Help me decide on my rear axle!

[JeepsAndGuns]

Ok, So I am gonna be putting new axles under my cherokee. My front axle is gonna be a HD D44 high pinion from a 78 f250. I was gonna use the FF D60 from the same truck for the rear. Then I found the d61 (pretty shure thats what it is, see my post "dana 60 HD??") Now my dad just called me this afternoon and told me he had an old truck fall into his lap for free. It is a old one we had for a short while then he sold (or gave, I cant remember) it to one of his good friends. Well he just gave it back to us, I'm shure its pretty rough, but it is a f350 2wd DRW. So it should have the big ol dana 70 in it right? He said I could have it if I wanted it instead of the other axle (d61)

Ok, so heres what I am thinking, I have pretty mutch decided aganst the regular d-60 when I have bettet beef avalable. So its down to the d-61 and the d-70. So I will try to list high/low points of them both and hope to get some opinions from yall.

D-61, read my other post for the diffrences of the d60 and d61. Its a pretty nice axle, its only about 1in wider that the regular d60 we have. The van it came from has low original miles, so it wont need rebuilt and it has 4.11 gears (if the tag is correct) witch is the raito I want. Has better ground clearance than the d-70.

D-70, well, beef, what else can I say about it. But it is a DRW axle so arnt the hubs diffrent and stick out more than a single wheel model? and it truck was rought when we had it and it probably rougher now (I havent seen it, its 6 hours away) and this truck has probably been run hard and put up wet, so it most likely will need a rebuild, I dont know the width or the raito (he is supposed to check that for me)

Right now the d-61 is winning. The d-70 would probably be overkill for my Jeep and what I am gonna use it for, and would probably cost me more money than I need to spend ( I need it for the high steer on the front) and a the center housing would probably be an anchor for my jeep and get hung up. ( I am planing on running 35's with 37's the largest I would probably ever go, and that wouldnt be for a few years) So right now I am likeing the d61. what do youall think? I want to hear your opinions, and if I have and wrong info posted up please correct me. Thanks all.

[FSJnovice]

only way to make yourself feel better is to drive six hours and measure the axle or better yet have someone go out and measure flange to flange and see what you have to work with, i think tadsal was working on something similar to this also.

[JeepsAndGuns]

Yea, dad is gonna measure the wms to wms on the d70 for me. So I will compare the two.

[Brad W.]

i'm still not to sure about that dana 61... it's kina an obscure thing to be finding crap for. i've heard lots of horror about them, but i take them w/ a grin of salt since they are secondhand stories. i think i'd stick with a dana 60. if you were to use the full floating version, it should be plenty strong enough for a FSJ.

[scotty]

if its got 4.11 gears its not a d61. the d61 is an oddball d60 that was speically made to use higher gearsets(2.73,3.08,3.54). it is not more beef than the d60. same size pinion shaft,ring gear,and axlesahfts.

if this truck youre getting has a d70 rear,you shoule without a doubt use that. 10.5" ring gear,1.5" shafts,its in the same league as the gm 14 bolt smile.gif

[JeepsAndGuns]

The only thing I dont like about the d-70 is how it hangs down low, I like ground clearance.

[Brad W.]

shave it. you can smooth out the bottom of the housing to remove some of the crap that you will get hung up on. the other thing you may consider: I was told the Dana 61 is C-clip. I don't know first hand, so take it with a grain of salt. there may or may not be any truth in that.

[JeepsAndGuns]

Mabey if it was a semi float. But the one I have is full float and I just removed the bolts from the hub and the axle came right out.
The only thing about shaving is I dont have the tools to do it. with the cutting, grinding and welding on the housing. I can weld, but I dont have a welder and I'm not good enough to weld cast iron.

[JeepsAndGuns]

I found this, (talking about the diffrences between the 60 and 61)

differences:
d61 has an offset pinion for freeway gears(3.10 to 4.10). the pumpkin has extra ribs and is stronger than the d60. pinion bearing has a extra support. the tubes are bigger(3 1/2") and 1/2" thick. no need to retube to go to 35 spline. only problem is to get taller than 4.56 gears you have to use a spacer on the ring then you can use regular d60 gears that go to 7.17

So it might not be as oddball as it sounds.

[Brad W.]

yeah, the c-clip one in my friends shop was a semi-floater. maybe it was a different version or something. I'd go look, but it was a POS so we threw it out. good luck.

as far as shaving, just get out the grinder. if you are careful to leave enough beef on the bottom, you won't have to weld.

[JeepsAndGuns]

Yea thats a idea. But I cant help but have that thought in my head thats says those ribs are there for a reason. I just dont like the idea too mutch.

[coh_2lesson89]

i'd stick with the d60 because there is an abundance of lockers, r&p ratio's, aftermarket axleshafts, plus if the biggest tire size your gonna use is 37 the d60 has plenty of strength unless you have a blown motor running on alcohol and nitrous, i know your probably thinking bigger is better, but don't be too sure of yourself because bigger usually means heavier and unsprung weight is a killer.

[coh_2lesson89]

oh yeah and if your not going to use the d60 i'll gladly take it off your hands.

