Dana 60 Dilemma!!!!

[greenmonsta79]

Hey guy's I have a couple questions and thoughts I would like to hash out on a Dana 60 I have and was thinking about installing in my 69 Charger, Anyway this Dana 60 was a original car axle (pinion snubber case) and it has a factory Power Lock locker the number on it was 25124X 12 6 66 B ( I take it was made 12th day 6th month of 1966?) anyway it is a 35 spline unit and has Strange axles, 4140 main caps, HD yoke, anyway I believe it was out of a B-body (I don't know many other 67 model year cars that had Dana 60's?) and I bought a Wilwood street disc brake setup for it off Ebay cheap (Used) And when I bought the axle it came with 2 other ring & pinion sets, supposedly 4.10's 4.56's and 4.88's although I think 4.10's down take a different carrier than 4.10 up, the 4.10 gears I have have a date stamp of 9-4-68 So I take it they are factory pieces, the others have numbers 80-7327-1 H (diamond) 5, and the other is 7324 G Eaton 8, and I cannot find what ratio they are, NOW! for the things I dislike, It was obviously a drag piece and the guy I got it from said it came out of a 71 Camaro so the axles are drilled for Chevy bolt pattern (no biggie easy fix) secondly the width is with the rotors on flange to flange 58" on the money and my original 8 1/4" that I pulled out of the Charger was a hair over 60" Now I am not too worried except wondering about backspacing and I guess I could run some spacers although they make me cringe for some reason! and last of all which is the worst in my opinion for some reason they shortened the axle housing and only shortened the driver side and was cut IN THE MIDDLE! my biggest worry is the axle tube snapping at that point? should I be worried about that I have never seen anyone shorten one there but the axle had a ladder bar setup, granted my Charger will not be a 900 horse beast BUT! I would like to run a Dana 60 because I like my burnouts and if I ever do a stroker motor, I am building a mild 440 for it to begin with. I have a dilemma for sure, I will try to post some pics.

 

[68sportsatelliteragtop]

Sounds like the rear was cut on the drivers side only to center the pinion in the car. On our cars the pinion is offset to the passengers side to allow clearance for the steering box and starter.I seem to recall 2 and 1/4 " maybe? I think the GM 's have the pinion centered.

 

[Cranky]

The 8 3/4 is a 'centered' rear end.....equal length axles on both sides but there is still some pinion offset on the 8 3/4 too. Have the numbers somewhere but I don't see that as a problem with it being equal. The engine and trans is offset in the cars to allow for clearance like mentioned but is also done for a bit more driver foot room in the pedal area. There are many Dana rears out there with equal length axles that are doing fine and have normal u-joint wear.....besides, drive shafts are not supposed to be in perfect alignment anyways.

 

[Coronet 500]

That shortening would trouble me too. If it was welded closer to the pumpkin I'd be more worried as it will take more stress just like a longer lever. If it's a good looking weld, probably ok but I would be more concerned about straightness. For my piece of mind I would disassemble and run a mirror down the tube to see what kind of weld penetration they got. Then find someone with an axle tube jig to check square and straightness.

 

[greenmonsta79]

Here are some pics, Another problem I found was a gear "tooth" broken I came to realize it was off one of the small gears in the locker! I did find a set on Ebay
for $100.00 and I would probably go ahead and put all new clutches while I am at it, Coronet 500, Straightness is what I am worried about and this weld looks like dog poo! Its a huge weld! I mean huge I did not see it when I bought the axle cause they had a bolted leaf spring hanger system on it with the ladder bars or I would have probably passed, I gave $700.00 for the whole shebang and after I found out it was a original Mopar car Dana 60 I felt it was a good deal.

 

[greenmonsta79]

here is the cut spot and weld

 

[Coronet 500]

Don't beat yourself up, looks like you got alot for your dollar, I probably would have bought it too. I'm going to make my best guess. These guys didn't have a jig so they found a piece of pipe to fit snug on the inside of the tube, with no chamfer to prevent penetration so they could pull the pipe out, then put a big cap weld on for strength. If it is straight after all the race beating it probably won't break. For me it would bug me every time I crawled under and saw it. Can't grind it off, so it's a tough call just what I would do. In my 70 which is tubbed and different suspension I'd use it as is but if your stock spring location and concerned about appearance I don't know. Man you really got me thinking about this now, good luck.
Just now thought of what my Dad would say if he was alive "what's your problem, it's just steel". Again good luck.

 

[68sportsatelliteragtop]

The 8 3/4 is a 'centered' rear end.....equal length axles on both sides but there is still some pinion offset on the 8 3/4 too. Have the numbers somewhere but I don't see that as a problem with it being equal. The engine and trans is offset in the cars to allow for clearance like mentioned but is also done for a bit more driver foot room in the pedal area. There are many Dana rears out there with equal length axles that are doing fine and have normal u-joint wear.....besides, drive shafts are not supposed to be in perfect alignment anyways.

I just checked an 8 3/4 rear and with equal length axle the center of the pinion is just about 2" offset to the passenger side. The drivetrain is offset an equal amount between the shock towers. Although you want somewhere around 5 degrees total driveshaft misalignment, that should be up/down not side to side.As the rear suspension travels the angle will change, the alignment between the output shaft and pinion should be straight.

