My Dana 60 Thread

[Dieselboy]

Okay, so here goes.

Phase 1: steering axle with crossover, no guts
Phase 2: Detroit, 4.88s, 35 spline all the way

Tonight, I just pressed out the wheel studs, drove out the old races and hub spacer, put them throught the parts washer, and called it good. Most of this week with be spent cleaning and prepping the axle for a weekend install (if the rest of the parts make it in time). :crossingfingers:

http://www.oliverdiesel.com/images/d60/rebuildparts1.jpg
http://www.oliverdiesel.com/images/d60/pressingstuds1.jpg
http://www.oliverdiesel.com/images/d60/hubclean.jpg

[waorth]

Hi David,

nice mod for the Sub!
Although there're still a few goodies for the D60 (dedenbear steering knuckles, CTM U-joints etc.), the 35spline upgrade should last forever I presume ;)

Weakest point now will be 1310 yoke front and the NP208 guts.

Replacing the old king pins could be a hard job. After some trying and inspection, I decided to keep them in place and just replace bushings and springs.

How do you fit your 15inch wheels over the mighty D60 brakes (and your 14b drums in the rear)?

Did you fabricate the crossover yourself or ordered it?

Keep us informed about the works!

Regards,
Walter

[dieselcrawler]

David,
If you arn't gonna have any stub axles inside the spindle, be sure to seal it up, stuff a rag in there, or something... if you drive in any rain or mud, I'm sure it will get in your wheel berrings if you don't... otherwise, sounds like a good plan... hope all goes well. I hope to do a cross over change on my K-5 some time this winter. I have most of the parts, just not the time.

Greg

[Dieselboy]

waorth:
I don't wheel like a comp rig, so hopefully stock knuckles should last a while. I have a 1350 yoke sitting right here next to me, too.

My kingpins look in good enough shape, and according to my shop manual should only be replaced if there is visible pitting ot deformations. I'll probably just polish them up.

Crossover is from Offroad Design:
http://www.offroaddesign.com/Dana60crossover.htm

My wheels clear the 14FF drums without any problems, and here's how they will fit on the front:
http://coloradok5.com/d60calipergrind.shtml

Crawler:
I've got some factory grease caps with o-rings for the hubs.

[Dieselboy]

Progress was slight, but good. The pinion was severely damaged, and couldn't be removed by conventional means. The plasma cutter did well. I then put the diff through the parts washer.

One of my bearing hubs has the internal splines flattened. I spent some time fixing that. Using a locking hub as a pattern, I filed the splines by hand.

I'm dropping the axle off to get the kingpins replaced - we'll see how that goes.
http://www.oliverdiesel.com/images/d60/cleaningdiff1.jpg
http://www.oliverdiesel.com/images/d60/damagedhub.jpg
http://www.oliverdiesel.com/images/d60/oldpinion.jpg
http://www.oliverdiesel.com/images/d60/oldkingpin1.jpg

[john8662]

David,

I have my D60 from a M1008, but I found it has problems too. Do you have any idea what would be thrashed in the axle if input shaft (pinion) has play, it has back and forward, and side to side play, and the pinion seal is leaking badly. Any ideas what I might be up against? I know a good mechanic that rebuilds rear ends, I just want a heads up, to maybe buy parts etc and then pay for labor.

[Dieselboy]

It might not be so bad. Damage varies directly with the amount of play that there is in the pinion and how hard it was driven while damaged. Side to side is bad, but fore and aft is worse.

My axle had a trashed ring and pinion, and since the pinion was physically able to move forward and contact the carrier, it died, too. Apparently, the PO then proceded to continue driving on the axle, and heated the bearings to the point that they came apart. Nice.

It's likely you're not this far along. Pull the cover, and check every tooth on the ring and pinion. Back off the pinion nut to replace the seal, and go ahead and pull to pinion to check the condition of the bearings. Look for excessive heat on the cage, and a discoloration on the race. Hopefully you see nothing but shiny steel.

At the least, you get a new seal, and retorque the pinion nut. Bearings start to get expensive since installation must be factored in.

