Dana 61 info?

mjma · Jan 19, 2007

Can anyone tell me anything about a Dana 61 rear axle?? I can't find any info on them other than just mention. Apparently there are some semi-float 61s, but I'm looking for info on D61 full floater.

The only thing that I came up with in a search was that some guy with a nasty rockcrawler had a rear dana 60 with dana 61 hubs? Also, that you needed a spacer on the carrier to run D60 gears in them.

How do they compare to a regular D60 rear axle??

thanx

87manche · Jan 19, 2007

pirate4x4 said:
What's the deal with the Dana 61?

With mileage and emissions concerns rising, at some point Dodge and / or Ford decided they wanted to be able to offer gears higher than the current highest ratio of 3.54 available in the D60. However, because of the design of the D60 the pinion head could not be made big enough to achieve a higher ratio. Hence, the birth of the Dana 61, which has a different casting that moves the pinion over 0.25"-0.437" (conflicting reports) - this allowed for a 3.07 axle ratio. The Dana 61 also uses 3.5" axle tubes. Other than that, it is very similar to the Dana 60. The Dana 61 was common in Dodge front ends and Ford van rears.

The difficulty with the Dana 61 is very limited gear and locker choices. However, you can use a combination of ring gear spacer and thick gear set to allow the use of differentials and gear sets intended for the Dana 60.

Slagburn reports: to run a 4.88 I had to go with series 3 carrier, series 1 being 4.10 and down, series 2 being 4.56 and up, then the series 3. PLUS a .160" spacer. That's the problem, nobody makes a full case locker for a 61, but it could be doable with a thick ring gearset AND a spacer.

Reider racing< Randy's R&P, and other sources make ring gear spacers for the Dana 61 .

http://www.reiderracing.com/ringspacer.htm

mjma · Jan 19, 2007

Thanx man, wish I could search over on pirate!

what is the diameter of the d60 axle tubes?? more or less than 3.5"?

Also, any idea why someone would use D61 hubs? The one I found already has 4.10 in it.

rokjeep · Jan 20, 2007

mjma said:
Thanx man, wish I could search over on pirate!

what is the diameter of the d60 axle tubes?? more or less than 3.5"?

Also, any idea why someone would use D61 hubs? The one I found already has 4.10 in it.

I have one in the rear of my XJ. I talked to Gearman on Pirate and he hooked me up with the part #'s to make it work. I had to use a D60 carrier for 4.10+, a thin ring gear spacer and the 5.38 D60 gears. It used up all the shims in the pack but the shop got a good pattern. Another plus is that the spindles already have the bore size to run a 35 spline shaft without have to have them machined. Also the tube diameter is bigger but brake parts are hard to find and are expensive. But hell, it gives people something to talk about

Dana 61 info?

mjma

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87manche

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mjma

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rokjeep

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