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IS A PAIR OF DANA 60'S OVERKILL?

redrider2911

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Yakima, WA
im trying to beef up my axles and i cant decide which ones to go with. i was originalally thinking dana 44's but i wouldnt know where to find them. then i thought y not go bigger to 60's so i dont get disapointed later and have to change them all again/ any advice or info?
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I take it you mostly wheel in WA type terrain. Probably Naches mostly?

What are your long term goals?

What size tires do you plan on running?

How are your driving habits?

Are you going to build them yourself or buy from a place like Currie, Dynatrac, or Teraflex?

Get a HP60 for the front, and a 35 spl. FF for the rear, if you build yourself.

Some good info here: http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=101345
 
Dana 60's are never over kill. You won't spend that much more money by going with 60's over 44's. Do it once and be done with it.

(this coming from the guy whos xj is bone stock)

Build them yourself if you go the D60F route, I was able to completely rebuild mine and throw in an ARB for about 2200. The 14bff I'm using for a rear was dirt cheap to build up from a bare housing.
 
thanks guys, i plan on running 35's maybe 36's. my goal is to be able to run into or over anything i want and not brake anything. i want to build everything myself since i assume it would be cheaper. i dont know a whole lot about termanalogy so you lost me on a few parts. i dont know what mall crawling is, or a hp60 or what ff means. if people could explain it too me ide love to learn. thanks
 
If you want to run just 35's or 36's in NW terrain, build a HP(high pinion) Dana 44 front, and a 8.8 Ford or another D44 rear. Chromoly axles, good gears, and of course lockers. PM Avanteone, as he is just over here in Auburn, and has built a few sets of these axles, and might be able to give you some prices.

FF means full floater, and HP means high pinion.
 
ok yea ive read a little on high and low pinions, i heard that some older f150s have a dana 44hp in the front, does anyone know what years? What would i find the rear dana or ford 8.8 out of, i know older broncos have a 9 in. right? I ahve a friend who owns a grand wagoneer parts vehicle who said i should take a look to see if i might wont those axles. does anyone know what comes under those waggys stock?

oh and i learn more if someone explains 1 on 1 rather than reading granted reading does help if you know where to look. i just got into this a year ago when i desighned and built my 3-link wishbone setup. i actually got a few ideas from this site.
 
F250's and Bronco's had HP44's as well.

If you get one, get one with the welded on mounts, the cast ones are more of a pain to work with, unless you use the Ford arms.

You will find a 8.8 from an Explorer. Get one with the disc brakes.

AMC 20 or D44 from the Grand Wagoneer.
 
Let me see if I can help.

Mall crawling-overbuilding a jeep or truck and never taking it off the road, or driving a jeep in a grassy field, or on a gravel road and bragging to everyone at work on monday that you went "off-roading"

FF- Full floater READ THIS I hate typing http://www.off-roadweb.com/tech/0112or_semi_floating_and_full_floating_axles/

HP- High Pinion means that the pinion rides on the ring gear above the centerline of the carrier, the strength advantages depend on the particular axle and if it's in the front or rear, and high pinions can have more ground clearance, and usually can be set up to have much better pinion angles than thier low pinion counterparts.

Google and the search button is your friend. Spend a couple nights reading and soaking up as much information as you can.
 
I'm running 60/14 bolt with 36's. All 35 spline front with drive flanges. I plan on cutting the bottom out of the 14 bolt and having much better ground clearance.

I could have better ground clearance with 44's but i wont be breaking these axles if I tried. I want something that I wont worry about and still cost me the same as fully built set of 44's. Also, I like have a FF rear axle. If something goes horribly bad (R&P, Detroit,axle, etc) the tires stay on. Try that with a SF rear axle or ball joint front axle.
 
ok now that you guys probably think i have no common sence... how do i tell what dana is under a rig that i look at. is there a website somewhere with pictures or something? and what about the length of the axles, will i have to cut them to get about the same wheel base?
 
Rockslut said:
I wont worry about and still cost me the same as fully built set of 44's.
I'm pretty sure that I've spent less building my D60/14B than I did my D44's. Sure the D60 front costs more to build than a 44, but putting a 14 bolt in the rear makes up the difference... slap 200 bucks worth of disc brakes on it, throw a CHEAP detroit in(or weld it) and you are golden.
 
redrider2911 said:
ok now that you guys probably think i have no common sence... how do i tell what dana is under a rig that i look at. is there a website somewhere with pictures or something? and what about the length of the axles, will i have to cut them to get about the same wheel base?

like I said, GOOGLE is your friend. This is the first thing that comes up when you search for "Dana axle ID" http://coloradok5.com/axleguide.shtml
 
o thanks man that helps alot. my problem is typing in the right words to find what im looking for lol. now that i have more info i can get started. and as far as the whole "mall crawling" thing. my photo was taken when i was doing my presentation on my senior project. i didnt have a rti ramp so i used what i could to show what i built. i thought i did a good job and gained quite a bit of articulation. i gladly accept CONSTRUCTIVE critisism though.
 
what the hell is that supposed to mean
 
I have the D30 in front and a D44 in the rear. I am only on 33's and doubt I will even go to 35's for a number of reasons. I had a D35 before and just wanted to make sure when I take a long trip to go off-road (500+ miles) that I can make it back. I don't want to do trailering.

D60's are some heavy and strong axles. For what you are describing I would think they're a little much. But on the otherhand you buy one set of tires and then next thing you know you want 40's and then a set of D44's would be like toothpicks.

I don't know how well used axles sell if you built a D44/D44 or D44/8.8 and then wanted larger. You might find that the renumeration is great enough that getting the smaller and lighter axles pays off well enough.

It is a tough call that is hard to answer for anyone but yourself.
 
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