Dana 60 front axles come a few basic varieties. For most jeep purposes they can be broken down into:
a) single rear wheel (srw)
b)dual rear wheel (drw)
c)king pin or ball joints
d) passenger or driver side drop
e) standard or reverse cut gears
the king pin or ball joint desig can be found on either the srw or the drw versions, as can the drop be found on both sides with either design. It is generall accepted that the king pin design was stronger, but it hasnt been used since about 1988. As a rule, if you want a passenger side drop front D-60(for your CJ) you will be looking at something from a 1 ton Chevy or Dodge, and if you want drivers side drop (for your Wrangler) you'll be looking at Fords. Fords have an advantage as they can be had with both the stronger king pin design and reverse cut gears and they are a high-pinion axle. This axle also has more ground clearance than a standard 60. This high-pinion reverse cut king pin D-60 is starting to fetch upwards of $1600 from junkyards though...
The dual rear wheel front dana 60's sell for a much lower cost than their srw counterparts.. They are a bit harder to swap in and are pretty wide, but they can be used!.
So.. where do you find one???
heres a few places I have had luck finding front 60's.
1. e-bay. there ARE good deals on e-bay if you are patient
2. friends..this is only effective if all your buddies already have 60's (:
3.Spot a truck in a guys backyard.. this is the ultimate. I had to pull them, but man did i get a deal!
4. DRMO military auctions.
5. Theres always dynatrac, good stuff but very pricey.
Here are a few examles of what kind of trucks to look for:
1. anything crew cab is worth a peek
2. anything 8 lug is worth a peek
3. if it might have been a military truck at some time...take a close look....the military CCUV was a 1 ton Chevy that had a 14 bolt rear with a detroit locker, a d-60 front with locking hubs and 4.56 gears
What to watch for:.
1. dont get an axle from an M-715 militry Jeep truck. this is a drum brake, closed knuckle front 60 with d-44 sized u-joints and axleshafts.
2. Make sure you get the WHOLE axle. the hubs and brakes for a 60 can cost over $1000
3. The most common gear ratios in 60's is 4.10 or 4.56..
Dana 60- rear axles also have several varieties.
a) 30 spline full floater(common)
b) 35 spline semi-floater
c) 35 spline full floater (rare)
most dana 70's have the 1.5" 35 spline shafts and are full floaters.
whats a full/semi floater?
all axles (front and rear) that have hubs are full floaters. this means that the weight of the vehicle is supported on 2 wheel bearing and each side of the axle that ride on a spindle. The weight of the vehicle is therefore carried by the spindles and wheel bearings.
A semi-floating axle is an axle the uses one wheel bearing per side. The wheel bearing rides on the axleshaft and theJeeps weight also is supported by the axleshaft.
A full floating design is generally concidered to be strongestbecause the axleshaft only transfers power, it doesnt support any weight. I dont think theres much strength difference between the 30 spline floater and the 35 spline semi floater.
the 30 spline axles are 1.31" diameter (same as a d-44)
the 35 spline axles are 1.5" diameter
Duallies...
its somewhat rare to find a chevy rear d-60/70 because they used their own corporate 14 bolt for most applications. The Dodge and Ford Duallie rear axles are nearly identical and were used for many years (still in Dodges) These axles are only about 54" wide from Wheel Mounting Surface to WMS...making them too narrow even for a jeep.
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