Dana 60 going in...eventually

franklin2

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You might have to get it all together and put weight on the frontend before the trackbar will line up properly. It moves in a arc, so it actually pulls the frontend to one side or the other as the suspension moves up and down. Not much, but enough to make the holes not line up to get the bolts in.

Any sort of lift is another can of worms for the trackbar.
 

david85

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No lift kits planned.

The problem is my truck doesn't appear to have any holes punched for the tack bar mount. I've read that TTB 4x4 F250s had them but those are technically a different frame. I never could find confirmation if any of the 2wd trucks had them.

Weather permitting, I hope to have it resting on the axle tomorrow. Other then that, I'll just have to take some careful measurements off the donor frame just like I did for the shackles and shock mounts.
 

david85

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Whew...getting sore. I remember reading Nebraska's thread where he complained about all the drilling that was required. He wasn't kidding. Just when I think I'm done, there's more. Shock mounts (4-bolt F350 style) are in, along with the bump stops. Next will be the side holes for the rear leaf brackets, stabilizer bar mounts and the track bar bracket. If I can get that all drilled today, I'll be doing good.
 

u2slow

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Any sort of lift is another can of worms for the trackbar.

Nah. Moving the upper mount isn't difficult and its quite forgiving. Try to be in the ballpark by 1/4". OTOH, 1/4" play because of a shot bushing is a very different story.

The best bet for losing the trac bar completely would have been a RSK (and the lift that comes with.) The trac-bar basically supports the factory unstable shackle engineered for TTB.
 

david85

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It took some figuring out but we managed to get the track bar bracket where it needs to be. In the photo of the underside of the engine cross member, you can see there are four holes. The three fresh holes are in the correct location that were drilled today. The old one is leftover from the I-beam pivot brackets. So if anyone is still wondering if a 2WD F250 has holes pre-drilled for the track bar, the answer is no. The hole that is there looks deceptively close, but it will not work.

As for the springs, it looks like they will work, even though they came out of a gasser F350. Without load, they have a positive arch but with the truck resting on them, they are completely flat. I know the front end will get another few hundred pounds added once the face is back on, but I can't see it having too much of an effect on ride height. Anyone else see a problem so far?

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chillman88

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I don't really like that shackle angle though....

Otherwise nice work! I was too chicken to drill all the holes so I cheated and picked up a donor frame.
 

david85

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Quick question on regarding the leaf springs. There are a couple of smaller plates that add roughly 3/4" of lift. What is there purpose, and can I removed them without any safety problems?

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u2slow

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Hard to say if those are factory or not, but I have seen them factory. My guess is height-consistency between differently optioned trucks (gas, diesel, snowplow 3-leaf springs, etc.) and being able to use one size of u-bolts.

I took 1/4" spacers off mine and installed 1" ones.
 

u2slow

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And watch the oil filter clearance to the diff.... if you take the spacers out.
 

david85

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u2slow: I'm running the FL1995 powerstroke filter, so I'll have to double check the clearance.

IDIBRONCO: You win. Those cinder blocks are way scarier than seeing my truck torn down.
 

david85

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New brake lines for the front. One of them broke off just by breathing on it during the teardown. Glad it happened here and not on the road.

Another question for you Dana 60 experts. I have the anti-roll/stabilizer bar but the links appear to be too long. It came out of a lifted truck so I'm wondering if the links are aftermarket.

Are any of you able to measure the stock links on yours so I can double check mine? I'm planning to just cut and weld them at the shorter length, but I need to know the length first.

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