Lockers vs. Non locking

[71Ford100]

I don't really know nothing about rear ends and have spent a few hours back reading on rears and stuff and my question is what are the advantages or disadvantages of a locking rear end vs. non locking rear end. My second question is what would be better for a racing application a locking or non locking rear end. The truck currently has a Dana 60 with 4.10's.

[convincor]

without a locking your only putting power to the ground with one tire.
Locking = twice the traction.
Unless your all out racing or off roading, I'd go with a clutch type locker (AKA- traction Lock) You could go "Detroit Locker" which is a ratchet type locker, but there noisy and over kill for street use IMO.
Just looking, not much of a choice when looking for D60
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetai ... toview=sku

http://store.summitracing.com/partdetai ... toview=sku

http://store.summitracing.com/partdetai ... toview=sku

[68Mercury250Ranger]

You have a few options for limited slip, 60s came with a tracloc(clutch pack only), or a powerlock(clutch pack + springpressure) . your coarse spline 60 may be very difficult to find carriers for. If you could upgrade your centre and axle shafts to a fine spline 60 , more would be available.

I would not recommend a coarse 60 with a locker, as axleshafts would be the weak link. If your tire pressures are off just a little, the locker can pull one way on accel, and the other on decel. Interesting to drive on the street.

all my experience with 60s is offroad use and some street driving. A good 31spline 9" is stronger for racing IMHO. I've broken a few limited slip 9" carriers too but never an axle shaft.

You can't stress driveline parts much more than serious offroading with 38" plus tires.

[averagef250]

There are also the new gear type detroit tru-trac limited slip diffs. They have the same hold as a powerlock but never snap, bang or chirp tires unless you want them to, no additives and gear oil never fills with friction material or metal chunks like it does with a powerlock or spline locker.

I drove a tru-trac equipped truck for the first time a few weeks ago and can't say enough good things about them. The old powerlocks are great (the new ones are dogsh*t), but they can be a little harsh.

[71Ford100]

So would I be better off finding a 9" Ford? Did they make a 8 lug ford rear?

[convincor]

not that I'm aware of.

[heep70]

no eight lug 9" were made.

Get a True Trac

[convincor]

Not to hi-jack, but i've got a D60 that was in a 70 f250 4x4 but think it was swapped out of something else. It hase the strap type u-joint retainers and by jacking and rotating a tire, the other spins the same direction. Like a trac-lock 9". previous owner said he had a hard time finding a u-joint for it. Ended up being a dodge part.
Any idea how to ID this rear?? I know it's a Dana 60, 4:10 gear.

[averagef250]

The build numbers are on the axle tube. Dodge used the cheezy bolt on straps like that, but it's just as likely somebody blew the stock yoke apart and replaced it with a dodge one as it is they replaced the whole axle.

An easy to tell if it's the original is pull an axle. 16 spline- it's original, 30 spline it's not.

If both tires spin together it's more likely a powerlock. Trac-loks are junk in a dana 60, unless it has brand new clutches they behave just like an open diff.

[clemm17]

Do you know the differance between a 9 inch and a dana 60? Its the diferance between a ford pinto and a mac truck! The 9 inch is popular becuse it is heavy duty upgrade for a light car!
What kind of racing? If you are going to 1/4 mile straight as fast as you can and nothing else then weld the cluster gears. If your going to go in a circle then you want limited slip. If your working on a 4X4 then you need to put some thought into this. You start spinning 4 wheels you are going downhill period. no matter how slight. You spin all 4 and your truck will slide sideways down hill. Controlling this can be difficult. I recomend air lockers so you can lock it up when needed and drive it the rest of the time!

[averagef250]

Some guys swear by their 9 inches. I've seen enough properly setup big bearing 9 inches scattered to feel they don't walk on water. I've seen a stock ford semi-float 30 spline powerlock Dana 60 handle 4500 pounds of truck with 540 inches on the bottle through a glide with a brake for hundreds of passes without failure (just a 1/2 spline twist in each axleshaft).

[68Mercury250Ranger]

Some guys swear by their 9 inches. I've seen enough properly setup big bearing 9 inches scattered to feel they don't walk on water. I've seen a stock ford semi-float 30 spline powerlock Dana 60 handle 4500 pounds of truck with 540 inches on the bottle through a glide with a brake for hundreds of passes without failure (just a 1/2 spline twist in each axleshaft).

What was that 60 semifloat out of? I've only seen them with 35 spline axles as big as a 70. Superstrong but not for weight bearing.

I have seen the full float 60 axle shafts(pretty small) snap like twigs and have seen them twist up so much they strip themselves the last 1/2 inch.

I like the 70 myself but only a few years work well for offroading application. Lighter weight and smooth housing outside. All my years of offroading I never saw a 31spline 9" break a shaft. I have seen lots of tracloc housings split the case but not fly apart. And 1 9" pinion shaft snap inside the yoke. Extreme abuse 39.5' swampers and 4.56 gears . That is too much for a 9"

Big thing about the 9" is the pinion support bearing. there is many reason why they are so popular.

I worked my way up to strong axles starting with a 79 Bronco 44 Dlocker and 9" tracloc

Just try it with what you've got and work your way up

[binder56jd]

this video will help u understand

for some reason it won't link-- go to utube and put this in the search box

1970 F100 2WD vs. Dodge Turbo Diesel 4WD


it's an ad for richmond gears