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front Dana 60 comparison help please 2002 vs. '78-'79

H

heapxj

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Berlin, CT.
Hi, I found a guy selling a front Dana 60 from a 2002 Ford. I'm not sure what it came out of or if it has knuckles. Looks to be a bare housing w/ bearing caps. I'll have to get more pics from him to fully understand what the axle has. My question is this: What is the difference between this 2002 Dana 60 and a '78-'79 Dana 60. I think the newer one has ball joints but I'm not sure. Everyone wants Dana 60's from the '78-'79 era for their Jeeps. Will I be kicking myself if I buy this newer axle? Anyone who knows the differences, if any, your help is greatly appreciated. Thank You
 
Well, make sure it's a 60, a lot of newer fords have a D50 in front. The other big thing is the diff is more offset, making the drivers side tube pretty short. This makes setting up coils more difficult. If you go coil overs it wouldn't be as tricky.
 
uh huh, I knew there had to be something. This means the shafts are not the same. Yes I am going to weld coil buckets on it so I guess I'll look for an older one then.
 
itll have a metric bolt pattern 8x170mm where the 78-79 version is the normal 8x6.5

also the 02 will have unit bearing hubs, which can be good or bad, easier to swap stub shafts but new ones are a lil spendy

also, its ball joint knuckles instead of the king pin ones on the 78-79

there are a lot of comp guys running ball joint axles (thats all dynatrac uses, if that tells ya anything) and the unit bearings, cause they are real easy to change the stub shafts.

wes
 
It is 3.5" shorter on the drivers side (and 3.5" longer on the passenger side) then the 78-79. You can put coil mounts on the later model ford 60's but the DS tube is only like 3 or 6". The coils end up on the pumkin so you have to do some interesting fab work. I've seen it done and it turned out well.
 
hhhhmmmm good to know. I don't trust myself welding to cast. I wish I had a Jeep worth putting leafs in the front, a beasty beater. I'm not going to get rid of my Y-Link, I like it too much. I guess i'm gonna have to shaell out the $ for the older one. Thanks for the help.
 
You can get around welding to the cast if you come up with a good design for a bridge/truss. I used a 78/79 D60 and I still had to design a truss to keep from welding to the cast as the drivers side coil mount sits almost directly on top of the old spring perch witch is cast into the center section.
 
i wouldn't give tons for the 2002 model, they're a lot more common and worth a lot less. The bolt pattern is a pain unless you have the rear axle to match. If it's out of a 250 it'll have the D50 probably, but most all the excursions and 350's had a d60. pretty much like what these guys were sayin, really easy if you have coilovers or airshocks, little tricky running coils. I know tons of people doing it, but it does take a little more fab..
 
tech kid said:
itll have a metric bolt pattern 8x170mm where the 78-79 version is the normal 8x6.5

also the 02 will have unit bearing hubs, which can be good or bad, easier to swap stub shafts but new ones are a lil spendy

also, its ball joint knuckles instead of the king pin ones on the 78-79

there are a lot of comp guys running ball joint axles (thats all dynatrac uses, if that tells ya anything) and the unit bearings, cause they are real easy to change the stub shafts.

wes
Click to expand...


Mid 80's D60's are king pin, normal bolt pattern and hubs also. They only need one side narrowed and keep side to side pinion alignment and allow more oil pan clearance then 78-79 models.
 
Prepmech said:
In '02 they started putting the D60s under the F250s, mine has one. Not sure if they all got them though.
Click to expand...

IIRC The 60 is optional and comes standard with the off road package.
 
This may be off topic, but do you honestly think that that y-link setup will be able to withstand the stresses caused by an axle that weighs well over 500lbs, especially when it was designed for a d30 weighing around 200lbs?
There's a German that used to frequent the boards, that thought his Rusty's suspension could handle the stresses of a huge axle.
He was proven wrong many times.
The y-link may not be Rusty's, but it was probably still built with the little d30 in mind.

Chew on that for awhile.
 
Well the weight is on the tires,not the Y Link. I'll make limiter straps to ensure that the axle does not over extend and break something.
 
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