Dana 60 Kingpin vs ball joint?

[broncokak]

While considering future upgrades to my front suspension I'd like to upgrade the front axle as well. I've read that the kingpin D60 is stronger than the ball joint version. Kingpins are harder to find as well. The D60s in newer Superduty F250 and 350s are all ball joint and seem to handle everything including plowing just fine. Is there any reason not to use a D60 with ball joints?

Thanks.

 

[av8rds]

Ken I think you'd be more than fine with a ball joint. That being said I have a Kingpin 60(78/79) and some accessories that I might be interested in selling.

 

[KyleQ]

Nothing wrong with the BJ axles -

 

[cesco]

I think the BJ D60's have a shorter driver's side tube which would actually work out better on a bronco in helping to keep the center chunk further away from the oil pan. That should let you keep a little more up travel.. I also agree with the other guys that I BJ axles would be fine

 

[Yeller]

Ball joint are fine in your application. However I'm not a huge fan of unit bearings on multipurpose rigs, they are great on a dedicated trail rig, but for a multipurpose get you there and back rig they are ok but you will want to carry a spare. They do make service a peice of cake though.... takes longer to get the tools out than it does to change it.

 

[KyleQ]

Unit bearings are the way of the future - easy to replace, but expensive. The lower price of those axles makes it affordable to replace them or carry a spare...

 

[broncokak]

Great, good info. I have access to both types.

So Steve, even though the kingpin type is stronger you suggest having a spare. Is that be cause when they let fo you can't limp on them or what? I can see how they would be a snape to change.

 

[broncokak]

Unit bearings are the way of the future - easy to replace, but expensive. The lower price of those axles makes it affordable to replace them or carry a spare...

Hmmm, you have a point. I hate unit bearings for the simple face that they can not be maintained. I'd rather have a spindle with a set of roller bearings any day. The ball joint D60 I may have access to is from and Superduty truck.

 

[WILDHORSES]

So let's start by saying I could be wrong but like many I have always been under the impression that the ball joint itself is the weak part in the mix vs the king pin. One thing I have never had to fix on the side of the trail is a knuckle torn off with broken ball joints. However having passed a number of rigs and seeing the wheel, axle and knuckle laying there (with broken ball joint/s) the thought has always been whatever is the strongest is ultimately what I want to run. Especially when the prices are in the same ball park.

So as I flip through my Dynatrac catalog I see they use all ball joint axles. They are sending me some tech specific info on the ball joints. But for now I'll still be under the impression the the king pin is stronger.;D

Jim

 

[KyleQ]

It sure would be nice not to have to tear apart wheel bearings after every muddy wheeling even to clean and re-pack them. Unit bearings make it possible to replace a broken axle shaft where you broke it - yank the wheel, 5 nuts and the shaft is out...


I've seen D44's on Jeeps pop the balljoints out, but that is typically after a massive ujoint/axle failure and kept going. I've yet to see a D60 do the same thing - not saying that it can't....

 

[broncokak]

It sure would be nice not to have to tear apart wheel bearings after every muddy wheeling even to clean and re-pack them. Unit bearings make it possible to replace a broken axle shaft where you broke it - yank the wheel, 5 nuts and the shaft is out...QUOTE]

This makes sense and seeing how it's a F250 axle the Bronco will be pretty lite on it.

 

[Yeller]

I carry no spare parts for my king pin axle, do not feel the need. If I were running a unit bearings, it would deffinately cary one, mostly because you cannot get a replacement from the local parts store, they are modified for 35 spline axle plus the bolt patern, unless our running the metric 8 lug.

As for ball joint failures, I've never seen a 60 ball joint fail, as in broken that wasn't showing massive signs of problems before that or been in a collision hard enough to kill other parts as well, to the point of it being the least of your worries. Its not like a D44 that will seperate when you brake an axle. I have worked on cars that are highly abused at speed that wear out premium upper bj about every 16 hours, unit bearings are about the same. After 16 hours of race time we tear down and put in new upper bj and new bearings, lower bj does not seem to be an issue.

