Dana 60 Front

[moparman336]

im thinkin im gonna have to find a dana 60 front for my 68 W200. from what year dodge can i take one from and what gear ratio did they come with. did they only come in the cummins trucks? what kinda price should i be expecting to pay for one as i know they are kinda rare.

[712edf]

My 78 W200 club cab has one. It came from the factory with a 400. As far as I can tell the Dana 60 front showed up in Dodges in 75, Mainly in the W300's but some W200's (like mine) had them as well. I think a W200 is more likely to have a Dana 60 front if its a crew cab, or at least club cab.

Dually trucks use a different front hub than the single rear wheel trucks.

The full time trucks (75-80) have drive flanges, later trucks have selectable lockers. I've heard of CAD Dana 60's, haven't seen them.

Prices go from $400 up to over $1300 depending on if its straight out of a junker or has been gone through end to end.

4:10 is most common ratio.....3:54,4:56,4:88 are out there too

Bucky

[digdoug]

93 was the last year for the passenger side drop.

[dodgydan]

from what i can remember the ball joint style dana 60 was avail. on mid 70's and up 3/4T dodges and one T's..
91-93 3/4T and one T. diesel dodges had the stronger king pin style dana 60 front width dana 70 rears
most com. gears were the 4:10 for gas trucks and 3:54 for the diesels the spring with was all the same,
and the axle width aswell, but the used different ubolts and clamp plates and a couple studs on diff side.
the shock mounts also moved to the rear side of axle following the shackles being moved to the rear of the springs.
you can leave the shackle mount at the front, but its best to move the shock mount to the front of the axle tube aswell.
but the beniffits are stronger axle and power disk brakes!

[moparman336]

on the one ton diffs dont the dana 60's have a different hub design where a regular 8 bolt rim can not bolt up? how could i get around that if thats the case.

[712edf]

on the one ton diffs dont the dana 60's have a different hub design where a regular 8 bolt rim can not bolt up? how could i get around that if thats the case.

The one-tons front hubs have a "spacer" bolted on to the hub to compensate for the "dually" style wheels and their offset. A regular 8-lug 3/4 ton wheel might bolt onto this hub, but will stick out about 4" too far because of the difference in backspacing between dually & regular design wheels.

I don't know if this "spacer" can be removed and if so would it leave you with a normal 8-lug front or not. I am fairly certain that the rest of the axle is the same whether it came off a dually or single wheel truck.

Dodge did make some 1 ton 4wd's around 88-93 that were single rear wheel.

Probably the easiest place to find a 75-93 era Dana 60 front from a Dodge would be the 89-93 cummins W250 (3/4 ton). This would not be the dually type & would have the selectable locking hubs (internal type). Trouble is the motor makes these trucks pricey & folks drive them til they basically are destroyed. Go to a livestock auction. You WILL see one of these trucks in the parking lot.

Bucky

[712edf]

If you find a Dana 60 with a 3:07 ratio I have been told to AVOID them. It's refered to as a Dana 61 in is reportedly not up to snuff like the rest of them. I personally don't know.

Bucky

[moparman336]

yea old dodges seem to go forever. in my town of 40,000 people you cant drive two blocks without seeing a 70's or 80's dodge truck driving around. the drivetrains go forever but the bodies are a different story. really tough to get parts around here because everyone still drives em. we dont got any inspections here and you dont need a title to liscense thats why i drive so many old trucks. but i do know where to find a dana60 without any hubs for $1200 seems a little high for me. thanks for all the info. now i guess i just gotta save a bit of money and keep my eyes open.

[712edf]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... gory=33731

This is sorta what you want. I believe it would bolt in without much issue, other than yearly differences with brakes,steering,etc. You must have same ratio in front & rear.

I prefer the 70's style Dana 60 front that has the drive flanges, which can be replaced with selectro style selectable locking hubs for use with part-time transfer cases. My 78 Dana 60 is king-pin style if I recall correctly. I need to take some pics and put it up.

I found 3-4 more Dodge version Dana 60 fronts on ebay tonight. You DON'T want anything after 1993, since they moved the pumkin to the wrong side of the truck in 94.

bucky

[crusty]

I am building my truck with a 91 cummins axle. THey have the same spring pad width and bolt pattern. It is a kingpin axle with selectable hubs.

