Dana 60 Questions....67 and 68/69

[Suregrip391]

Does anyone have any first hand knowledge if a 68/69 Dana will fit in a 67 GTX? I know the 68/69 are about 3/4” wider but when running stick 14” road wheels will this be an issue? The rest of the suspension is bone stock.

also, can you cut down stock 68/69 axle shafts on a regular metal chop saw? How much is too much? Do I need to worry about spline engagement if only chopping less then 1/2” off each? The reason I ask I’d because I have a truck housing that I want to cut down to 67 specs to fit my 67 GTX but I have 68/69 Dana axles already, should I build a 68/69 Dana or cut the axles down and build a 67 Dana if possible?
Thanks,

 

[Fran Blacker]

Here's a chart of Dana widths. Chart says 67 housing 11/16" narrower than a 68. So you cut housing to 67 width and you'd need to cut 11/32" off each axle so you can set side play, unless you use green bearings. Check my calculations!!

 

[Fran Blacker]

If you cut a 1/2" off axles and used tapered/stock bearings you'd never be able to set axle side play.

 

[Suregrip391]

Hi Fran, I would use green bearings. I guess I was asking if that’s how it’s done and can you? Using a chop saw and would there be enough spline engagement after cutting? I’d prefer to make the truck housing a 67 clone as it’s narrower and should not have any issues.

 

[Fran Blacker]

If you have a powerlock and remove the thrush button that you don't need with GBearings you might not need to cut anything? I wouldn't cut a 1/2". That 11/32" cut would allow you to go back to tapered axle bearings. Cutting axles could be checked in a mock up or last minute thing.

 

[Cranky]

Man, the 66-67 rears differ from the 68-70 rears very little.....and imo, not enough to worry about. Heck, even year to year and car to car axes differ!! Now if you go with the one piece side gears/splines, don't worry about axle length being much of a problem if they don't vary very much.

 

[Suregrip391]

My concern is the width seeing that the 66/67 cars have such a tight space for wheels as it is. I did not want to make a 68-70 length rear and not have it fit.

So if cutting down the 68-69 axles is a go, then I’ll just cut down the truck housing to the narrower 67 style and be done with it.

Fran.. the 1/2” number was just a number I tossed out there because when I made my post I knew the 67 Dana was about 3/4” shorter overall. I would not take 1/2” off each. Like you said above, 11/32 off each should suffice.

I would be using the 23 spline power lok to match up with the 23 spline 68/69 axles.