Larger than a Dana 60?

baipin

Active member
Long story short, I'm building a 2 ton GMC bus into an expedition/4WD vanlife/whatever you want to call it, rig. I'm looking for a suitable front end. Got a Chevy Kingpin D60 under there currently, but am thinking I need something bigger. I had thought that the Dana 60 axles were nominally rated at 6,000lbs, though I've found conflicting information that the Chevy kingpin 60's like I have, were not de-rated to 4,500lbs due to tires/springs, by the manufacturer, and are in fact "only" a 4,500lb GAWR axle. On the other hand, I've heard that OKA trucks came with identical axles to the Chevy kingpin 60's, and those have been used successfully for many years except for bent inner C's and knuckles, something which can be addressed by gusseting and I suppose upgrading to Reid or Solid knuckles. I can't think of many other alternatives, beyond going with the axle below (for a bunch of reasons, Humvee BFG 24 bolts are the perfect tire for this build, and I want to keep them - mine are rated at 4,540lb's each). I also need to retain push-pull steering. I am opting for a GVWR of 14,500lbs, front GAWR of 5,000lbs to 6,000lbs.

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I came across this D70F today. Apparently it's from a 1976 Dodge 1 ton - so a W300 I guess. That doesn't make sense to me though as I've read they stopped putting the Dana 70 fronts in those trucks by late 1974. 2 ton W600's had them from 1974 to 1977. I'm not aware of any closed knuckle D70F having discs, either. The seller doesn't want to open the thing up, so I'm trying to get BOM codes. Is this worth my time though? Is it true that late model D70F's would have 1.500" inner and 1.375" or 1.500" outer shafts, both 32 spline? About the size in a D60F's but with a larger housing and tubes? I know what they say about running away from closed knuckle D70F's... but I'm also not sure if this is one of the typical, crappy, small spline count tracta joint ones. Am I correct that this axle would offer a strength upgrade in terms of weight capacity, but the strength of the shafts themselves would be the same as a Dana 60?

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So, other than beefing up a stock Dana 60 kingpin with aftermarket knuckles, trussing, and gusseting of the C's (to the extent that they have similar dimensions to a Dana 70 open knuckle C), or opting for the Dana 70 front above, are there any other options I should consider that satisfies my requirements? I do have fabrication skills and access to a machinist, I don't have a massive budget, though... Some advice here would be appreciated.
 

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Peter_n_Margaret

Adventurer
My OKA has HD knuckles and 35 spline outers (and inners).
There are some with Dana 80s front and rear.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome
 

baipin

Active member
My OKA has HD knuckles and 35 spline outers (and inners).
There are some with Dana 80s front and rear.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

What's your curb weight, and, by HD knuckles do you mean aftermarket ones akin to Reid/Crane/Solid? I've been looking at Solid's offering. I have 35 spline inners already. I figure upgrading the knuckles and trussing/gusseting first, would be the best option to start with if I stick with the 60. After that 35 spline outers, drive flanges, and a Jana76 conversion by stuffing 70 ring and pinion in the 60 would give me roughly the same capacity as a Dana 70 or Super60?

I gave Pirate a shot but no dice. I'll try Irate.
 

Peter_n_Margaret

Adventurer
What's your curb weight, and, by HD knuckles do you mean aftermarket ones akin to Reid/Crane/Solid?
Not sure whose they are. They have an aluminium top. Much better than the originals.
We are around 6T on the road. with 2.7 - 2.8T on the front axle.
EDIT... found a pic...
P1030239c.jpg
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome
 

shortbus4x4

Expedition Leader
X2 on Irate4x4.

I know they made some open knuckle Dana 70 steer axles for Ford Fsuperduty 4x4 conversions and Chevy medium duty 4x4 conversions. The ones I've seen and worked on were 1980s and 90s rigs. I have one from a early 90s Ford Fsuperduty tow truck. They had 10 lug hubs and used Dana 70 center sections with what I believe were heavy axle tubes but used Dana 60 outers and knuckles, this makes it easy to convert it to 8 lug hubs.
I would stay away from an older 70 front axle and put the money into some good Cs and knuckles with 35 spline outers. Parts for Chevy Dana 60s are common and relatively cheap compared to 1970s Dodge stuff. Your bus is looking good.
 