An install kit (carrie bearings, pinion bearins, marking compound, shims, pinion nut, etc.) is $150 for the good stuff. Expect to pay up to $450 for a shop to install a set of gears, which Spicer originals run for $169.

[Dieselboy]

Finished filing down the 55 internal splines to make the locking hub fit (it's tedious work), and went to Napa to pick up the following:

* New 'merican made brake calipers
* New brake pads
* Got the rotors turned
* New steering rag joint
* New 2wd Chevy box

I still have to get the right nut and lockwasher for the new steering box shaft since my old 4wd box doesn't have that to swap over. ORD shipped the crossover steering yesterday, so it should be here Friday. I'm still waiting on spindle studs and nuts to be drop shipped from Dana.

Also, phase 2 of the project no longer exists. I'm just going ahead and building the axle as a whole. That negates an installation for this weekend, but it will be nice to have this axle done and turning in the coming months.

[Dieselboy]

The crossover steering came today...juicy. I picked up the axle with two brand new kingpings installed and torqued to 500 ft-lbs. I cleaned the housing with a wire wheel attachment, and shot a quick coat of paint.

One thing I noticed as I was wire-wheeling: the date on the axle from the junkyard was 11-6-01; this has been an ongoing project for some time. Gotta love a student budget. :rolleyes:

pics tomorrow

[Dieselboy]

Just a few pics. I picked up the special jam nut that holds the pitman arm onto the shaft - Genuine GM nut - $8. Immediate plans are to get everything painted, fab some dust cups (the 6 bolt thingys), and get everything ready to hang on the alxe - press in races, grind the calipers for 15" wheels, etc.

Longer term is to order the Detroit, install some 4.88s, and then we're dangerously close to getting it under the truck.

Here's a couple, but there's more: http://www.oliverdiesel.com/images/d60/

Bling!!!
http://www.oliverdiesel.com/images/d60/ordarm.jpg
http://www.oliverdiesel.com/images/d60/painted.jpg

[C.K. Piquup]

Usually that play and/or damage starts out as bad carrier and/or pinion bearings.Which actually starts out as bad lubrication.Play gets bad enough and"contact!".That`s gonna be one bad axle under your`Burb.

[Dieselboy]

My roommate and I spent the afternoon cleaning a lot of parts. Turns out, they had a lot of rust. The housing got a second coat of semi-gloss black, and other parts got their paint. It really hurt to paint the ORD steering arm since the machining was so pretty. I also took some time and pressed in the races.

I hope to finish work early tomorrow, and get more done. I'll have to wait a week for some money to order the last parts - the detroit, outer kit, 1350 pinion, and seals.

Not much to show. It's just nice to have some parts that are starting to look as pretty as they are beefy.
http://www.oliverdiesel.com/images/d60/paintedordarm.jpg
http://www.oliverdiesel.com/images/d60/newraces.jpg

[Dieselboy]

I drove in the last remaining races for the bearing hubs and kingpins. I started fabbing the six bolt dust cup things, but have to wait for the spindle studs and nuts to make sure I make them big enough. I cut some sch 40 to make zerk protectors for the lower kingpin caps. Some more parts got cleaned and painted. Some of the wheel studs were damaged, so if we have the tap and die I can fix them, but I may end up with new stuff anyway.

http://www.oliverdiesel.com/images/d60/kingpinrace.jpg
http://www.oliverdiesel.com/images/d60/dustboot1.jpg
http://www.oliverdiesel.com/images/d60/zerkprotector.jpg

[Dieselboy]

4.88s, and all the bearings.
http://www.oliverdiesel.com/images/d60/488gearsandbearings.jpg

[NH2112]

Nice! I have pics of my long-interrupted Dana 44 front/FF 14-bolt rear rebuild on my ImageStation page, but I'd toss the D44 in a heartbeat for a D60 :D

[ 01-19-2005, 04:30 PM: Message edited by: NH2112 ]

[Dieselboy]

