DANA 80 front axle build

[BEACH]

for the tie rod i was able to just use a left hand thread joint on one end and a right on the other. i really wish i could have done this on the drag link and track bar and kept them straight but it would have taken some work to modify the frame and stuff and i dident really think it was worth it. i figure if i really want to in the future i can, just mod the frame and replace the track bar.

Nice work man!! Nicks shop is soooo bad ass!! I wish I lived up there by you guys!

 

[SWALLDOG]

Haha weird.... I was daydreaming on my ride home from work and the D80 front axle thread popped into my head so I figured I'd better check for an update.

Holy crap that is insane! I was not expecting to see anything like those knuckles. Looks great--can't wait to see more :greg:

thanks man. hopefully it wont be as long before i get some more updates. ps. thanks for daydreaming about my dana 80 build up.

 

[SWALLDOG]

Looks sweet man! Any idea what that monster weighs? Maybe similar to the stock 60? I bet your knuckles are a good bit lighter than stockers...?

i dont know, i should have thrown it on the scales before i installed it. i would guess close to stock. i think the 80 center weighs a little more than a 60 and the brackets are thicker than stock. its probably only got a few lb's on the stocker.

 

[SWALLDOG]

Wow thats nuts. Wouldn't your ring and pinon be turning the other way though since it use to be in the back? Or do they make reverse rotation gearsets or whatev?

Just because it was a rear axle bring it forward does not make it turn reverse. It actually still spins the correct way. To make an axle spin reverse you would have to flip it 180°. Meaning the top becomes the bottom and vise versa.

Ahh. Thats cool.

yeah what he said. with a low pinion axle like this in the front the only thing it changes is what side of the gears the pinion is riding on. when i am going forward the front axle is riding on the coast side of the gears and when i am going in reverse the front axle is riding on the drive side of the gears. which in my opinion is the way is should be. Ford is the only one i know of to do it different with there high pinion axles in the front. in there set up when you are going forward both front and rear axles are on the drive side of the gears. :-\

 

[SWALLDOG]

That's one insane front axle hope everything works great for you. I have a 98 that I crawl with, check my profile page and there's a buch of picks of my build. The only thing I left to do is upgrade the hubs with a spin-tec of dyna trac kit and get rid of the disconnect front axle and I'm G2G.

thanks man. nice pics of your build up! yeah those unit bearings in the front are lame. with my heavy wheels i trashed them pretty quick.

 

[SWALLDOG]

Nice work man!! Nicks shop is soooo bad ass!! I wish I lived up there by you guys!

yeah Nick is the man! his shop is so set up! ya know you could live up here. all ya have to do is move. lol. at least you could come and hang out more! :greg:

 

[RRBDodge]

thanks man. nice pics of your build up! yeah those unit bearings in the front are lame. with my heavy wheels i trashed them pretty quick.

Mine have held up so far with 130lb 36-15.50's on it but we'll see for how long. Once they do go though, it gives me an excuse to use on my wife to allow to spend the money on the hub conversion and new axle shafts. Again awesome axle and outstanding fab work.

 

[bigcrunch]

Hey Swalldog, I am looking to build a Front dana 80 also, can I ping you for questions?

 

[SWALLDOG]

Hey Swalldog, I am looking to build a Front dana 80 also, can I ping you for questions?

Yeah no problem. Shoot me a pm.


Probably @ work under a truck, Tapatalk 2

 

[Cyclops]

Building an 80 front

Yeah no problem. Shoot me a pm.


Probably @ work under a truck, Tapatalk 2

OK to start I love what you did here in this front 80.
I'm building one but have some questions. What spindles did you use? I thought I saw chev 60 front in the text. I'm going 2 inch shafts so I'll be building spindles it looks like.

 

[Tacoma]

You can get the new Reid stuff, or Crane is making some too that will take 2" stuff.

 

[SWALLDOG]

OK to start I love what you did here in this front 80.
I'm building one but have some questions. What spindles did you use? I thought I saw chev 60 front in the text. I'm going 2 inch shafts so I'll be building spindles it looks like.

Thanks man! Yeah I used Chevy 60 spindles and hubs, just 35 spline. I'm building another one for a jeep crawler I'm building. I'll use Chevy 60 stuff again but 40 spline this time, bigger than that it starts to get real expensive. Haha. Like Tacoma said, Reid and Crane have come out with some cool stuff in the last year that will work with 2" shafts.

Probably at work under a truck

 

[SWALLDOG]

Pic stolen from the gram of a sweet Dana 80 front using the new Reid knuckles w 2" shafts.

Probably at work under a truck

 

[Greg]

Pic stolen from the gram of a sweet Dana 80 front using the new Reid knuckles w 2" shafts.

That thing is amazing! 2" shafts are crazy, just when you thought Dana front axles had reached their limits people keep steeping it up!

 

[SWALLDOG]

So I'm finally getting around to finishing this axle. I drove it for years with no shafts and gears in it, then is sat for a few years. Now it's time to get her back on he road with 4 Wheel drive. Its sad it's been this long. Haha. I've been working on the truck for the last year but the last few months have been getting the axle together.

 

[SWALLDOG]

 

[4x4_Welder]

Ya know, the other day I was looking for the technical definition of overkill, and here you've built it.
I can't believe how much those Dodges beat D60s. I've lost count of how many ball joints I've had to do on completely stock trucks.

 

[SWALLDOG]

Ya know, the other day I was looking for the technical definition of overkill, and here you've built it.
I can't believe how much those Dodges beat D60s. I've lost count of how many ball joints I've had to do on completely stock trucks.

Haha, right. I don't know what the deal is. If the axle is under built, or the cummins engine is to heavy or all of the above.

 

[Herzog]

Excited to see this thread bumped!

 

[SWALLDOG]

So I'm just running an open carrier with 35 spline spiders and 35 spline Chevy stub shafts. The axle shafts are yukon cromo dana 60 shafts. The inners are the longest long side and the longest short side that they make and it worked out to make the axle the correct width. That way I don't have to get custom spline shafts and makes getting replacements easy. Also I'm using Spicer non greaseable joints. For lots of on road use they will last longer than some type of a super joint. But I did still use the full circle c clips for the joint caps.