Dana 60 full-floating/Dana 60 semi-floating

[cherokee83]

Hey, its that time of year in the mid-west! looking to swapp out my factory axles both front and rear for Dana 60 axles! this will be a daily drive to and from work 75 miles out and 75 miles in, by hi-way 65 to 80 miles an hour i work in a shiping yard so i will have to do some off roading in deep mud and snow, i have found all kinds of info on other trucks but not much info on use of Dana 60 on FSJ!! semi-floating dana 60 have the 35 spline like the full-floating dana 60 axles! so what makes the full-floating Dana 60 axle stronger?? also need info on the high-pinion Dana 60 kingpin axle? what dana 60 axle should i use GM/Ford/Dodge would like to run a 8 bolt wheel trying to keep away from 14 bolts what gears should i use, see that i will be running up and down the hi-way in this cherokee??

[1977cherokeechief]

i cant really help you a whole lot besides a couple questions for you.

what motor, tranny, and t-case are you running, and also, what size of tires?

[Dmntxn77]

1) With a semi float axle, the axle itself has to carry the entire load of the vehicle. A full float does not carry any load.

2) What kind of info are you looking for on the D60 kingpin axle? If your question is about the kingpins, then the answer is yes, they are way stronger and easier to work with than a ball joint.

3) If your FSJ is drivers side drop, you will need a Ford D60. If your FSJ is passenger side drop, then you will need a Chevy or Dodge D60.

4) Almost all D60's are 8 lug, so that wont be a problem.

5) Why stay away from a 14 bolt? That rear axle is far superior to a D60 in every way except for weight and ground clearance (which can be fixed). It is probably the most popular rear axle swap for all 4x4's (my D70 is better though ).

6) The gears that you use will depend on the engine/tranny combo that you have and the tire size that you plan on running.

[cherokee83]

i cant really help you a whole lot besides a couple questions for you.

what motor, tranny, and t-case are you running, and also, what size of tires?

360 engine 727 transmission and i think 208 t-case looking to run 33's and up

[cherokee83]

1) With a semi float axle, the axle itself has to carry the entire load of the vehicle. A full float does not carry any load.

2) What kind of info are you looking for on the D60 kingpin axle? If your question is about the kingpins, then the answer is yes, they are way stronger and easier to work with than a ball joint.

3) If your FSJ is drivers side drop, you will need a Ford D60. If your FSJ is passenger side drop, then you will need a Chevy or Dodge D60.

4) Almost all D60's are 8 lug, so that wont be a problem.

5) Why stay away from a 14 bolt? That rear axle is far superior to a D60 in every way except for weight and ground clearance (which can be fixed). It is probably the most popular rear axle swap for all 4x4's (my D70 is better though ).

6) The gears that you use will depend on the engine/tranny combo that you have and the tire size that you plan on running.

i have the drives side drop so what year ford D60 should i run?? so does the king pin have the 35 spline? what year and make can you find the king pin axle? my cherokee has the 360 engine/trans727/t-case208 i think

[wickedwagon767]

i have the drives side drop so what year ford D60 should i run?? so does the king pin have the 35 spline? what year and make can you find the king pin axle? my cherokee has the 360 engine/trans727/t-case208 i think

You will need a late-70's to early 90's Ford Dana60 front. Many from the late 80's early 90's had ball-joint type knuckles. check on that.

The Ford Kingpin Dana60 front axles have 35-spline inner and outer axleshafts.

Also, Not all full-floating Dana60 rear axles have 35-spline axleshafts. Most of them had 30-spline axleshafts.

[cherokee83]

You will need a late-70's to early 90's Ford Dana60 front. Many from the late 80's early 90's had ball-joint type knuckles. check on that.

The Ford Kingpin Dana60 front axles have 35-spline inner and outer axleshafts.

Also, Not all full-floating Dana60 rear axles have 35-spline axleshafts. Most of them had 30-spline axleshafts.

so how do i know what dana60 have the 35 splines?? does the axles have vin numbers you can look for that tells is the axles are 35 spline over 30 spline??

[wickedwagon767]

so how do i know what dana60 have the 35 splines?? does the axles have vin numbers you can look for that tells is the axles are 35 spline over 30 spline??

Dana60 rear axles out of 70's and 80's F-250 trucks with low GVW (gross vehicle weight) had 30-spline shafts. The 1-ton high GVW vehicles had the 35-spline 60's. The Dana60 rear axles in Fullsize Jeep J20 pickups had 30-spline shafts. Most Dodge Dana60 rear axles had 30-spline shafts

No worries if you get one with 30-spline shafts. You can covert one to 35-spline

you can unbolt the hub and check the axleshaft spline count if you don't know what vehicle the axle came out of

[LTS06]

A lot of full float D-60's out there are 30 spline shafts. All the semi float D-60's I've come across are 35 splines.

