Which dana to use in road runner(71)

[Lazarus]

I am only referring to the dana 60's 9 1/4. I know they can be found in various trucks, vans and suv's.

 

[Cranky]

Hey Budnicks, how much does that aluminum 8 3/4 center section cost? Is that the MP one? I've only seen one for sale by an individual that was still unused but he wanted pretty near new price for it....which wasn't cheap. Imo, by the time you beef up the 8 3/4 to take the abuse, you'll have just about as much money in it as you would a 60. A buddy and I used to run a Super Street car back in the early 80's using the 8 3/4 and we lunched a few before going to a 60. The only things non stock in it were the gears and spool and we ran it for nearly a year before the tech guy at the local track finally took a look at the thing and realized we were not running aftermarket axles in it. He was so used to the car that he figured we had what was supposed to be in it and never gave it a good look. Total cost of that rear was 100 bucks for a B body unit plus a set of gears and the spool which we found at a swap meet for 150 NIB...and the housing was empty. Yeah, that was in the early 80's now but from time to time, you can find NIB stuff like that. You may not have the time to do that but it was part of our lives to hit all that kind of stuff and even my wife likes going to them and we enjoyed doing it. Btw, I hear the MP aluminum chunk isn't worth the money it costs. Is that true?

 

[Budnicks]

That's a Chrysler 9.25" not a Dana 60, try reading this among other Google search stuff for 9.25" Rear axles... www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=609071 or also parts suppliers like, http://coloradok5.com/axleguide.shtml

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Hey Budnicks, how much does that aluminum 8 3/4 center section cost? Is that the MP one? I've only seen one for sale by an individual that was still unused but he wanted pretty near new price for it....which wasn't cheap. Imo, by the time you beef up the 8 3/4 to take the abuse, you'll have just about as much money in it as you would a 60. A buddy and I used to run a Super Street car back in the early 80's using the 8 3/4 and we lunched a few before going to a 60. The only things non stock in it were the gears and spool and we ran it for nearly a year before the tech guy at the local track finally took a look at the thing and realized we were not running aftermarket axles in it. He was so used to the car that he figured we had what was supposed to be in it and never gave it a good look. Total cost of that rear was 100 bucks for a B body unit plus a set of gears and the spool which we found at a swap meet for 150 NIB...and the housing was empty. Yeah, that was in the early 80's now but from time to time, you can find NIB stuff like that. You may not have the time to do that but it was part of our lives to hit all that kind of stuff and even my wife likes going to them and we enjoyed doing it. Btw, I hear the MP aluminum chunk isn't worth the money it costs. Is that true?

Cranky when I bought mine/the last one anyway it was $889 from Mancini Racing & yes it's a MP product Aluminum 742 case/carrier, it's a couple hundred $$$ more now, like $1000+ IIRC, yeah the cost of beefing up a 8.750" to handle big power, you might as well buy a Dana-60/S-60, the housing & axles from Moser are like $900-$1000 & the alum. carrier is like $1000, it's allot lighter, but not sure it's worth the weight saving, if your making big power, like 1000+hp with slicks, I had a Moser 8.750" housing, Lenco axles & MP 742 alum. carrier with a spool, Richmond Pro Gears {soft} in my last altered too, it made well over 1500hp, but was only 1600-lbs too, I had no problems/no ring & pinion breakages, but also had it solid mounted & full floating ends installed too just in case, I was trying to build the lightest car possible...

I never broke one of the 8.750" either, had some decent powered combos in front of them with Jeffco/Lenco, 727tf's {even a Clutch-Flite} & Powerglides, but I go out of the way to make sure I don't break stuff either, truss the back, replace tubes with DOM, use good quality axles, studs & bearing, magniflux everything, check for cracks etc., do it right spare no expenses...

 

[Cranky]

The car we were running was 3300 with a 4 speed and launched at 6000 and was only running 11 teens when we broke the first one then another when the car got into the high 10's and another at 10.70 so in went a 60 and never looked back but we didn't have anything high tech in the 8 3/4 either. Heck, aluminum heads weren't even available back then.....

 

[Budnicks]

The car we were running was 3300 with a 4 speed and launched at 6000 and was only running 11 teens when we broke the first one then another when the car got into the high 10's and another at 10.70 so in went a 60 and never looked back but we didn't have anything high tech in the 8 3/4 either. Heck, aluminum heads weren't even available back then.....

yeah I remember those days fondly & not so fondly at times too...

