Superduty Dana 60 Axle Swap

[meanjean73]

I have decided to build a Bronco from the ground up with a frame that was given and nothing more. The main purpose will be a trail rig. My plan is to put a 3 link up front and 4 link in the rear, coil-overs, 39-40 ish tall tires. So far I have cleaned the frame of factory brackets. The axles are from a 2003 Superduy. Since I didn't have any axles to start with these were readily available on CL.

When the front axle is centered the differential appears to be further to the driver side than a Dana 44, almost directly under the driver side frame rail.

Anyone have this setup in their Bronco and care to share some pictures. I know this axle has been put in several Broncos. Some visuals may help my vision of this will all come together.

Ill try to upload some picture, I keep forgetting you can't load them directly to your post.

Thanks

 

[meanjean73]

https://classicbroncos.com/forums/media/img-5850-jpg.31681/

Sorry, not very good at posting pictures

 

[Yeller]

It certainly helps clear the oil pan, the Dana 60 chunk is significantly larger where space is already tight, needs all the help you can get with that. Happy to help work out your geometry when you get to that point.

Also, not doubting you didn’t look but make sure it is embossed 60 on one of the webs and not 50. Being an 03, it shouldn’t be an issue, just hate to see you do a bunch of work and discover it is a 50.

 

[Broncobowsher]

I would say to put the body on the frame and a tire/wheel on the axle. See how far the tire will stuff into the body. At that point decide if axle to frame is actually an issue.

 

[t120r]

When the front axle is centered the differential appears to be further to the driver side than a Dana 44, almost directly under the driver side frame rail.

Anyone have this setup in their Bronco and care to share some pictures. I know this axle has been put in several Broncos. Some visuals may help my vision of this will all come together.




s

I have 2005 Superduty axles in mine. I cut 5" off the passenger side and the pumpkin sits in that perfect spot between the oil pan and the frame rail. I can get almost 6" of uptravel with 2.5" lift.

 

[snipes243]

A guy down in Sc did one he ended up widening the frame to make it easer.

https://www.offroadsc.com/threads/early-bronco-build.5291/

 

[meanjean73]

It certainly helps clear the oil pan, the Dana 60 chunk is significantly larger where space is already tight, needs all the help you can get with that. Happy to help work out your geometry when you get to that point.

Also, not doubting you didn’t look but make sure it is embossed 60 on one of the webs and not 50. Being an 03, it shouldn’t be an issue, just hate to see you do a bunch of work and discover it is a 50.

It’s a 60. I checked since I was nervous about buying a 50 by mistake.

 

[meanjean73]

I would say to put the body on the frame and a tire/wheel on the axle. See how far the tire will stuff into the body. At that point decide if axle to frame is actually an issue.

Good idea and I have thought about that. I think before I can go too far I need to find a body. Buying some tires and rims will help too.

 

[jamesroney]

Good idea and I have thought about that. I think before I can go too far I need to find a body. Buying some tires and rims will help too.

It's not the axle to frame that causes a problem. It's the pinion center line to transfer case offset. The front driveshaft is only 24 inches long. So the yoke on the front driveshaft needs to be in line with the transfer case yoke. The SuperDuty frame is wider, which allows the transfer case to be wider. If you buy a wider frame, and clock your transfer case up, and move the engine to the center of the frame...then you have effectively built a 2004+ super duty. (coil sprung, wide frame, huge transfer case...)

This is the reason why the 78-79 monobeam Dana 60 Sno-Fighter axle is so popular. It pushes the pumpkin inboard of the left knuckle. The other advantage to having some extra tube out there is so that you can mount a coil cup and link brackets. Your 03 F350 will have a leaf spring mount cast into the pumpkin, and there's barely enough tube to fit wedges. So you will need to sharpen your pencil... The pro-rock in this picture has the housing cut for a JK, and has the pinion located in line with the Atlas yoke. I think it was 6 or 7 inches inboard of the frame rail. The WMS was 64, (but if I wanted full width...then the tubes just get longer.)

 

[meanjean73]

It's not the axle to frame that causes a problem. It's the pinion center line to transfer case offset. The front driveshaft is only 24 inches long. So the yoke on the front driveshaft needs to be in line with the transfer case yoke. The SuperDuty frame is wider, which allows the transfer case to be wider. If you buy a wider frame, and clock your transfer case up, and move the engine to the center of the frame...then you have effectively built a 2004+ super duty. (coil sprung, wide frame, huge transfer case...)

This is the reason why the 78-79 monobeam Dana 60 Sno-Fighter axle is so popular. It pushes the pumpkin inboard of the left knuckle. The other advantage to having some extra tube out there is so that you can mount a coil cup and link brackets. Your 03 F350 will have a leaf spring mount cast into the pumpkin, and there's barely enough tube to fit wedges. So you will need to sharpen your pencil... The pro-rock in this picture has the housing cut for a JK, and has the pinion located in line with the Atlas yoke. I think it was 6 or 7 inches inboard of the frame rail. The WMS was 64, (but if I wanted full width...then the tubes just get longer.)

Thanks. That was my other question too. Does the driveline have to be straight/parallel with the frame? As far as room on the axle, my plan was for coil overs and those don’t take up much room.

The more I look into this the more I want to stick with factory stuff. (D44 and 9”) but the entire goal of the build was to challenge myself and have some fun.

 

[Broncobowsher]

A U-joint doesn't care if the angle is vertical or horizontal, or any mix. I think JEEP in the AMC days even had some offset diffs mixed with centered transfer cases. Very diagonal driveshaft.

You stated trail rig with 3-link front. There is a lot you can get away with. I've seen a few buggies that mounted a carrier bearing on the frame rail so the driveshaft could bend around the transmission where it wouldn't normally clear.

