D60 narrowed in front with 16" ORI's w/ 3 1/2" lift? Who has squeezed one in?

nvrstuk · Mar 25, 2017

D60 narrowed in front with 16" ORI's w/ 3 1/2" lift? Who has squeezed one in?

Upgrading to 1979 D60, snowfighter model

Couple things I won't change...

1-will not go higher than current 3 1/2" suspension

2-will not go full width but I am going 4" wider WMS to WMS

Has anybody been able to stuff one in? I have a housing that's been narrowed 5" on the pass side and has the original tube length on the drivers side... it measures out with the pinion in almost the exact same position as my current D44 pinion...

I'm using weld on mounts for the D60 so that will help with clearance on the drivers side tube btw the leaf perch and the knuckle.

Might have to remove a few inches from the drivers side tube and put a few inches back on the pass side to move the diff over for enough oil pan and transmission linkage clearance

sykanr0ng · Mar 25, 2017

Is that high pinion or low pinion?
Most that have a high pinion D44 say that it hits the oil pan with a 3 1/2 inch lift.
I would expect a D60 to need more clearance.

If you move it over to clear the oil pan will it leave enough room for the suspension?

Yeller · Mar 26, 2017

It will fit, just get a bigger hammer

Actually I'm no direct help I placed the engine and built the frame around no lift and a Dana 60..... Oh and 6" of up travel. If you need to move the pinion over, which helps oil pan clearance and your dshaft issue call me before you start cutting, I have some pointers that should help.

SavageBurro · Mar 26, 2017

I have a 94 ball joint high pinion d60 narrowed to 64 wms and a 3.5" lift. I took 5" off pass side. Everything clears great. I had to fab a different exhaust crossover. I don't know how much further over your diff is so I can't say whether yours will clear too. I can go measure to see what I have for oil pan clearance if u like.

Btw I love the 64 wms. Tires stick out a little but not enough to invite a ticket. It's stable in the rocks and does great in tight woods around my place.

rjrobin2002 · Mar 26, 2017

I saw a non narrowed dana 60 on a Bronco once with some stock H1 wheels that looked great and made the dana 60 look narrowed. Those wheels have like 8" backspacing so it's like narrowing the axle 6".

nvrstuk · Mar 26, 2017

Good stuff so far... thx

This is a '78-9 D60 so there is about 5-6" between the knuckle and leaf spring mount pad meaning the center section is centered more than the later model D60's... this seems to be the issue...very desireable year for running it full width since the center section can be moved towards the frame for pan/frame/driveshaft clearance but it measures out as not as good a fit if you narrow it some...

I'm running 5" BS bead locks so that tucks things in a bit too as this measures 63 1/2" WMS...

Savageburro, I would definitely appreciate a couple measurements or a pic or two...maybe from the t-case looking forward directly under the DS so I can get a mental pic of clearance in there... thanks!

Steve, I'll be calling ya this afternoon if that works...

Here's a not so good pic of the issue at hand. This is my existing D44 with crap hanging down etc. The LEVEL shows the pinion placement of the narrowed 60 that I have...no way will it clear 1- oil pan, 2- driveshaft, 3-transmission linkage EVEN when I move the linkage above the shift rail shaft sticking horizontally out of the tranny... so the driveshaft HAS to move towards the frame rail at least 3"... (I'll post the pic with my phone)

Yeller · Mar 26, 2017

Oooooo yeah that needs to move over at least 3". Not too big of a job with a little creativity, careful measuring and some patients.

nvrstuk · Mar 26, 2017

For sure! I figured six-inch of travel with HP having the pinion above the center line of the axle already and the driveline will end up being well above the radius arms at stuff.

I'm beginning to wonder if I'd be better off (money wise) trying a later model super duty axle and just have to shorten the passenger side rather than shortening and lengthening this one...?? Got lots of tape work to do in the next few days. What factors into this is there's only one machine shop in our entire valley which just adds to the mix...

I'm using Jim's weld on mounts that attach directly to his arms (Cage). Also running ORI's so that gives me more options for mounting.

SavageBurro · Mar 26, 2017

My diff is in middle between oil pan and frame. I have about 7" of vertical clearance between top of diff and nearest point being exhaust crossover.

nvrstuk · Mar 26, 2017

Thanks for the pic Savageburro... your arms are straight and you're running a manual trans right? How much uptravel... appr 4"?

Preliminary numbers say....