 

[greenmonsta79]

Coronet 500, I think we are thinking about alike on it, I realize its probably strong but my theory on the way it was setup was latter bars and my thinking is it transfers the power differently than when you use a pinion snubber, with the pinion snubber I think it would apply more torsional force on those axle tubes than when used with a ladder bar setup because the snubber is trying to lift the back end of the car up? I think I will just make sure the inside of the weld looks good and then weld on some spring perches. I would really like to get another driver axle tube and cut it to the correct length and have it installed and get another axle made, I think I will call Strange and ask but I have a felling I will have another $700.00 in it doing that!!!

 

[greenmonsta79]

I found the bill of materials (BOM) numbers on the right axle housing and I can't find what its out of but the numbers are 12-28-6A 602829 2 from the info I believe being made in 1966 it would be out of a 1967 B-body, but all the numbers I can find start in 68' so that's the best I can tell.

 

[Coronet 500]

Hey Green, I've been thinking about this and the biggest issue, I believe, is centering the pinion with the engine/trans not overall width. Also grinding off that weld. Installing a full tube is not something I would do as it is pressed in and plug welded I believe. My idea is to drill the tube near the weld at 4 spots, press in another sleeve inside and plug weld those holes. The weld could be ground off and then add Man it sounds hoaky reading as I type, maybe just cut it off at the weld press in a tube and add another to get your length. Anybody got other ideas.

 

[HEMI-ITIS]

You have 2 choices,repair gears and slam it ito the car,or just buy a dana and be done.A stock Dana can handle ALOT of power.

 

[Cranky]

The axle bearings are not supposed to see gear lube at all....and a little bit of side to side drive shaft angle won't hurt a thing.

Also, the tube thickness is 1/4" and if they put a weld bevel on it, you should be ok. I ran an Dana that was done similar in a 3300 lb car going 10.60's....and it was ground smooth after welding.

 

[greenmonsta79]

Coronet, I think your way with it sleeved inside would be the best/cheapest repair, BUT I measured the centerline of the trans tunnel and the Dana does have some offset on the center chunk, I believe I would be off 3/4" from true center line, to me that does not sound bad? I will be running 15x8.5" Vectors so it may work in my favor a bit with the wheels sitting in the wheel tubs better.
I measured 58" across the rear and it looks like the brake rotor flange is perfectly lined up with the split in the inner and outer wheel houses, So I think I will take the gears out of it and install the 4.10 set that came with it, rebuild the locker and weld on some new spring perches and as far as the weld on the axle if anyone gives me any lip about it I will ask them when they will be buying me a new axle housing!!:icon_winkle:

 

[Coronet 500]

Sounds good to me. Glad you have a plan.

 

[greenmonsta79]

Sorry for the thread re-hash, I had taken the axle completely apart a couple weeks back and found that tooth that was broken, was no where to be found every single gear in the whole locker and pinion and ring gear were all intact !!
So that must have been from a long time ago but I did notice on the Dana 60 they have big pockets that go up in by the pinion area and the only thing I can think of that piece had been hiding up in there all these years and when I flipped it over on the jack stands I jarred it loose, I don't get lucky like that everyday! Anyway moral of this posting story IS I had listed the axle for sale or trade for a 8 3/4 suregrip axle, and I had a couple guys wanting to trade me one out of a 1970 Super Bee in Seymour,IN anyway long story short I told them it had been shortened and everything about it need perches welded on and Chevy bolt pattern "Oh no problem I have some draglites will be perfect" well I was going to deliver axle to them today, I call yesterday and the guy says something about looks like it was out of a Camaro, I told him yeah I told you three times it was out of a drag car on the phone yesterday he hangs up rudely on me. Anyway Im pissed cause I am not a fool and my time is worth something, so I call him back he answers and tells me how he got on a site and I was going to screw him cause he got on some site (FBBO) and it had a broken tooth and was shortened (I had told him about it being shortened) and he then tells me I will be lucky to have someone haul it off for free cause it was out of a Camaro!!!! Idiot, supposed Mopar guy YEAH RIGHT!!! Anyway moral of my story is I should have got on here and posted earlier that I found no broken teeth and updated it.
All I know is there are a two brothers in Freetown,IN with a sublime green/ black 440 1970 Dodge Super Bee you don't want anything to do with cause they are leg pullers and very rude. (Oh by the way after the grief trying to sell the Dana 60 I have decided on keeping it!!!)

 

[Coronet 500]

Sorry to here that, never stop being honest. From what I've seen, I'd put it in my '70.

 

[greenmonsta79]

Coronet, I was pretty PO'd because I am truthful in anything I find and for someone to call me a liar and say I was trying to screw them gets me very upset mostly because I was raised to be truthful and be fair on everything! But I have a feeling these two old guy's had nothing better to do than play me from the get go. Oh well, as I said I am done with the million question game trying to sell it, I am going to keep it and feel I will be better off in the long run!!

 

[69rtse4spd]

Dana

You could call Mike at Mosers in Portland, & ask him about retubing the Dana. He is a nice guy & should be able to set you straight.

 

[greenmonsta79]

Yeah 69 I was thinking about seeing about doing that and if I go that route then I will just get a longer axle and put it back to stock width.