 

[Lazarus]

I was referring to the 9 3/4. I can't for the life of me realize why I typed 9 1/4 repeatedly. Lol. I'm a long time mopar guy, so I definately new that. Just my rattled brain I guess. Lol. Speaking of bargain finds though, I spent a few weeks on the forums trying to pay someone for some rotten quarters for a mock up and could not find any. After I gave up, I found numerous new cuda quarters for less than I wanted to pay for the junked ones. Lol

 

[Budnicks]

I was referring to the 9 3/4. I can't for the life of me realize why I typed 9 1/4 repeatedly. Lol. I'm a long time mopar guy, so I definately new that. Just my rattled brain I guess. Lol

LOL... common mistake & problem, good luck

 

[moparmarks]

That dimension chart is wrong. All 62-70B housings are not the same Several different widths.

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Also some B350 vans have a semi-floating Dana 60 axle.

 

[Runner 68]

I developed a motto early on (because I had to) to never pay full price for anything related to my hobby and so far, I've been able to do that. Swap meets supplied a lot of parts for me plus I used to buy other's project cars and that included a few race cars....parted them out and kept what I wanted and over the years, I've collected a lot of stuff. Used a lot of it, sold some and still have some. I know a lot of guys that will buy nothing but new stuff off 'the shelf' and end up putting a ton of money into their cars. I've bought a lot of new stuff too but the vast majority of it comes from someone that bought it off the shelf. If you don't have to do that, then that's great but some of us really can't do that.....at least not all the time. Too bad you're so far away....

"There is iron in your words of wisdom" (From the Outlaw Josie Wales). It all boils down to what you have more of.......Time or Money.

 

[tallhair]

Yeah, you can build from a truck housing but try to find a bare one. If you can't, then try and find one that has a limited slip unit in it at least so you can get some of your money back. Buying a complete Dana 60 from a junk yard will be kinda costly so check on places like Craigslist. The Ford '501' housings are still out there but pay 100 bucks or less for one. They came with non floating axles but are still a Dana 60 housing but come with smaller axle tubes and 6 bolt axle flanges so they generate a bit more work to weld up with new ends and brackets. I've built several using the 501 housings.....one in progress. Truck housings also have no provision for a pinion snubber.

You are so cool Cranky !!

 

[Cranky]

That dimension chart is wrong. All 62-70B housings are not the same Several different widths.

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Also some B350 vans have a semi-floating Dana 60 axle.

Funny that I didn't see the chart when I clicked on the 'thanks' button but you are right. I know the 66-67 rears are different than the 68-70 rears by first hand experience. It's not much of a difference but they are.....

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You are so cool Cranky !!

I thought it made me an *** man!?

Rear ends are really not that hard to do once you get past the 'voodoo' of the gears lol

 

[moparmarks]

Here are the correct B rears.

Rear end widths, drum-to-drum:
B BODY
'62-'63= 58 1/2" (And '64 Max Wedge)
'64 = 60 7/8" (Exc.Max Wedge)
'65-'67= 59 1/2"
'68-'70= 60 1/8"
'71-'74= 63"
'71-'73 wagon= 64 3/8"

 

[Cranky]

Here are the correct B rears.

Rear end widths, drum-to-drum:
B BODY
'62-'63= 58 1/2" (And '64 Max Wedge)
'64 = 60 7/8" (Exc.Max Wedge)
'65-'67= 59 1/2"
'68-'70= 60 1/8"
'71-'74= 63"
'71-'73 wagon= 64 3/8"

And the tolerance is at least 1/4" and can sometimes be more than that. I used to part cars in the 70's and they were mainly B and E body cars and 65-66 Mustangs. I've found 66-67 rears from both B&E cars that varied as much as 3/4"s of an inch but mostly, it was only 1/4".

 

[Budnicks]

That dimension chart is wrong. All 62-70B housings are not the same Several different widths.

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Also some B350 vans have a semi-floating Dana 60 axle.

yeah I'm sure some stuff is probably wrong but was using it as a reference, thanks for catching that I didn't even notice that either...

got the chart from Moparts some time ago

 

[tallhair]

I thought it made me an *** man!?

Rear ends are really not that hard to do once you get past the 'voodoo' of the gears lol

 

[Runner 68]

Don't laugh, I actually used to know a guy named Richard Assman.
Cruel parents.

 

[barnfind]

LOL that's just funny! yes cruel

 

[tallhair]

Don't laugh, I actually used to know a guy named Richard Assman.
Cruel parents.

Or not very insightful

 

[Cranky]

Probably no worse than being named Jerry Attrick.....think I'd rather have a last name like Assman then I could be named Iam

 

[tallhair]

Rear ends are really not that hard to do once you get past the 'voodoo' of the gears lol

Some lube definitely helps the pinion slide in