More stuff:
</font> Got the Spicer 35 spline outers</font> Warn premiums</font> 5-806X cold joints</font> PSC rock ring</font> Spicer spindle studs and nuts</font>
The Detroit should arrive soon, and then it's awn!

http://www.oliverdiesel.com/images/d60/outerkit.jpg

[Dieselboy]

The Detroit, 1350 yoke, and axle seals arrived today.
http://www.tamor.org/members-rigs/albums/Diesel-Stuff/detroit.jpg

[Dieselboy]

The Detroit, gears, and inner seals are in. I also had my front shaft reworked to have a 1350 front yoke. Friday night I pressed in some axle shaft joints.

The pattern is perfectly centered with .050 under the front pinion bearing and the backlash is set tight at .006.

http://www.oliverdiesel.com/images/d60/d60pattern.jpg
http://www.oliverdiesel.com/images/d60/seals.jpg

[ 02-06-2005, 09:44 PM: Message edited by: Dieselboy ]

[Dieselboy]

My father and brother came down for the weekend, so we can all participate in "the great axle swap."

We just had a couple of hours last night, so we setup, and everything is reado so that we can drop the axle first thing this morning.

More to come...

[Dieselboy]

Done...kinda.

The axle is in, and it turns and steers well. The crossover steering was a great addition, and provides tons more control without as much feedback.

Left to do:
</font> New longer yet brake lines ~40"</font></font> Cut, thread, and adjust tie rod for appropoiate toe-in</font></font> Adjust drag link to center steering wheel</font></font> Wheel it!</font>
The new Spicer spindle and new Timken bearing required some help to fit together. In addition to filing and polishing the ridge the inner wheel bearing has to fit over, we packed the spindle in dry ice before installing the bearing hub to shrink it. Installation was easy after all that.
http://www.oliverdiesel.com/images/d60/done.jpg
http://www.oliverdiesel.com/images/d60/dryice.jpg
http://www.oliverdiesel.com/images/d60/dryicepacking.jpg

[john8662]

David,

I'm following your D60 build and install to apply this info towards building one for my burb too. Right now the D60 is still underneath the M1008, it's going to be mid summer before I get to that project (and maybe win the lottery). Anyways, You mentioned getting longer brake line made, do you have a source for steel braded brake lines or is this something custom a local shop is doing for you? Great work and documentation!

[Dieselboy]

There are some local vendors that I am going to try and get to build me some lines.

There are a few places on the internet, too, but one place you might consider is NAPA. They have lines as long as 25" I've heard. I'll see if I can dig up some part numbers.

[Dieselboy]

Here are the 36" stainless lines I had made. I also got a new 24"er for the rear brakes, too. I used an adel clamp on the shock tube to keep the extra long lines from being grabbed by the lugs on the tire.

http://www.oliverdiesel.com/images/d60/newlines.jpg

http://www.oliverdiesel.com/images/d60/brakelinein.jpg

The crossover draglink just barely clears the Banks crossover pipe, and has had a tendency to become polished at the bend over the axle's first week of service.

http://www.oliverdiesel.com/images/d60/tooshort.jpg

I'll flex out the suspension here in the next few days and see how everything works. I'm looking forward to wheeling again.

Plenty more photos here (http://www.oliverdiesel.com/images/d60/).

[Dieselboy]

Final Report:

I installed the new 1.5" .25 wall DOM tie-rod, and gave the truck a proper alignment with 1/8" toe in. It actually drove fairly well pigeon toe'd.

The driver side locking hub is engaging as I go down the road. The 35 spline D70 stubs are just a hair longer than the 30 spline stockers. I will have to clearance the end of the stub, and if that doesn't work, I'll use the Warn dials that have a set screw to prevent uncommanded engagement/disengagement.

