cherokee dana 60

[mesha]

For all you Cherokee guys out there. This weekend we put a dana 60 in my friends cherokee out of a dodge truck (83) and it bolted right up with out having to change spring perches or anything! I don't know if that is normal, but it sure was easy. Just thought if any of you were looking to swap in a bigger axle this might help on your selection.

 

[ewander]

That's awesome. what bolt pattern is it? Does he have a different axle in the front?

 

[mesha]

Ya he has a high pinion 44 in the front. they are both 8 lug. Took us about an hour to do the whole rear including welding on the traction bar and the shock tabs and everything. I wish the rest of my projects were that easy.

 

[great scott]

Are talking about the small not the fullsize cheroke?

 

[mesha]

I'm talking about an 89 XJ so the small cherokee.

 

[JoeT]

Heeeey. I have a 89 XJ and a 83 Dodge with that axle. hmmm. But if it's a 30 spline is the same strength as a Dana 44. Better pull a axle and check.

 

[mesha]

the one we put on was a 30 spline. Same size as a 44 basically, but full floater. It holds up muuuch better.

 

[JoeT]

I'll probably just sell my 60 and keep my XJ Dana 44. I don't wheel much and I don't want to try to explain to the wife why I need new rims.

 

[mesha]

understandable. Instead of new rims try to explain to the wife why you need a new front axle to match the rear. maybe that will work.

 

[JoeT]

OK confess. This was a true bolt-in situatution? What about the shock mounts and driveline? How much wider is this over the stock Dana 35? Any problem with hooking up the brakes? Gotta ask cause I posted this on the XJ section on JU. Pics?

 

[mesha]

I won't confess because you can't prove anything! Anyway, We did have to change the shock mounts. The spring perches were just right. We moved the axle back by drilling the center pin on the perch out so the driveline would fit. It is definatly wider than the dana 35 but so is his front axle. As far as the u joint is concerned it had to be changed. The yoke on the dodge axle was some weird size so we used a 1310 yoke we had laying around and that worked on his driveline. His cherokee is lifted quite a bit (8 inches with copious fender hacking) so that would make up some driveline length. It was a lot of work but cool none the less. It was pretty fast though. Sorry if thread was misleading. Brakes worked fine though we had to replace the old hard line on the axle. didn't trust it.

 

[Andy]

Pics. I need some motivation to start on the next Hero.

Andy

 

[jamesgeologist]

Pics. I need some motivation to start on the next Hero.

Andy

Any motivation to finish my tranny and t-case?? I'll be home this week and prolly have the motor ready to install in the commando. It'd be nice to have the running gear to fab up the mounts! Hint...Hint!!

James