J20 Rear Axle Shaft Upgrade

[viscacha]

I?ve been searching for chrome moly axle shafts for my dana 60 for months with no luck so now I?m searching for new stock replacement axle shafts. The few places that say they have stock replacement shafts (cut to length) say the flanges are 8 x 4? BC. My J20 has an 8 x 3.75? BC flange.

Are all J20 dana 60?s the same? Anybody bought new axle shafts before for a J20? I?m a little confused because I thought I had identified this axle as a dana 60-0 (no dash number) but some sources tell me it?s a dana 60-3 which I don?t believe it is. Even if it was its still got a 3.75? BC which doesn?t match anything I?ve ever found. I went through this while trying to find the metal flange seals, which I never did find because of the bolt pattern. Why do I have such an oddball bolt circle hole pattern and who has axle shafts with that pattern?

Thanks.

[zmjeeps]

The book says Spicer (Dana) Part # 31494-10 is the shaft number for both the left and right sides of an '86 J-20. Call your local FleetPride or other drivetrain shop and give them this part number.

[Clem]

I would imagine someone like Randy's R&P would have info on it. I might try calling a drive line place that deals with axles and shafts. It is FF rearend. You can change a shaft out really easy with nothing else but hand tools. No jacks, no nada. I would just keep a spare shaft or two with you and call it good. It isn't indestructable, but should hold up fine to 33's and any locker easily.

[viscacha]

I just went to the local diff shop and his book says my axle flanges are 8 x 3.720? bc. All these places that sell axle shafts with 8 x 4? bc are actually 8 x 3.96? bc. It doesn?look good for finding new axles.

[GroundHawgs]

If your looking for offset D-60 rear I have one I don't need. Lemme know if you want anything off of it or the whole thing.....

[viscacha]

I have the centered diff, both shafts are the same length. I?m going to keep looking for a new shaft source.

[gwinn]

Hey Steve, when I picked up that D60 housing from Marshall I immediately started looking for parts to rebuild it. I think I e-mailed you at the time that I was gonna' put off the rebuild due to difficulties (including finding and affording parts). I never did find a source for the axle shafts. Don't they ever break? You might try e-mailing Kevin regarding the company in California that was going to custom build his chrome moly D44 shafts patterned after the stock ones he was going to send to them.

[rockcandy]

Is the problem finding shafts with the correct bolt pattern to bolt up to the hub? If that is the case, you might want to check if moser or someone can make a shaft with a blank hub face or whatever they call it and have it drilled appropriately my a machine shop. It seems like it would be easier to just change to a 60 hub from a ford. Then buy your shafts. I can't imagine a set of hubs setting you back much.

[J10/J20 Project]

Are you wanting to upgrade for security reason's of someday breaking a shaft? I think it would be a very hard to break a shaft on a FF axle. My dana 60 from a 83 J20 just say's 60 on the bottom right of the pumpkin.
I have a spare set of shaft's if they need them for a sample.

[ February 15, 2005, 09:09 PM: Message edited by: J10/J20 Project ]

[gwinn]

Here are a few custom shops suggested by LilBro:

Summers Brothers, Inc.
530 S. Mountain Ave.
Ontario, CA 91762
Phone: 714.986.2041
FAX: 714.984.7908

or

www.moserengineering.com

Both of these companies can custom fab axles

[viscacha]

I just dropped off the rear dana 60 at the diff shop for new 4.10 gears. I?ll keep looking for new axle shafts and the local diff guy will try to find some. I couldn?t come up with any other option. I can?t replace the hubs because the newer hubs have larger bearings. I can?t bore out the spindles in my axle for newer dana 60 axle shafts because there?s not enough material. That means I can?t get chrome moly axle shafts with blank flanges because all the new axle shafts made are a larger diameter. I don?t think anyone will have the axle material in my diameter to have custom shafts made but I haven?t ruled that out completely until I do more research. My axle is obsolete and I should have looked into finding a 14 bolt or another dana 60. I might end up begging a club member to sell me a couple spare axle shafts and call it good.

[badaboom]

viscacha,

I have been finding this thread interesting. Am I understanding this correctly. Your having difficultly finding new replacement stock or mfg custom axles shafts for your J20 axle housing 1986 D60?

Is this the norm out there?

I Have not heard of this problem before.

[viscacha]

Yea, I can?t find new axle shafts due to the 1.31? dia axle shaft with an 8 x 3.72? bc pattern. Length is not an issue since they cut axle shafts to whatever length you need.

[badaboom]

viscacha,

Boy your making me re-think, somethings. Concerning upgading the rear axle housing.

[viscacha]

Badaboom, what I was trying to do was upgrade my ?old? dana 60 to ?new? dana 60 specifications. You can see in the specs below that you could achieve that with 4340 chrome moly shafts. Plus, since I am replacing the ring and pinion I could buy a high performance gear set to go with the higher torque ratings. That?s all I?ll ever need in the way of strength for what I do. But I can?t get chrome moly shafts that I know of. It looks like Moser makes the strongest shaft available.

My dana 60, 30 spline 1.31? - 6044 ft/lbs
New dana 60, 35 spline 1.5? - 8966ft/lbs
Moser Eng induction hardened, 30 spline 1.31? - 6200 ft/lbs $299 ea. (not worth it)
Aftermarket 4340, 30 spline 1.31? - 9923 ft/lbs