BUT the semi float 60's are also C-clip axles...meaning the shafts are retained by c-clips (read ford 8.8, chryco 8.25 etc). You'll find them in a fair amount of vans and even J-trucks have them in ceratin years (5 lug application).

Strong axle.

Also be sure it is indeed a D-60. If it has a 3.54 or 3.07 gear ratio I would steer clear as it is a D-61...D-60's start at 3.55. Not a bad axle but those were the only 2 ratios offered for it. D-60 internals can be used in it but I am not sure what is needed to do so.

[cherokee83]

A lot of full float D-60's out there are 30 spline shafts. All the semi float D-60's I've come across are 35 splines.

BUT the semi float 60's are also C-clip axles...meaning the shafts are retained by c-clips (read ford 8.8, chryco 8.25 etc). You'll find them in a fair amount of vans and even J-trucks have them in ceratin years (5 lug application).

Strong axle.

Also be sure it is indeed a D-60. If it has a 3.54 or 3.07 gear ratio I would steer clear as it is a D-61...D-60's start at 3.55. Not a bad axle but those were the only 2 ratios offered for it. D-60 internals can be used in it but I am not sure what is needed to do so.

so my question!! if i pick of a pair of Dana 60 from a junk yard, there are no markings on the axle to tell me if its full-floating or semi-floating? lot of work and weight just to drive home and open up axle to see its not what im looking for!! there has to be some type of marking to keep me from buy the rong axles twices

[Dmntxn77]

You can tell if its full float or not from about 100' away, so I wouldnt worry about that...

I will try to find a couple pics for you.

BTW, just so we are on the same page, you do realize:

1) 8 "bolt" as you call it is actually 8 lug, and it refers to the number of lug nuts you have on your wheel.

2) a Corporate 14 bolt is a style of axle used by GM, and that number refers to the number of bolts that are used to hold the diff cover on, and has nothing to do with the number of lugs.

3) The terms full float and semi float refer to the rear axle, not the front. All front D60's are full float...

[Dmntxn77]

Semi Float (fairly rare 6 lug version): Note how smooth it is inside the lug pattern.


Full Float: Note the 6 bolts that are inside the lug pattern. Those bolts are holding the flange on the end of the axle shaft. If you remove those bolts, you can slide the axle shaft out without removing the wheel or even jacking the vehicle.

[cherokee83]

You can tell if its full float or not from about 100' away, so I wouldnt worry about that...

I will try to find a couple pics for you.

BTW, just so we are on the same page, you do realize:

1) 8 "bolt" as you call it is actually 8 lug, and it refers to the number of lug nuts you have on your wheel.

2) a Corporate 14 bolt is a style of axle used by GM, and that number refers to the number of bolts that are used to hold the diff cover on, and has nothing to do with the number of lugs.

3) The terms full float and semi float refer to the rear axle, not the front. All front D60's are full float...

well for the most part i was sure that what i called 8 bolt was the number of lug nuts used to hold wheels But I always thought a 14 bolt corporate had 14 lugs nuts and no way was i going to swapp out for 14 lug nuts Big up's on that info but i was also told that a 14 corporate has ver y low clearnes but i could be rong about that to

[cherokee83]

Semi Float (fairly rare 6 lug version): Note how smooth it is inside the lug pattern.


Full Float: Note the 6 bolts that are inside the lug pattern. Those bolts are holding the flange on the end of the axle shaft. If you remove those bolts, you can slide the axle shaft out without removing the wheel or even jacking the vehicle.

i ran across a pair of axles off a 93 Dodge cummins front is dana 60 Kingpin rear is dana 70 asking prices for both is $500.00 can i use them to swapp out my axles? or does the axles have to be Ford only??

[JeepMods]

Watch out when yanking 60's from the yards... What looks like a FF D60... might end up being a D61... remove the cover and check the gear ratio. if it has 3.07 gears chances are it's a D61...

Dana 61 pro's and con's:

Pro's:
Thicker housing
Bigger tubes (3.5")
Awesome ground clearance as they're almost flat
Uses the same axles as the D60
Can be upgraded to 35 splines

Con's:
Gearing limitations... in-order to run the standard 60 gears you'll need a series 3 carrier, a spacer and the thick gear sets...

I think some D61's might have the 4.10's as-well... I haven't seen any in person though... only the 3.07's...