Dana 60 question

Cugnet2m said:

I haven't been on here in awhile....got a 2006 superduty and kinda dissapeared over to thedieselstop.com....but my fiance is looking at a 2500HD. Long story short I'd love to SAS. Something I'm stumbling over.. will any Dana 60 work with the commercially available bracket kits? I can understand a certain spring pad width being needed, but do any other mass produced Dana 60's have the 32.5" spring pad width? do they all? Do I really need a High-Pinion? Any help is appreciated,
Thanks

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Why do you want to SAS it? The only axles that have that pad width are Ford axles 78-79 and Chevy D60s. The Fords are driver side diff an are high pinion. The Chevys are passenger side drop low pinion. That will require you to get a new transfer case. Wether or not you really need a high pinion depends on why you want to SAS it. Is it a Duramax/Ally? Or a 6L/80E? or an 8.l/Ally?

It's a 6.0 4l80. I wanna SAS it cause IFS doesn't last up here. She's a geologist too, and going in and out of rig roads, she'll be knocking it out of alignment every three weeks. I went through a lot of headaches with my 05 D-max crew cab.... they just aren't made for up here.

Cugnet2m said:

It's a 6.0 4l80. I wanna SAS it cause IFS doesn't last up here. She's a geologist too, and going in and out of rig roads, she'll be knocking it out of alignment every three weeks. I went through a lot of headaches with my 05 D-max crew cab.... they just aren't made for up here.

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How much $$ do you want to spend? that will determine the year of axle you look for. If you are planning on doing it yourself with leafs, look for a 78 or 79 HP D60. If you are having a shop do it with coils and ride comfort in mind, look for any Ford D60 axle 78-97. The 92-97 axles are ball-joint axles. They are usually ALOT cheaper, and I just dont see ball joints failing like every one claims to.

its not so much the BJs themselves, as its the cost of xover/highsteer compared to a kingpin axle

Cajun4x4 said:

its not so much the BJs themselves, as its the cost of xover/highsteer compared to a kingpin axle

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True, but the price difference is almost enuff to offset it.

CowboyKyle said:

True, but the price difference is almost enuff to offset it.

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and then you have spent the same amount of money and the KP 60s are still gonna be superior...although you are right, its still almost unheard of breaking a BJ 60. I can't even recall a time ive seen it happen on a 10b/d44.

Sounds like a good idea but finding a ford axle will be almost impossible here, ive seen HP 44's come up every now and then but that would be too light duty for your HD. Ive got a gmc 1 ton with a 60/14, some superlift softride springs, front shocks, ORD crossover and hydro assist that could provide pretty much everything you need other than the brackets and transfercase. If you intrested let me know, i dont really have time for this project rite now and would consider parting with my stuff, it would make for one badass HD.

I'm okay Layne....we'll see if she even gets the truck. Sooner or later I wanna get back into some kind of a Duramax, and SAS it. My Ford is tough, but it's the little things I miss...comfortable seats, better window seals, etc. We'll just see. I have a wedding at the Fairmont in Banff to pay for thats gonna clean me out about two trucks worth, but in the meantime this helps me out alot.

Thanks cowboy Kyle for all the info. I'm just gonna keep my eyes peeled for a good deal, buy an axle, then leave it on a pallet till I find the right truck. Might be a year or two but I'll finally be happy.