[moparman336]

okay this weekend i found two dana 60 fronts. one is from an 82 dodge one ton crew cab shortbox with a 360 and np435 with i believe a 205. im hoping to buy the whole truck if its cheap enough i offered $1000 and the guy said it seemed reasonable. im waiting till the guys dad gets home in a couple weeks to get the final answer. im not sure the ratio and he said there is a vibration in the front if you hit a bump.
and i also found a dana 60 front out of a 87 chev one ton crew cab with a 4.10 gear. also comes with gm 14 bolt rear and a married four speed manual with a 205 t-case. and the chev junk all together he wants $800 and its all in good working order when taken out. the diffs spin but i couldnt spin the tranny or t-case since they have sat outside for a few years. i measured and it seems between the spring pads are half an inch wider. do you think i could put it to use. or should i buy the chev stuff and put it on ebay. think i could make a little coin on the stuff.
i would hate to use chev stuff but do you think i could reweld the one spring perch over half an inch. i forgot to measure, is the axle overall length any different?

[712edf]

Personally I wouldn't bother with the chevy stuff. If it was dirt cheap then yeah maybe try resell it, but its a buyer's market for alotta items. Does the Dodge crew cab run?

Bucky

[moparman336]

the 360 used to run well but he said it was hard to start one day then it just died in the field. he thinks it might have been the timing chain. but i hope i get it. its rust free and fully loaded. even has power windows. im gonna feel guilty taking the diff from her. i was checking my dodge books and it seems the truck should have 4.56 gears

[RussRoth]

i also found a dana 60 front out of a 87 chev one ton crew cab with a 4.10 gear. i would hate to use chev stuff but do you think i could reweld the one spring perch over half an inch.

GM didn't build the front axle, Dana did. Basically the same axle as in a Dodge.

[soopernaut]

For a rear axle, many hardcore offroaders prefer the GM 14 bolt over any Dana axle.

[moparman336]

i picked up the 82 dodge this weekend for $1000, turns out she just needed a tuneup and she runs like a top. sad part is the dana 60 front is completely worn out. there was about half a cup of fluid in it and the bearings are so worn out i could lift the pinion up and down about half an inch. the gears were extremely pitted and sharp. plus all the needles in the u-jounts on the axleshafts were gone. only good thing is the kingpins seem solid. i cant believe how poor my luck has been. so im wondering maybe if i could pick up that chev diff and see if i can steal the gears and bearings out of it if the spline count is the same. or maybe even put the entire chev diff in my 68 truck. one of my buddies said i could leave the wider chev spring perches and just move the rear mounts on my frame inward a little. he said jeep guys do it for a little more stability kinda acts like a swaybar to have the springs pointing in on one end. im thinking im gonna pick up the chev diff this weekend and if i dont use it my buddy wants it. does anyone have any food for thought on this.

[moparman336]

i picked up the chev dana 60 front diff a couple weeks ago and i took some measurements and they are extremely similar. the center of leaf to center of leaf was 32 3/4 inches where the dodge is 32 inches. the chev spring perch on the passenger side is 3 inches wide so i will be able to cheat is over a bit since a dodge leaf spring is only 2 1/2 inches wide. and the drivers side perch can be cut and rewelded over 3/8 of a inch if need be.
the hub to hub measurement is 69 inches where a dodge is 67 inches, so what if the tires stick outta the fenders and extra inch on each side.
the axle came out of a 79 chev one ton. it is a kingpin diff with disc brakes that look extremely similar to a dodge. has spicer manual locking hubs, and already has a steering stabilizer from the factory. came with 4.10 gears and are the same set as in a dodge according to part numbers.
so things are looking up but i just found out im going for 3rd year electrical training in march so i gotta save for school. so the project is on hold until summer

[runcharger]

Do you still have the worn out Dodge D-60? PM me if you want to get rid of it.

Thanks
Sheldon

[moparman336]

yea i still have it but its not for sale. the truck still works good in 2wd so im driving it a little. i will eventually get around to rebuilding it, nothing a little bit of money wont fix. but if you stumble across and old chev dana 60 you should be able to use it with a few mods.

[75pwrwgn]

I put an 82 dana 60 under my 75 powerwagon to replace the big nut dana 44 unit. Also machined out the inside of the hub to accept an oil seal rather then the original grease boot. Drilled and tapped the hubs to accept a plug. Fill it with gear oil and and you have oil bath hubs. Much easier to maintain then the grease when you get into water/mud. Just drain and refill. Biggest problem to date was a bout of breaking the milemarker flanges. Hasn't happened for a while but I carry a large gear clamp and piece of heavy plastic as a trail fix in case of a re-occurence.

75pwrwgn