I feel like I'm writing a book..... Some complain about the strength of king pin knuckles, espeically with the Ford version and or high steer, its easy to prevent with some 1/4" steel plates welded arount the top. I usually do this and weld the high steer arms on and service the king pin throught the arm. I have never had a nuckle fail, even with some serious abuse, enough to kill wheels, tie rods and suspension links.

 

[Yeller]

It sure would be nice not to have to tear apart wheel bearings after every muddy wheeling even to clean and re-pack them. Unit bearings make it possible to replace a broken axle shaft where you broke it - yank the wheel, 5 nuts and the shaft is out....

Yes very fast and easy to change axles, but if your breaking axles in a 60 regularly, after 3 (less if you had colatoral damage) you paid for 300m spider trax or RCV's. Both units that racers feel are stout enough to not carry spares for. Think about it, similar seal on the unit bearing as a spindle/hub set up and when its contaminated you throw it away. On the flip side, you can always convert a unit bearing back to a spindle and hub with the help of the aftermarket.

these are just my thoughts and not beating anyone up there are pro's and cons to both set ups, and I don't want to anyone to feel agitated just discusing.

 

[broncokak]

YA, so I'm back to the lack of being able to maintain the unit bearing. Kind of my thought all along, crap will get in a unit bearing anyways but you can't do anything about it.

I'm start'in to think I should just keep my 44.

 

[siderbox]

This is alittle of comparing apples and oranges... so with that said.
I have a 00 350 7.3 with a D60 in front, 3700 lbs setting on the two front tires.
Mind you this thing has over 450,000 miles on it.

I will never have another set of unit bearings if at all possible.

Dynatrac has a fair amount of my money in the free spin kit and there over build ball joints.

The first 170,000 miles I replaces three sets of ball joints and two sets of bearings.

One set of Dynatrac ball joints, bearing kit, and almost 300,000 miles later.... All good.

Not sure if that info will help in anyway, broncokak.
If it does, great. If not, disregard.

 

[dsg40th]

As far as late (1985+) Dana 60 front's go, King pin is the strongest, to make it stronger you need to upgrade the steering knuckles to after market ones. Then second is the ball joint 60 without unit bearings, this is a good compromise if building a custom suspension as the inner "C" does not go as far inboard as the king pin inner "C" so it gives a bit more room on the left (short) tube to make up suspension mounting points. Then there is the Superduty ball joint unit bearing 60 as mentioned much less desirable, less durable as far as the outer ends go and very expensive to repair and rebuild they are also a bit wider than the earlier Dana 60's up to 1997 and still don't leave a lot of room on the short tube to make modifications.

 

[dsg40th]

The late 70's F250 heavy duty and F350 HP Dana 60 is the best axle to use for either a full width conversion or to shorten the right side down for an EB the differential housing is located much closer to the center of the axle giving a much better driveline angle to the pinion yoke. There is also much more room than any other Dana 60 on the short side tube to make up up just about any type of suspension mount including factory type wedges for radius arms. Thought it may be worth a mention.

 

[treihesse]

I have a 97 balljoint dana 60 non unit bearing model. I have built it as strong as you can a bj. IIf you run a hydro steering setup make sure you stroke the ram so you don't push on the balljoint. That's the stress that will kill them.

 

[welndmn]

Yes, a kingpin is and always be strong than a ball joint, mainly because a ball joint just has a large crimp holding it all together.
Do you need it?
The Dana 60 Lower ball joint is a lot larger than a Dana 44 ball joint (the upper, not so much).
The 78-79 ford Dana 60 is the cream of the crop, but all Dana 60's are better than a 44.
I'd not hesitate to swap in a ball joint 60.

 

[broncokak]

OK, thank you to all for the comments. Looks like I will be looking for a kingpin or ball joint (non-unit bearing) D60. I have a lead on both types. Sounds like it will be an expensive upgrade so as will all my little pojects, I'll start collecting parts and in a few years I should have it ready to go.