Yes you are wrong cause my sister's truck is a 92 4x4 auto with o/d and 3.08's so it would have to be the D61 casting. Are you saying that unless you have 3.08's that your casting would be a D60 and if you had 3.08's it would be a D61? Wouldn't they just put the same casting in all of the trucks in those years whether it had 3.08's or not?

 

Ok, thanks for clearing that up. There are no gears for a D60 offered below the 3.54 ratio.....because the housing and carrier orientation physically will not accept a pinion gear that has enough teeth on it to allow for a ratio below the 3.54 - the diameter of the pinion literally becames too large to fit in the housing and be spaced properly to the ring gear. So, the D61 casting was designed with a pinion gear bore that had additional offset away from the ring gear as compared to the D60 to allow pinions of a larger diameter to fit. It is possible that the model years that offered 3.08's may all have had D61's since a thicker D61 ring gear can be used to allow for ratios 3.54 and above in a D61. The factory may have gone this route in these model years to eliminate having to use more than one type of casting.....I know Ford did exactly this years ago.

 

Why change to anything. The 60 is holding up quite well with 800 + HP. Darren runs the Dana 60, and of any trouble he's had, the front gear aint it. Now agreed, he's not pulling, but he has run a 10.61 in the quarter mile, and that's with a 5800 lb truck. The front diff cover has never been off. Can't say that about the head though. I thought the 60 would be a weak link, also. That hasn't proved to be so. I'm not saying it won't break, it just has not yet.

..Preston..

 

I have watched stock D60's blow up and spit out parts on 2nd gens with stock engines when used off road.....they don't hold up well at all when abused in an off road environment - especially with a CTD.....very litlle load is put on the frond end when drag racing in 4 HI as compared to wheeling hard in 4 LO.

 

That's the key really. Rock crawling is a lot different than pulling or racing. Pulling and racing don't require the front axle to pull the whole truck up onto a rock with the wheel at full lock. Pulling is low traction with the wheels straight. Drag racing is high traction, but you're not trying to climb anything.

I wouldn't upgrade anything until you start breaking parts.

 

Being a rock crawler, or sorts (not pro), I'd have to agree.

Until you break what you have, I wouldn't sink a bunch of money into it.

The good kits will run ya 4 grand min. Why not run what ya got till ya break it, if ya do. You can either spend the 4 grand now, or wait and see if it is ever needed. Your choice.

Not so sure I'd put a locker in the front either...might make it hard to keep between the lines if both tires are spinning at the same rate. Steering kind don't work like that.

I have a lunchbox style locker in the rear of my RC (ramcharger), and if the front has no traction, the truck is going in the direction of the rear tires...no matter which way the front tires are pointing.

You can have the same thing happen up front if you get sideways pulling.

 

Appreciate the info.

No one has any comments on the American axles?

 

how do the 60's hold up under 4x4 doughnuts in like 1/4 of snow with 39" tires? Thats about the most abuse I give the front end.

 

If you're determined to upgrade do it right and get some 40 spline bad boys from Sandy Cone. Or call Alloy USA. This guy started Superior. Don't forget that the spindles need to bored out to fit 35 spline axles. It's not exactley a bolt on deal.


They hold up great until one of the front tires grab a dry spot and stops quick

 

Thats what I'm worried about. They grab dry spots all the time but they just keep spinning.. for now...

 

Doesn't the BBD truck use the factory housing/front axle with an ARB? Also, I saw Gus Mackareth's truck (Big Boy's Toy) and I could swear he still had the stock 60 axle, at leat the housing cause I saw the CAD. However, this is sled pulling and most of the stress is on the rear axle. Sure there's lots of stress on the front, but like yarddog said, it's low traction.

One question on manual hubs... would it hurt anything if you would put a spool in the front of, say a ford 60, and only lock one hub in for winter road driving?

 

I want to give you credit for a great install...very clean!!! But I have to ask...with all the work you did, why not use the front leafs from the donor Ford, instead of the Dodge coil suspension? It would be a LOT stronger overall. If I were to ever swap front axles, I'm going with leafs.

Jim

 

The truck would be a nightmare to steer. It would want to pull one way. I can't even describe how bad it would be to drive like that on the street.

Jim

 

thanks! it took a few weeks to gather all the parts needed, and weld it together, then about 3 hours to put it in. I would definately do it again. I spent about 800 on the axle, 150 on some braided extended brake lines (different fitting on ford axle) 40 bucks on a broke D44 to take the stock brackets off of, and I put all new ball joints in it.

 

thank you, I wanted to keep the coils because they seem to offer alot better flex and ride quality than leafs do. I would like to do coilovers and a 4 link in the rear someday, but thats a long ways away unless I win the lotto.