too much thats probably what I will do.

I'll be running 36" Iroks with 5.38 gears. Eventually.