Superduty

Adventurer
Pirate is mostly dead. Many users went to Irate.

Dana 60 from a later model F550. Later models used 35 spline inner and outers. Or step up to Rockwells.

I would stay away from older stuff. Parts are harder to find and brakes and steering components not as good as the newer stuff imho.
 

baipin

Active member
Will give Irate a shot, thanks guys.

Pirate is mostly dead. Many users went to Irate.

Dana 60 from a later model F550. Later models used 35 spline inner and outers. Or step up to Rockwells.

I would stay away from older stuff. Parts are harder to find and brakes and steering components not as good as the newer stuff imho.

Yeah, agreed on the very old stuff. At present I think I'll stick with the Kingpin Dana 60 and go no older, unless I could find an open knuckle Dana 70.

The problem with the Super Dana 60 is that I am set up for push-pull steering which I don't believe I could do with that axle - the current system works very well, hardly any bump steer to speak of, and I have pretty good flex.
 

The Artisan

Adventurer
Will give Irate a shot, thanks guys.



Yeah, agreed on the very old stuff. At present I think I'll stick with the Kingpin Dana 60 and go no older, unless I could find an open knuckle Dana 70.

The problem with the Super Dana 60 is that I am set up for push-pull steering which I don't believe I could do with that axle - the current system works very well, hardly any bump steer to speak of, and I have pretty good flex.
04 SD machined dana 60 knuckle could be converted for an arm for pushpull. Plan for my 07 fuso20220228_174137.jpg
Kevin
 
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DirtWhiskey

Western Dirt Rat
Superduty trucks 2006 and newer have the considerably larger and stronger super-60

Bingo. Swapped a true Super 60 (beware folks using the term Super 60 as people throw those words around, be sure to get the wide track) and S110 rear onto my 2001 F450. Amazing turning radius with the wide track and a full selection of gear ratios and lockers too. 1970's axles will be a PIA to deal with from a parts perspective. I'd either go this route or step up to Rockwells.
 

baipin

Active member
I gave the guys at Reid a call, who recommended the engineering folks at ECGS - hoping to hear back with some opinions from them.

In the meantime, it looks like I could make a Super 60 work. I would stick with the OEM radius arms and possibly run airbags up front instead of springs. I already have the perfect size/capacity bags which I was planning on running as helpers with the current setup anyways. For steering, I would adapt my existing steering arm (milled out of a single piece of 1" thick cold rolled to a machined Super 60 knuckle. For my wheels; I would either weld up the DRW hub and redrill for 8x6.5, or use a SRW axle and the correct spacers/adapters to go from 8x170 to 8x6.5. As I understand, 16.5 wheels can be run on these axles so long as they have 3.5" or less backspacing. I know I'm stubborn with wanting to keep those H1 wheels, but, I have my reasons... ;-)
 

G35Vortec454

Adventurer
X2 for the Dana Super 60 widetrack front axle from the 2005+ F450/550. I'd recommend to use the S110 rear axle also. That's what I did to my 22ft Class A motorhome, currently weighing 12K lbs.RV1_072625.jpgRV2b_072407.jpg
 
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Buddha.

Finally in expo white.
Bingo. Swapped a true Super 60 (beware folks using the term Super 60 as people throw those words around, be sure to get the wide track) and S110 rear onto my 2001 F450. Amazing turning radius with the wide track and a full selection of gear ratios and lockers too. 1970's axles will be a PIA to deal with from a parts perspective. I'd either go this route or step up to Rockwells.
When you say wide track you mean a f450 and up vs a f350?
What do you mean true super 60? I thought all super duties had a super 60?
 

IdaSHO

IDACAMPER
A
When you say wide track you mean a f450 and up vs a f350?
What do you mean true super 60? I thought all super duties had a super 60?

All 2006 and newer 4x4 superduty trucks will have the Super60 front axle. This includes f250/350 as well as medium duty trucks.

The “wide track” I believe is 350 DRW and medium duty. F250 is excluded from the wide track as it was never offered DRW
 

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