Gm 6 lug Dana 60?

[Trate D]

6 lug Dana 60 Chevy rear axle 6x5.5

$500.00 6 lug Dana 60 Chevy rear axle 6x5.5 for sale in Price, UT on KSL Classifieds. View a wide selection of Rock Crawler Parts and other great items on KSL Classifieds.

classifieds.ksl.com

Anyone familiar with this axle? Did a little googling found some info but not a lot. Non c-clip, 30 spline shafts...

Mainly wondering if anyone can confirm that info and maybe have any other knowledge on it.

It would be the perfect width for the back of my Comanche and match my front axle. I realize it’s still a semi float axle but my 44 has held up well with 37’s on semi float.

 

[AaronPaige]

I don’t know the seller but I’m in the same town, I know it’s been for sale awhile, I considered it for a minute this fall. I’d be happy to help a fellow RME member where possible

 

[Mouse]

I know some of the rear dana 60's used in 1970's Ford trucks were similar to the axle above. As far as I know they used 30-spline axle shafts which were similar in strength to dana 44 axle shafts. The tubes were small diameter and necked down at the end. If you wanted to upgrade to 35 spline, you'd have to open up the tube a bit. Not much of an upgrade over a dana 44 (besides the R&P)

 

[Trate D]

I know some of the rear dana 60's used in 1970's Ford trucks were similar to the axle above. As far as I know they used 30-spline axle shafts which were similar in strength to dana 44 axle shafts. The tubes were small diameter and necked down at the end. If you wanted to upgrade to 35 spline, you'd have to open up the tube a bit. Not much of an upgrade over a dana 44 (besides the R&P)

Ring gear and a little width are the main upgrade I was considering it for. Wanting to go to 5.38 gears and I would trust them a lot more on a rear 60 over the 44.

 

[Trate D]

I don’t know the seller but I’m in the same town, I know it’s been for sale awhile, I considered it for a minute this fall. I’d be happy to help a fellow RME member where possible

Was it the same price then?

 

[Gravy]

I know some of the rear dana 60's used in 1970's Ford trucks were similar to the axle above. As far as I know they used 30-spline axle shafts which were similar in strength to dana 44 axle shafts. The tubes were small diameter and necked down at the end. If you wanted to upgrade to 35 spline, you'd have to open up the tube a bit. Not much of an upgrade over a dana 44 (besides the R&P)

Perhaps you're thinking of a full float Dana 60 with 30 spline axles. Those you have to bore the spindles to fit 35spline axles.

The axle above is semi float.

The carrier should be the same as a standard Dana 60 (so provided you could find the correct axle shaft) you could fesably convert it to 35spline.

I would agree that 5.38s make the pinion head pretty small on a Dana 44. If that's your motivation; it's not bad thinking, if you can find an alloy axle shaft or convert to 35 spline in the future. I wouldn't consider a stock 30 spline shaft adequate for 37s.

Build price though you can probably put together a 6 lug 9" for close money.

 

[N-Smooth]

if you can find an alloy axle shaft

This. I'm betting you'd break a shaft before the gears with the 44 so going to something with bigger gears but the same shafts would be backwards. If you can get bigger gears and alloy shafts, cool.

 

[I Lean]

This. I'm betting you'd break a shaft before the gears with the 44 so going to something with bigger gears but the same shafts would be backwards. If you can get bigger gears and alloy shafts, cool.

Without knowing what bearing ends this axle has, I'm thinking the easiest way to accomplish this would be to weld on 9" style bearing ends, and get some off-the-shelf 35 spline shafts for it. Probably cut-to-fit length, so you can customize your width as needed. But at that point, ANY rear D60 would be a suitable donor, no need to pay a premium for an oddball 6-lug one.

 

[Trate D]

Perhaps you're thinking of a full float Dana 60 with 30 spline axles. Those you have to bore the spindles to fit 35spline axles.

The axle above is semi float.

The carrier should be the same as a standard Dana 60 (so provided you could find the correct axle shaft) you could fesably convert it to 35spline.

I would agree that 5.38s make the pinion head pretty small on a Dana 44. If that's your motivation; it's not bad thinking, if you can find an alloy axle shaft or convert to 35 spline in the future. I wouldn't consider a stock 30 spline shaft adequate for 37s.

Build price though you can probably put together a 6 lug 9" for close money.

That’s the plan, if I can find 35 spline shafts or have some made. The issue is with a seemingly rare axle not a lot of info on outer bearing setup, sizing to see if any shafts can be made. I’ll have to do some more digging on that.

 

[N-Smooth]

Without knowing what bearing ends this axle has, I'm thinking the easiest way to accomplish this would be to weld on 9" style bearing ends, and get some off-the-shelf 35 spline shafts for it. Probably cut-to-fit length, so you can customize your width as needed. But at that point, ANY rear D60 would be a suitable donor, no need to pay a premium for an oddball 6-lug one.

Agreed and when you really think about it, a 9" fab housing makes more sense. That 60 is $500 that could be put towards a TG 9" housing ($900). Yes, that plan would be more expensive overall but probably not by a ton and it would be a WAY better end result.

 

[Trate D]

Looking up wheel bearing sizes it appears inner bearing diameter (1.562) is the exact same as a Ford 9 inch wheel bearing. Also wheel seal inner diameter is also the same at 1.50 inch. So possible custom shafts wouldn’t be that hard to get? I’ll have to look into the TG housing option and see what’s it adds up to.

This axle is sized perfect for what I want. But might be a headache to build. And who’s says I am paying him $500 lol, I’ll probably end up on the “I hate Craigslist” thread for my low ball offers!

 

[I Lean]

Looking up wheel bearing sizes it appears inner bearing diameter (1.562) is the exact same as a Ford 9 inch wheel bearing. Also wheel seal inner diameter is also the same at 1.50 inch. So possible custom shafts wouldn’t be that hard to get? I’ll have to look into the TG housing option and see what’s it adds up to.

This axle is sized perfect for what I want. But might be a headache to build. And who’s says I am paying him $500 lol, I’ll probably end up on the “I hate Craigslist” thread for my low ball offers!

That's good! I haven't paid attention to the used-axle market lately, but I'd think that's more like a $100-$200 axle at best.

 

[Gravy]

As long as the OD on the axle shaft where the bearing rides is similar you could hypothetically just order stock replacement wheel bearings and press them on to a 35 spline shaft. I've even seen guys turn down a shaft OD to fit a bearing. Generally where the bearing rides is much larger than the minor diameter of the shaft anyway.

 

[AaronPaige]

Was it the same price then?

I believe so