• NAXJA is having its 18th annual March Membership Drive!!!
    Everyone who joins or renews during March will be entered into a drawing!
    More Information - Join/Renew
  • Welcome to the new NAXJA Forum! If your password does not work, please use "Forgot your password?" link on the log-in page. Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] if we can provide any assistance.

International Dana 60 D60-2?

DrSockMonkey

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Washington
Well I found an what is supposedly a Dana 60 rear from an international. The nice thing is it is a stock narrower axle, around 64-65" WMS to WMS. I talked to one person and they said it was not a desirable axle due to having a low spline count, something like 19 splinest. I did some searching here and elsewhere, and found a chart saying that the international axles had 30 spline shafts. And another post on another site said some had 35 spline. Now I am not holding my breath that it is 35 spline. Some referred to them as Dana 60-2. Another concern is brake parts availablility. Anyone have any experience with these?


Thanks,
Jeremy
 
Thought I should add, I do not know what international vehicle it came from.. They were swapped into a yj prior to the current owner. anyone know the best way to Identify the axle if I go look at it. IE number tags. Also I was told it is an 8 lug 3/4 ton. gears are 3.73 with 11 inch drum brakes.

Thanks
 
Last edited:
You can find out fairly easily. You will need to pull the shaft and measure the shaft diameter, if it is 1.3" in diameter and 19 spline you don’t want it. The axle is weaker than a ford 9” and probably closer to a dana 44 in strength. If it is 1.3” diameter and 30 spline shafts you found a good dana 60. What you really want to see is a shaft that is 1.5" diameter and 35 spline. These did come OEM in some trucks, but they are pretty rare. The oem 35 spline axle is the superior dana 60. The 35 spline dana 60s have dual webbing on the center section, and have "60HD" cast on the left web.
If it is a semi floater w/ c-clips you don’t want it. Also make sure it is not off set and is the lug pattern you want, otherwise you may have to have custom shafts made.
 
If it was swapped into a YJ don't count on it having stock gearing?

Try pulling a shaft and counting the splines.
 
BakersfieldXJ said:
You can find out fairly easily. You will need to pull the shaft and measure the shaft diameter, if it is 1.3" in diameter and 19 spline you don’t want it. The axle is weaker than a ford 9” and probably closer to a dana 44 in strength. If it is 1.3” diameter and 30 spline shafts you found a good dana 60. What you really want to see is a shaft that is 1.5" diameter and 35 spline. These did come OEM in some trucks, but they are pretty rare. The oem 35 spline axle is the superior dana 60. The 35 spline dana 60s have dual webbing on the center section, and have "60HD" cast on the left web.
If it is a semi floater w/ c-clips you don’t want it. Also make sure it is not off set and is the lug pattern you want, otherwise you may have to have custom shafts made.
As far as the lug pattern it also comes with a Waggy D44 with Chevy 8 lug outers. They are supposed to be a set. I will see what I can do to check the splines. What I really like about this axle is the fact that it is not full width.

Thanks!
 
i have a dana60-2 out of a 1974 international 63ish" wms-wms
came 30 spline, but i rebuilt it with 35 spline shafts and a spool and 5.38 gears.

napa has all the parts you need for it. (brakes wheel bearings, seals, etc)

BUT the retainer plates. i couldn't find any anywhere and right now im running a ghetto-rigged piece of sheet metal for a retainer plate with no outer axle seal.
 
DrSockMonkey said:
Well I found an what is supposedly a Dana 60 rear from an international. The nice thing is it is a stock narrower axle, around 64-65" WMS to WMS. I talked to one person and they said it was not a desirable axle due to having a low spline count, something like 19 splinest. I did some searching here and elsewhere, and found a chart saying that the international axles had 30 spline shafts. And another post on another site said some had 35 spline. Now I am not holding my breath that it is 35 spline. Some referred to them as Dana 60-2. Another concern is brake parts availablility. Anyone have any experience with these?


Thanks,
Jeremy

Dana 60 axles came stock with 16, 19, 30, and 35 spline shafts. The 16, 19, and 30 spline shafts are all the same diameter 1.31 inch. The 35 spline shafts are 1.5 inch. You can easily upgrade the 16, and 19 to 30 spline alloy shafts. If you want to upgrade to 35 spline shafts you normally will have to bore out the spindles from 1.41 to 1.61 to acomodate the 1.5 shafts. Believe it or not I bored mine with a drill and a hole saw. Also you will have to install a matching carrier, if you are going to do gears and a full locker you will be replacing the carrier anyway.

D60's with 35 spline shafts are very rare. Some Fords, and some Dodge had them, but 99% of D60's are not 35 spline. Clean the tubes really well and look for the BOM number stamped one of the tubes. You can reference this number on the Dana Expert web site and it will tell you exactly what it came out of, dimensions and shaft lengths etc. The BOM on my D60 was 603901-4 which is from a 1979 Ford F250. D60 rear axles are very cheap, I bought mine for $100. If the one you have is some kind of odd-ball axle it might be better to find a more common Ford or Chevy axle. Parts are cheap, rebuilding is easy. Most all vintage D60's are drum brakes. Disc brakes kits are available on ebay for $295, $495 if you want an integrated disc e-brake. You will have to deal with the lug pattern, most are 8 lug. You can order shafts with a different pattern.
 
Last edited:
Sierra Drifter said:
.....You will have to deal with the lug pattern, most are 8 lug. You can order shafts with a different pattern.

I don't know why I said this, I guess at 2 am it easy to be confused. Changing the lug pattern on an 8 lug D60 full floatter involves more than just shafts.
 
Sierra Drifter said:
Dana 60 axles came stock with 16, 19, 30, and 35 spline shafts. The 16, 19, and 30 spline shafts are all the same diameter 1.31 inch. The 35 spline shafts are 1.5 inch. You can easily upgrade the 16, and 19 to 30 spline alloy shafts. If you want to upgrade to 35 spline shafts you normally will have to bore out the spindles from 1.41 to 1.61 to acomodate the 1.5 shafts. Believe it or not I bored mine with a drill and a hole saw. Also you will have to install a matching carrier, if you are going to do gears and a full locker you will be replacing the carrier anyway.

only true for full floating 60's

the dana 60-2 in question is a semifloater with a 5 on 5.5" lug pattern.

upgrading from 30 to 35 spline is as simple as getting a 35 spline locker and 35 spline shafts.
 
ktm racer 419 said:
only true for full floating 60's

the dana 60-2 in question is a semifloater with a 5 on 5.5" lug pattern.

upgrading from 30 to 35 spline is as simple as getting a 35 spline locker and 35 spline shafts.

Ok, I didn't know it was a semifloater, I don't have any experience with IH axles, or the 60-2.
 
I have read that the D60-2 uses 35 spline shafts a few times.
 
its very rare, but it can be found in some fords and some older jeep j-20's
 
This was out of an international and he wants $200. I just liked the idea of a narrower axle. I don't think it's worth it right now. He said he's gonna pull the shaft and check. If it's 35 I will scoop it up. Otherwise, I think I will pass until something better comes along.
 
Back
Top