Rear D-60 from 1977 Dodge Military Ambulance - Good One?

[Manhattan]

Anyone know if the rear Dana 60 in a 1977 Dodge Military Ambulance is a "good one"? I know some of the Dana 60s (spine count, ect.) were less desirable.

The truck also has an 8-lug D-44.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

[Will Morris]

It should be your basic full floating 30 spline Dana 60 rear. I'm pretty sure by '77 you're past the 19 spline axles. I haven't personally checked the splines in my '77 Dodge, but they should be 30 spline and 1.31" in diameter which is the same size as a Dana 44 shaft. If you wanted 1.5" 35 spline shafts you'd have to bore the spindles and change the carrier to a 35 spline carrier. It's going to be a lot wider than the Dana 44 currently under Bushwood though, so you'd have to cut it down.

Will

[FSJeeper]

Will is correct. I buy a lot of surlpus and am pretty familiar with the Dodges. Based on my experience it will have 30 splines, 4.10 gears, powerlock, and in an ambulance should be very low mileage unless someone has thrashed it since it left active military duty. Should be 67" wide WMS to WMS which is perfect for a FSJ.

Glenntx has this exact axle under his choptop that he got from me except the gears were changed to 3.54. You might want to ask him about the install. He put disc's on his also.

[FSJeeper]

And these are fairly consistently priced around the states at between $200 to $300 dollars if in excellent condition.

[Glenn_tx]

The axle will bolt right on. The 60 yoke takes straps, my original 44 yoke had u-bolts. Your rear driveshaft will have to be shortened a little as well. Also the emergency brake cables will need a little work too hook up. I welded in a piece of angle iron into the inner part of the frame on the driver side to keep the cable housings situated, the 60 cables both run down the driver side, and hooked them up to the original equilizing cable that starts at the crossmember.

The axle is about 6" wider than the stock 44/20 rear axle. If you put a FSJ WT front axle on, it will be a perfect match.

[ September 08, 2003, 08:26 AM: Message edited by: GlennTX ]