 

[Yeller]

A U-joint doesn't care if the angle is vertical or horizontal, or any mix. I think JEEP in the AMC days even had some offset diffs mixed with centered transfer cases. Very diagonal driveshaft.

You stated trail rig with 3-link front. There is a lot you can get away with. I've seen a few buggies that mounted a carrier bearing on the frame rail so the driveshaft could bend around the transmission where it wouldn't normally clear.

I have both of those scenarios, a buggy with a driveshaft that goes out and down to a bearing attached to the chassis, then up and in to the pinion; otherwise the driveshaft would go through the starter. The rear axle in my 70 Gladiator is offset 3-3/4" with a centered transfer case to clear the fuel tank. So, it is all manageable.

 

[meanjean73]

Good to hear. The drive line is 4 1/2” over to the left compared to the factory Dana 44.

My other thought was I could cut off the passenger side C and shorten just the passenger side tube 4” or so. This would move the pumpkin inboard. Then the only custom shaft would be the passenger inner. Obviously I would need to narrow the rear 4 “ or so to match.

Maybe I don’t need to do all that and the current location will work?

 

[Yeller]

Some will disagree, but there are plenty of them done that are that far off, and I would do that in a heartbeat. If you really wanted to narrow it, a GM or Dodge long side axle shaft would get you really close to that 4". You already stated that you wanted to do a 3 link in the front so you do not have to deal with enough space to get wedges on it. The link can be put right where the leaf spring would have been.

 

[meanjean73]

went and checked the offset and the angle works out to be around 13 degrees coming off the output shaft of the transfer case.

Hopefully this angle will be acceptable?

 

[meanjean73]

Some will disagree, but there are plenty of them done that are that far off, and I would do that in a heartbeat. If you really wanted to narrow it, a GM or Dodge long side axle shaft would get you really close to that 4". You already stated that you wanted to do a 3 link in the front so you do not have to deal with enough space to get wedges on it. The link can be put right where the leaf spring would have been.

Any ballpark on what year and model I should look for. If I can find a shaft that’s OEM I don’t need to worry about anything custom

 

[Yeller]

Actually you can keep it in the Ford family, your inner axle shaft is 37-5/8”. a 78/79 F350 Dana 60 short side is 34-9/16” for 3-1/16” shorter, as close as it will get without a custom shaft. You will wind up with aftermarket unit bearings that accept a 35 spline axle and replacement shafts to match as well but everything will be fairly normal by todays parts availability standards.

I’m not a huge fan of the typical bored out OEM unit bearing, they are notorious for failure if used hard or with a really wide/deep dish wheel, the spindle is too thin and stretches allowing the bearing to loose preload and fail. I know some guys that have made them last for years, I’ve just not been that lucky. There are a lot of options, from replacement spindle/hub conversions to complete redesigned unit bearings. I know I’m not helpful in helping anyone stay in some sort of reasonable budget

 

[meanjean73]

Yeller thanks for the reply.
Can't I just use the inner shaft from the 78/79?
(Looked online and according to Rock Auto they both use 1480 Series U-joints. They even sell the inner shaft for $235)
I understand about how hit or miss those bearings are. I have a 2000 SD and the first set lasted 40k, Im still on my second set at 100K, hit or miss I guess.

 

[meanjean73]

Here is my idea to make these axles fit my build, maybe you all can tell where the flaw is or what Im missing?
Front axle
Cut down the Dana 60 3.06" shorter on the passenger side and use a 78/79 inner axle shaft with my factory 30 spline outer shaft. (Both use a 1480 series U-joint). This moves the center section to within 1.5" of the factory location with a driveline angle off the T-case around 5 degrees. Narrow by removing the passenger side C and re-welding into place. New WMS to WMS 66.19" vs the factory 69.25"

Rear axle
For the 10.5, buy another short shaft to replace the longer driver side shaft. Narrow the axle 2.32" by cutting the tube near the center section and welding back together. There will be a truss over the center section for the 4 link. The truss could help beef up the area where the tube was cut and butt welded back together. This would provide a new WMS to WMS of 66.55" vs the stock 68.87" and move the pinion shaft closer to center line of the frame.

Additionally this would make these axles roughly 8" wider than factory, very manageable width to keep the tires from poking out excessively.

 

[SavageBurro]

Here is my idea to make these axles fit my build, maybe you all can tell where the flaw is or what Im missing?
Front axle
Cut down the Dana 60 3.06" shorter on the passenger side and use a 78/79 inner axle shaft with my factory 30 spline outer shaft. (Both use a 1480 series U-joint). This moves the center section to within 1.5" of the factory location with a driveline angle off the T-case around 5 degrees. Narrow by removing the passenger side C and re-welding into place. New WMS to WMS 66.19" vs the factory 69.25"

Rear axle
For the 10.5, buy another short shaft to replace the longer driver side shaft. Narrow the axle 2.32" by cutting the tube near the center section and welding back together. There will be a truss over the center section for the 4 link. The truss could help beef up the area where the tube was cut and butt welded back together. This would provide a new WMS to WMS of 66.55" vs the stock 68.87" and move the pinion shaft closer to center line of the frame.

Additionally this would make these axles roughly 8" wider than factory, very manageable width to keep the tires from poking out excessively.

If you don't want the hassle of narrowing the rear, you could use a 14 bolt rear or an older Sterling 10.25 rear (ie 94-97) that is already 67wms. Of course, you'd have to convert the bolt pattern in either the front or rear to get them to match. Then there is potential need to shave to 14 bolt, upgrade from drum to disc, whether you spend the extra for e-brakes...... Always trade offs.