76-77.5 dana 60 oddball

[mikejc]

in his parts list boggie listed the cost of new 35 spline axles that are long enough to be resplined and the cost to respline them. If the axles are the same length between the two and the splines are all the same, why is it necessary to have them resplined and why would it be important to find axles that are long enough to do so? If the splines are all the same and length is the same, wouldnt you buy the axles and throw em in? Or is it something thats not absolutely necessary but makes them stronger if done, i'm just kinda confused on this part. on a different note if you happen to read this, is there a C6 auto with 460 bellhousing that has a tailshaft that can be used with a divorced case? By the time 400Ms and 460's came along the married case setup is all that was used. I have a couple of 2wd C6's i wondered if they were too long to use with the divorced case. Any ideas on this? thanks for your help

[averagef250]

78-79 Ford 60's are the only 35 spline 60's made with that much carrier offset and a driver diffy. Makes them worth a bit more than the newer stuff.

You can buy two GM/dodge/ 1986+ Ford Dana 60 longside axles and respline them to fit both sides of an early ford 60.

Or you can just buy some 78-79 axles new and put them in. New axles aren't necked down like the originals so this might be the way to fly.

Also, just to throw this out there, if you can compare a low pinion Ford 60 to a 78-79 axle side by side there are more differences than just low pinion VS high pinion. The center section of the high pinion axles is cast thicker and heavier than the low pinion axle. It's not as if they break, but I noticed it and thought it was something worth mentioning.

[averagef250]

Any 73-77.5 F-250 4x4 with an auto and 351m/400 will have the tranny you're looking for. The 2wd C6's were 2 styles- the early ones had a fixed yoke same as the 73-77 4x4 ones, but nowhere to mount the t-case shifter. The later 2wd C-6's had a slip yoke and were longer. You can make the longer one fit with a divorced case, but the short center shaft just agrivates the issues with divorced cases- bucking, U-joint wear, etc.

[mikejc]

thank you very much. that about covers it, very good info

[Boggie]

Hey AverageF250, the one thing I didn't say was I had the 76 low pinion cut apart and rolled in a mid 80's high pinion center section. Only because I have heard of some serious drivline failures that have happend from a drivline company that TOLD ME it was possible to build me a drivline capable of 27 deg.

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The reason for the 76 dana build was lack of knowledge... I now know that it was almost impossible to do what I wanted to do. But I have a musch stronger axle now and all the new parts that I baught for the low pinion I can still use for the low pinion except for one axle shaft. But a new one for the the axle was an easy fix.

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[Boggie]

And I forgot to mention that buying two 78-79 inner axle shafts and just putting them in the low pinion dana 60 isn't possible. The ring gear housing between the low pinion and the high pinion has a slightly different offset. I looked into it and my only option was to have inner axle shafts made for the low pinion. The offset between the two was slightly mose than an inch.... not easy to notice unless your building one.

[mikejc]

So what axles did you use when you had the low pinion housing still in place? Did you reuse these when you put in the hi pinion or did you get a whole other set? does the mid 80's hi pinion ring gear have the same offset as the 78 and 79 in which case you could just get 78 and 79 axles and put em in?

[averagef250]

The low pinion 60 I used under my '70 was built from a 1975 closed knuckle 60. I cut the balls off the end of the tubes and used a bent 80's kingpin 60 for parts. I made the axle the same wms width as the original closed knuckle drum axles were, about 1.5" narrower than the disc brakes axles. I resplined the 80's Ford longside axle and a chevy longside axle on the other side.

The biggest part I overlooked building the disc axle to drum width was the steering arm interfering with the leaf spring pack once installed. I ended up sectioning 3/4" out of the steering arm to clear the leaf spring on the driver side.

I paid $1100 for a well worn, but all original 78 HP60 that I have under the truck now. Didn't get much at all for the custom low pinion axle when I sold it.

[mikejc]

every now and again i see 60 centersections alone for sale fro not too bad a price. i've been toying with the idea of grabbing a hi pinion center and doing the same as boggie, but i looked up the process of what it takes to get the tubes apart from the center and pressed into the other and it's out of my league. what kind of place would be able to perform this here in Oregon? anyone near eugene or corvallis/albany perhaps, or even prtland?

[averagef250]

Dutchmans in PDX is the best equipped for this work, but there are handfulls of small shops that also do this stuff.

Cutting the plug welds and pressing the tubes from the center section is a serious job. Removing the C's from the tubes is easier, but you'll still need to retube one side if you started with an 80's Ford 60.

Cheapest and easiest to buy a 78-79 axle.

[rafajr13]

Hey there I'm working on a 79 f150 with a dana 44, I did the dana 44hp swap but Ive broke it twice now. I came across a low pinion dana 60 from a 76-77 f350 and since I would be welding the c-cups to the 60, would I still have to worry about driveshaft angle?