I took the chance to actually use the new axle, and tried crossing the drainage ditch in front of work. I hit it at all the wrong angles. The ground was way too soft, and my ATs gummed up in short order. I'll try it again when things are dry. Also, I want 37s.
http://www.oliverdiesel.com/images/d60/flexposing1.jpg
http://www.oliverdiesel.com/images/d60/flexposing3.jpg

[waorth]

Nice flex! smile.gif

[dieselcrawler]

David,
I've been halfway keepin' up with your story here, but not untill tonight had the time to sit down and read it all in detail. Nice work, good attention to detail all the way...
Got a couple of things that I wanted to ask/comment on...
Longer brake lines: I was able to relocate the stock hose, as in, under the frame, just behind the bump stop. My truck had a riveted-on bracket that the end of the stock line mounted in, it was easy to move it closer to the knuckle and caliper and use the stock line, with new hard lines. All it took is drilling another hole in the bump stop bracket, and a bolt. I needed to replace the hard lines anyway, so for my low buck ol' truck, it works. I have just enough slack in the stock flex lines for full suspention travel. My limiting factor is shocks... which I noticed in the brake line pic's, you have longer shocks on the front, in a non-stock hanger/location. What did you use, shocks, and hangers?
Cross over steering is something I hope to have done to my K-5 by Memorial Day Weekend. Did you have to use a spacer between the right knuckle and the steering arm/cap? Do you have a better pic of the 'drag link' and turbo cross-over pipe interferance, as well as the bend you had to put in the drag link? Can it be done with out a bend, or do you need to use a drop pitman arm on the steering gear box? I like the diff cover guard you have... you make it also?

Keep up the good work! Too bad you're on the other side of the country, would be cool to hit a few trails with you... and you're right, you do need (at least) 37's! *grin*

Greg

[Dieselboy]

Greg,

I trimmed up some Ford shock towers and mounted up some RS9012s. They have about 13" of total travel, and I'm bottoming that out. I'm thinking of upgrading to longer still yellow Bilsteins.

For the crossover, as long as you aren't running more than 6" of lift or so, then you don't have to use a spacer. The draglink can be straight, but there tends to be interference with the engine cross member on full passenger-side suspension compression. I know there's more pictures; just search the folder: http://www.oliverdiesel.com/images/d60/

The pitman arm is an early Ford arm, so there's some drop built in there, too. The diff guard is from Poison Spider Customs.

It would be nice to hit a few trails with a fellow diesel guy. I guess I'll just have to see you at the rendezvous.

Plans for the tires:
37x12.50 R17 BFG MTs on 17" H2 rims with late style chevy center caps, but that's money down the line, and I'm still playing catch up from this last round of new toys.

[K10ANDY]

very cool . You should really trim those U-Bolt though ....

[C.K. Piquup]

This is great,thanks for posting these details.I recently picked-up two sets of D60f/14boltFFs.1 w/4.10 open and 1 w/4.56 tru-trac/locker.One set(4.10)for one of my`72K/20s and the other for...not sure.I have too many ideas to say at this point:K/5,Short-bed...???

[jcomp]

Well, now that it's been a while, do you have a long term update? How are the 4.88s? What kind of mileage are you getting? How's the crossover steering holding up? Have you had your truck weighed since the D60 swap?

I'm considering moving all my driveline parts to a Suburban in the near future, with the exception of converting to an overdrive manual trans. I'm interested in hearing in what you did that you like and what you would do differently.

[Dieselboy]

Mileage was solid at 15 until I parked it for the summer. The truck has set idle for the last five months as I retrofit a serpentine belt system and upgrade to 37s with H2 wheels. There's no mileage to report with the new tires as they have logged one trip around the block. I can report on how the engine likes the new setup in a few more months.

The steering is great! In May, I went on a trip to go rockcrawling. I could steer with the suspension bound up all the way, and the front detroit worked well. 4.88s crawl well.

I don't have a number for weight, but it should be somewhere around 8500 unloaded.

I'm not sure I would change anything at this point. I wish I had moved to monotube Bilsteins earlier - Ranchos suck! I have a combination I like, and though I may make a few small adjustments here and there, it will largely stay the same.

[gmctd]

Your website still up, David?

Gotta personal email fer ya....

[Dieselboy]

Sure is, JD.

david@oliverdiesel.com