Dana 60 rear swap

[mwouda]

Has anyone narrowed a Dana 60 for a narrow trac CJ. I am looking to upgrade my M20 and have found this 60 pretty cheap. Are parts available, like axles and disc brakes for a jeep setup. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[tufcj]

Depends on what 60 you get. If it's a 30 spline, the axle shafts are no bigger than a 44. Axle shafts will be custom, and you will have to run 8 lug, and probably 16" wheels. You add a huge amount of unsprung weight, and unless you shave the housing, you lose ground clearance.

I've been running a 44 with 37" tires for several years. I have tweaked the splines on one axle, but haven't broken anything yet. I can sometimes clear obstacles where a 60 will drag. I am pretty conservative with the skinny pedal, but I've also run some of the hardest trails around (Rubicon 2X, and the Dakota Challenge 3X), so I'm no slouch either.

I do have a Dana 60-2 from an early 1970s Jeep J truck. It's a 35 spline, 1.5" axle shaft semi floater with 5 on 5.5" bolt pattern. I plan on narrowing it one day to widetrack CJ, and it will also get shaved. I'm running a narrowed Dana 44HD up front, because I did break the Dana 30 several times (hubs, u-joints, and a carrier).

Bob
tufcj

[jeepsr4ever]

I run a 60" wide dana 60 in the rear of one of my ZJ's. You can run down to a 5 on 5.5 but you will pay $500 for the hub combo. You can get one size fits all shaft (in three sizes ) From Randy's ring and peanut and you can upgrade the rear to 35 spline. After tearing up dana 44's and bending ford 9" housings I never looked back. I think Bob is on borrowed time on his Dana 44 ( )

[J4GRAND]

I do have a Dana 60-2 from an early 1970s Jeep J truck. It's a 35 spline, 1.5" axle shaft semi floater with 5 on 5.5" bolt pattern.

Tufcj- any possibility you'd want to sell that axle? I have a 73 J4000 that it would go into perfectly.

[tufcj]

I had to look long and hard to find it, they really are pretty rare. I only have the housing and axle shafts. There are no gears, carrier, or brake parts. I'm really not looking to sell it, as it's future home is in my CJ.

Bob
tufcj

[JERSEYJOE]

I RECENTLY PICKED UP A DANA 60 HD WITH 35 SPLINE AXLES AND I AM PLANNING ON RUNNING IT IN THE REAR OF MY CJ.

I AM NOT TALENTED ENOUGH TO NARROW IT MYSELF SINCE IT IS MORE INVOLVED THAT DOING THE FRONT DANA 44 WHICH IS A LOT EASIER.

QUESTION : IF I NEED TO NARROW IT WILL THEY PULL THE TUBES OUT OF THE CENTER SECTION, CUT AND REINSTALL, OR CUT THE OUTER FLANGES OFF AND REWELD THEM?

[tufcj]

Probably depends on the shop. My 44 is narrowed, they cut the "bells" off the end, then cut out a chunk of the tube, and re-welded the bells. Been that way for 5+ years and lots of hard 'wheeling with no problems.

Bob
tufcj

[JERSEYJOE]

I GUESS YOU COULD DO IT EITHER WAY. I AM GOING TO DO THE DANA 44 FRONT WITH SOME HELP FOR ANOTHER FORUM. REALLY QUITE EASY. THE REAR IS DIFFERENT. I GUESS IF YOU CUT OFF THE AXLE SIDE FLANGES YOU WOULD NEED SOME SORT OF JIG TO INSURE THAT THE FLANGES ARE PERFECTLY ALIGNED DURING THE WELD ING PROCESS. I KNOW SOME PLACED CAN RETUBE A REAR SO THEY MUST BE ABLE TO REMOVE THE TUBES FROM THE CENTER SECTION.

[tufcj]

I watched one shop do a rear the way mine was done (cutting the tubes). They had a 1" diameter rod that was true to like .001". They had 4 pucks with a 1" center hole, and an OD that matched the bearing diameter of the carrier and outer bearings. Tubes were cut on a band saw, then the pucks put in in place of bearings and carrier bearing caps installed. They slid the rod all the way thru the 4 pucks to align everything on a near perfect center line. Final welding was all done with a TIG.

Bob
tufcj

[jerry]

We narrow a coup;e 44 front and rears the front we cut outside off got it the right leight heated the knuckle up used a gage till exspand to fit back on the tube let it cool and weld it.

the back we had a piece made that a 44 hub bolt to and put it on and weld it we had to have axle made.

My son shorten the inside axle on the fount and weld it he broke one he has been running them about a year. He is not easy on things . He has twitched the spline on the rear ones he had made.

Jerry