Dana 60 going in...eventually

cason234

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Wow, just stumbled across this thread, and realized that it was a virtually identical story to mine! I bought a used Dana 60 in Langley BC in July 2019 (I live in Lynden, WA)...... stared at it in my garage for a few months, then endeavored to rebuild it. Found it to be in very similar condition to yours, and I performed all the same work (except machining the backside of the spindles)...... At the beginning of the COVID lockdown, I decided to 'finish it off' and put it under my F250. I've had it together for about 2 months now, and am SO GLAD I did this project. Truck feels terrific, and looks tremendous (well, compared to before!)..... one question for you..... the OUTER DUST SHIELDS for the axle tubes. I couldn't find a part number for those, and finally gave up..... just put it together without them, and it looks like you came to the same conclusion. I'm interested in knowing if there even IS one from the factory at the outer end of the axle tubes..... I never could confirm. But, so far it looks like it is just fine. Hope you have a similar sense of satisfaction as I did once I got mine all together! Cheers
 

u2slow

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I'm interested in knowing if there even IS one from the factory at the outer end of the axle tubes..... I never could confirm. But, so far it looks like it is just fine.

There is no factory outer seal on the older Dana 44 & 60 solid axles. Ford (Dana) started using one with the Superduty ('99+). These are larger diameter axle tubes, so the seals won't fit the earlier diffs.

Jeep unit-bearing Dana 30 & 44's are the other common application with outer tube seals.
 

david85

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Hey Carson, thanks for sharing you're story. Quick question for you, was your truck originally 2wd? If yes, I'm curious what difference there was in ride quality compared to twin I beam.

There is a dust shield of sorts, but no axle seal for the outer end of the tubes. After doing some research I decided not to add aftermarket axle shaft seals because it could trap water inside the tube and do more harm than good. This axle came out of a service truck that spent lots of time.
 

aggiediesel01

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They weren't used on all D60 axles but Outer Tube seals were used on D60 axles with BOM numbers of 610432 610445 610610 610741 610313 610371

Those boms correspond with years starting at '88-1/2 up to '95, stopping for '95-'96-1/2, then using them again for '96-1/2-'98.

Seal – Outer Tube Spicer part # 50492.

https://www.dennysdriveshaft.com/p1...ter_axle_seal_fits_dana_28_ifs_dana_35_i.html

The BOM number is listed on the axle tag under the ratio number and it usually starts with the Inverted Triangle, in the pic it is 610741-2.

All of the information ever wanted about a D60 can be found on the

http://www.billavista.com/tech/Articles/Dana_60_Front_Axle_Bible/

In particular I looked this information up in the X510-9 June 2004 catalog that lists all parts and BOM info from '78-'98. I posted the relevant excerpt from the complete catalog below the pic.

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u2slow

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The 50492 seal is a spindle/stub-axle seal.
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aggiediesel01

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The 50492 seal is a spindle/stub-axle seal.

The parts blow up shows that part number being described as

#90 — (note#2) Seal – Outer Tube

and the parts diagram shows it being installed on the inboard side of the knuckle. Your picture is of the outer stub dust seal and it's number is 37311 or 50381 as they went later in the series/bom.
 

u2slow

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Your picture is of the outer stub dust seal and it's number is 37311 or 50381 as they went later in the series/bom.

I stand corrected. These stub/spindle seals are marked 50381. They came out of a 92-94 diff.

Is that tube seal perhaps a retro application? I spent some years in autowrecking... never saw an outer tube seal in any of those diffs right up to '97. Then the Superduty started coming through, and saw they finally started using tube seals.
 
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aggiediesel01

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We have them in both of our 610741-2 &-4 axles which are considered 97-1/2 to '98. Both of those are wrecking yard pulls for our F250s

I don't remember them in our '79 F350, and I don't remember ever digging that deep into the '92 F350 we had so I can't confirm any other sightings other than what I've seen in other people's threads on here and other places.

The BOM breakdown in the catalog shows them starting at years '88-1/2 up to '95, stopping for '95-'96-1/2, then using them again for '96-1/2-'98. Maybe they got left out as they got serviced over time?
 
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u2slow

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aggiediesel said:
Maybe they got left out as they got serviced over time?

That must be it. We had dozens of 92-97 F350's through for wrecking or rebuild. I guess never say never LOL
 

david85

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I wasn't kidding when I said it would take a while! But it looks like it's finally going to happen...15 years after getting this truck, it's finally going to be 4wd!

The entire front of the body is removed except for the hood. No scratches on the new paint (yet!). Ran into some hiccups with the frame modifications. It turns out that 1992 and up do have some changes in the stamping that go beyond merely lengthening the frame for the OBS style bumper and mounts. The shackles had to be modified and the frame boxing also had to be massaged to fit. I also massaged the frame a little to make a cleaner lap-joint. But it's all in now and looks good. The boxed reinforcing is already welded but I didn't take photos because it was already dusk when we wrapped up for the night.

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david85

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Boxed section welded to the frame.

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david85

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I have to admit, it is a little scary seeing the truck stripped down this far.

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david85

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End of day wrap-up.

After taking some careful measurements, I had the rear shackles bolted into the bottom of the C-channel. The leaves look pretty good by eye-balling them. Drilling through the side of the C-Channel can happen later (Although, the top forward hole is blocked by the cab mount...not sure how I'll get that one).

A whole mess if rivets got blown off with a plasma cutter to get rid of the brackets for the twin-I beams and the coil spring towers.

Next up, I need to devise a way to accurately install the track-bar mount on the cross member. It looks like one of the holes might already be there, but the other two are not. I know 6 Nebraska IDIs had issues with alignment on the track bar and ended up going with an adjustable one. I still have the donor frame, so it shouldn't be too difficult.

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