[FullsizeWagon]

There was some talk about the D61 on Pirate recently. If I remember correctly, the guy hadn't looked to see if the spindles/hubs needed to be machined to accept the 35 spline axle shafts or not.
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=274156&highlight=Dana
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=268369&highlight=Dana
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=262423

Reider Racing in Metro Detroit sells the spacer for numerically higher gears. Once you have the spacer, the D61 uses the same gears and lockers as a D60. So the D61 isn't as oddball as everyone thinks. Call up Reider Racing and ask them about it. They are very knowledgeable about differentials. Also, you will get an idea of how expensive it would be to upgrade to lower gears down the road.

[FullsizeWagon]

So if it were me, I would use the D61 since it will work for you, doesn't need to be rebuilt right now, has the gears you want, is the width you want, and will be strong enough for you. And you already have it.

[JeepsAndGuns]

Originally posted by FullsizeWagon:
So if it were me, I would use the D61 since it will work for you, doesn't need to be rebuilt right now, has the gears you want, is the width you want, and will be strong enough for you. And you already have it.Yea, Thats basicly what I am thinking. By the way, thanks for the links, I pretty mutch never go to pirate.

Originally posted by coh_2lesson89:
oh yeah and if your not going to use the d60 i'll gladly take it off your hands.I have pretty mutch decided to use the D61, so the 60 is up for sale. It is in southwest VA at my dads house. If you come pick it up I am shure he will cut you a deal (since it is techinacly his axle) email me if your interested.

[HotRodYJ]

How much on the D60? I'm in NE TN so someone around here may be interested and it's not that far.

Just my opinioin, not trying to ruffle any feathers here but I've seen a couple of stock D60 FF axle shafts break on DD rigs around here in places they shouldn't have had any problem. I know they can be upgraded to bulletproof with 35 spline shafts etc, but from experience, I'm not that impressed in stock form. I know the D70 is bigger, heavier, lower and all that, but for my use I like bone stock overkill I'll never have to worry about or throw more money at latter on. That's why I went with the 14B in back. No I don't need the beef, but it was already locked and geared like I needed, and cheaper than regearing another smaller axle. Shaved better than an inch off the bottom, and yeah it's still low, but no problem so far for what I do. Drag it on the rocks and go on.

Now that being said, I agree a D60 or 61 "should" be plenty for what you have in mind. I just don't think they are all everyone makes them out to be, at least in stock form. Don't flame me too bad, just an opinion nothing more.

[JeepsAndGuns]

No reason to flame you. everyone has their right to a opinion. The d61 will most than likely be plenty of beef for me.
Hey, your not far from where I grew up. I used to live in abingdon.

[Tad]

Originally posted by JeepsAndGuns:
...I'm not good enough to weld cast iron.Yes you are, anyone who can run a a stick welder can do cast iron with the specialty electrodes we have available to us.

[Robber80]

to be honest, the only reason i put 35 splines mosers in my d60 is i got a killer deal on the shafts, found them on ebay never used for like $150 and had the axle bored out for 25 dollars at a machine shop. otherwise, i would have gone 14bolt. but no matter what i did, i would have re-geared and re-built either axle. i do think its cool have 1.5" thick shafts in a d60 though, its always cool, but i think you could probably shave a 14bolt and a d60 and have more clearnce on teh 14bolt when you are done. not sure though, just what i've heard.

jeepsandguns. hell yeah on the d61, i want to see some swap pics.

[rockjeep44]

Originally posted by coh_2lesson89:
unsprung weight is a killer.Where did you learn that myth?

[HotRodYJ]

Originally posted by tadsal:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by JeepsAndGuns:
...I'm not good enough to weld cast iron.Yes you are, anyone who can run a a stick welder can do cast iron with the specialty electrodes we have available to us.</font>[/QUOTE]There's a difference here too, rears are cast steel, not cast iron. You can weld cast steel just like cold rolled steel, nothing special.

[ August 25, 2004, 10:07 AM: Message edited by: HotRodYJ ]

[JeepsAndGuns]

Although I can stick weld, it has been a long time since I have done it, and back then I was no good at it. I dont have a welder, and I would need a LOT of practice. I can mig weld a little better, but still not that good at that either, havent done any of that since high school.

Yea, on down the road I might put 35 spline axles in the d-61. that is if I break the 30 spline ones. I probably never will. My foot is not to heavy.

[scotty]

Originally posted by rockjeep44:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by coh_2lesson89:
unsprung weight is a killer.Where did you learn that myth?</font>[/QUOTE]yeah,really. unsprung weight helps with traction and keeping the rubber side down. putting in a 14 bolt ws one of the best mods iver ever done to mine. as i lost sprung weight and gained unsprung weight i can now go places in 2wd that i need all 4 to get to before.

adding unsprung weight sure seemed to help me smile.gif my puny little 44 sure didnt have the 'nads to push my rig around like that in 2wd :D

[jode]

Originally posted by rockjeep44:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by coh_2lesson89:
unsprung weight is a killer.Where did you learn that myth?</font>[/QUOTE]It is true if you are racing at high speeds. It is only a myth for rockcrawling/trailriding.