Dana 60 and Dana 44 HD ?

Hello,

This board has always been a great resource for me and I'd once again like the collectives opinion. I put a deposit today on a Dana 60 rear with a HD Dana 44 front out of mid 70's Ford F250 (both 4.10 ratio). I plan to retube both the front and rear keeping the offset and obviously narrow the shafts. While I'm at it i'll throw a Detroit locker in the rear. This will be a winter project for sure.

I plan to run 38's and just do some mudding and trail riding. Nothing too crazy as I have built this project from scratch and do not plan on destroying it. Street use will be to a minimum if at all. I know the Dana 60 will be bulletproof and judging by the sheer mass of the Ford HD Dana 44 I'm not expecting problems. Does anyone have any thoughts ?

Also, If anyone is looking for a nice SOA Dana 44 rear and Dana 27 front with 3.73, drop me a line. These axles both have custom stainless steel trusses and Brand new 11" brake conversions( less than 5 miles of use)

 

Pics would be nice....

 

the rear should be fine. why not lock the front while your at it? 37 is about the limit on a 44 with stock shafts. i have ran 38s up to 42s on stock and chromoly shafts, still broke. chromoly held up better thou. however, i have seen guys never break either. easier driving style i guess. who knows. i'm heavy with the skinny pedal. and i mainly do eastern rockcrawlin, you know slick mud on rocks, dry rocks, dirt, creek all in 20 feet.

 

I have a scout dana 44 with 8 lug 44 outers... i snap joints, inners and outer all day once i got up here in the mountains... in the mud in fl it held up fine... but of course this is with a 383 stroker... what motor you running?

 

Running that set of axles only from a dodge. have yet to have a problem with the front 44 and I am running 38" swampers with a V-8. Also have a friend running the ford front with a 460 and boggers and have yet to snap an axle. Go for it.

 

JP has a good article on actual axle shaft strength this month. I can't believe that stock 60's were around twice as strong as stock 44's

 

I'm running a 66' 283 small block Chevy, complete rebuilt with a mild cam. This motor should be pushing about 300 horsepower and is mated to a Ford Top Loader 4 speed. I think at some point I will upgrade to a Dana 60 in the front, but for the moment, I picked up 2 HD 44 fronts cheap. I figure I'll get a good chance to practice narrowing housings with these 2 units.

Extreem

 

Sounds right to me Extreem...just keep the greese ready and all should be fine for you.

 

I have that combo - D60 rear converted to 35 spline FF and detroit. HD 44 up front with 38.5x15.5x16.5 swampers. Chromo inner/outer and longfield 300M ujoints. Spool up front with full hydro steering. No breakage yet......

 

They look like Hummer bead locks. Available at many surplus houses. Nickmil

 

Wow!! That's a nice rig!

 

Thanks for the replies - yep H1 double beadlocks with the plastic inserts rather than cutting down the magnesium run flats.

 

Nice Bud

 

Wow, the narrowing is going better than planned. I stripped the axles during the week and cut and machined the front to a DTD width of 56 inches. The rear will be bored out for 35 spine shafts and have a spool. Does anyone happen to know what I need to run for castor ? I'm thinking negative 4 to 5 degrees.

Extreem