My tape measure says my driveline will have to be within two inches of my radius arm and will be with 1 1/2" of my shift linkage/range sensor AFTER I move the shifter linkage above the tranny shift selector rod -- horizonatal shift rod sticking out of the tranny that you can see in the pic. At full stuff the DS will move slightly closer to the tranny so figuring that in also...

At full stuff the pinion/housing will be within two inches of my proposed 3" exhaust routing (very tight radius bend) coming off my JBA shorties...

Those full-sized trucks sure have it easy.... lol

Pokey71 · Mar 26, 2017

sykanr0ng said:
Is that high pinion or low pinion?

All of fords F series dana 60s are high pinion

sykanr0ng said:
Most that have a high pinion D44 say that it hits the oil pan with a 3 1/2 inch lift.

That could not be further fro the truth. I have zero clearance problems with a full width 44 and a 3.5 lift

sykanr0ng · Mar 26, 2017

Pokey71 said:
That could not be further fro the truth. I have zero clearance problems with a full width 44 and a 3.5 lift

I As I said most which is not the same as all and anyone who has been here a while will tell you every Bronco is different.

So you saying that you don't have a problem does not mean that no one will have a problem just that you got lucky.

SavageBurro · Mar 26, 2017

You're welcome.
I'm not sure how much up travel I have. I have 15" total vertical travel. Not sure how much of that is up. I have room for 7" up travel.

My extended homemade arms have a slight bend to em. Front is pushed forward about an inch. I also plated the bottom of the coil buckets so the coils sit flat... which adds about 1/2" addl lift bringing my 3.5" lift to 4".

SavageBurro · Mar 26, 2017

Yes I do have manual... np435. I modified the clutch bellcrank to fit the stock 97 explorer manifold... which moved it closer to the frame. When I first installed the trans, the clutch would not release. I though maybe the linkage didn't have enough throw so I made it longer. Wasn't the issue but I kept the longer throw. Zero clearance issues at full stuff.

Good luck man. Sounds like you're gonna get it to work.

nvrstuk · Mar 26, 2017

'78 Hi pinion F350

Yeller · Mar 26, 2017

nvrstuk said:
Those full-sized trucks sure have it easy.... lol

Lol that or those that just started from scratch without a frame or tub with floors....

On a build I did with a 609 and true hi9 it was really tight and at full bump it contacted the frame rail and I had to lightly trim the motor mount to clear the yolk. I had to dimple and egg the exhaust and heat wrap the divers side, worm it round the driveshaft and tcase and do the y behind the case. I used a couple of band clamps to be able to get it in and out. I probably had 2 full days in that piece of pipe but I did get 2-1/2" tube through there.

On a side note, don't worry about dimpling and of egging your exhaust pipe, it will not make a difference in performance, check out header dimpling on YouTube and see the dyno results for your self.

nvrstuk · Mar 26, 2017

You're right Steve, no frame or tub would make it a tad easier to place things... I might have to pull the header and redo the collector flange some too... just keep adding to the "to-do" list!! lol

Here's the accurate #'s...

WMS on drivers side of D60 to pinion centerline is 26 1/2"

WMS on drivers side of D44 to pinion centerline is 24"

Knuckle to leaf spring perch/mount on D60 is 5 1/2" (actual tube exposed)

Weld on mount for radius arm to D60 tube needs 1 1/2-2" to weld it on

IF I decide to widen out the track (don't want too...) so my tires are 79 1/2" wide w/20lbs of air (trailer is 80") then I can also SHIFT the entire front axle to drivers side by adding tube on pass side gaining 2 1/2" on top of the 1" from shortening the drivers side... (I know-confusing unless you are the one measuring)

3 1/2" shift of the D60 differential to the drivers side will j u s t barely allow it to fit... another inch would be nice...

IF I went full width it would be much, like much easier to make it fit...

nvrstuk · Mar 26, 2017

Anybody have a D 60 (something other than the '78-9 D 60) that can measure the WMS on the drivers side to the pinion centerline pretty accurately- like within an inch? Be interesting to know if the later model D60's pinion centerline is moved over enough to help me w/o going full width...

thanks!

Yeller · Mar 27, 2017

Don't know if it helps but the axle shaft length on those is 16" if you have the shaft for your current one its easy math.

GoFastCrackPipe · Mar 27, 2017

This is from the D60 bible over on pirate...

Not a lot of info. I can measure mine tonight after I get home if someone else hasn't done so already.

D60 narrowed in front with 16" ORI's w/ 3 1/2" lift? Who has squeezed one in?

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