1994 idit dana 61

[miked]

hello
long story short I have owned a 1984 f250 2wd diesel for a long time. I put in the back of my barn 15 years ago with the idea i would rebuild it when I retired.
I have now retired and have moved it into my shed to work on it. It has the dana 61 3.07 gears and i converted it from 4 speed manual to 5 speed manual about 25 years ago. which boosted my mpg's from around 20 with the 4 speed up to about 22 with the 5 speed at about 60 mph. I am in canada but list the mpg in US mpg's . I loved the mileage that truck could get. My plans were to make it into my travelling rig with a pop up camper in the back. not planing to tow anything. Problem is it is a single cab and I now feel a club cab would suit my purposes better.

I have found a 1994 idit auto 2wd club cab in descent shape which I am considering buying. I would be converting it to manual right away. I have a number of parts trucks to pull the required components off of, a 83 idi and a 90idi and a 96 powerstroke. I was planing on installing a 4wd trany into the 84 to get a low range as at times 1st and reverse was to fast with the 2wd zf trany
My problem is that i would love to transplant the dana 61 into the 94. This I know would afect everything that runs off the signal from the rear end.

Any thoughts on what could be done to make the dana 61 work

 

[FrozenMerc]

Are you only worried about the speedometer? You can order different tooth count speed-o gears and it takes about 5 mins to swap it. The only other thing to hook up would be ABS, and you can live without that, especially on a rear axle.

 

[Rdnck84_03]

The biggest problem I see with that swap the OBS factory speedometer is electronically driven off the rear axle, there is no speed sensor provision on the 84 axle.

James

 

[miked]

I agree Bypassing the abs and installing an proportioning valve would work as I never had a problem with the 84 brakes.
I wasn't sure if there was some way else of generating a signal for the speedo and cruise control.
I could put an aftermarket cruise controll kit on.
That leave's a solution to come up with for the speedo.
anyone come up against this before and how did you deal with it???

 

[IDIBRONCO]

The speedo drive gear in my transfer case is bad. I use an aftermarket speedometer that uses a GPS signal for the speed. There's no odometer, but I can live without that.

 

[u2slow]

I reckon you could fit a tone ring and speed sensor from a later Dana 60 (E250/350 or Dodge).

I've seen similar done before. This one is welded

Ford 8.8 rearend Durability and Strength

www.pirate4x4.com

Have seen another that had the 'boss' built up with stacked washers JB-welded together.

 

[miked]

Thankyou for the ideas. the gps speedometer is definatly a good idea I did not know they made them.
But the link u2slow sent has my attention. I have some machine tools in my shed and could build an exturnal unit. will need to do more research on this idea.
The question that remains is will the speedo still work with the tranny and abs systems unpluged or will the computor suffer a nervous breakdown.
Thanks again for the ideas

 

[u2slow]

The question that remains is will the speedo still work with the tranny and abs systems unpluged or will the computor suffer a nervous breakdown.

The E4OD suffers a breakdown without the speedo input. Should be ok with a manual trans.

 

[Rdnck84_03]

And the abs should still function if you can make the speed sensor idea work, speedo and abs get their signal from the same sensor.

James

 

[IDIBRONCO]

the gps speedometer is definatly a good idea I did not know they made them.

You'll have to be careful. Most of them are made to plug into a OBD2 port. You'll have to find one that uses a cigarette lighter plug. Also don't leave them on for longer periods of time very often. I used to leave my first one on over the weekend occasionally, but it burned out a couple of lights.

 

[david85]

I think 3.33 gears might still be available for the 10.25" rear axle (aftermarket stopped making 3.08s years ago). Although to be honest, there isn't too much difference between 3.08 to 3.55 gears once you settle into cruise.

If you ever want 4wd, 3.55 is as tall as you can go, unless you swap the front axle to the weaker D44 front.

 

[u2slow]

3.33 10.25" sterling was apparently used in some of those 7-lug F250's from 97-03(?)

There is the 3.07 Dana 70 from dodges that had the cummins and 727 auto. Those have a VSS.

 

[miked]

Thanks again for the input.
This hive mind is full of smart people
The more information and Ideas put forward the better for me.

I figure the 84 would be the candidate for 4wd conversion My 96 parts truck has the dana 60 front that could be swapped over with matching rear.
The 94 2wd truck would never see snow. I have a 2010 silverado for that. The only off road it would see would be a camp site.

My memory of the 3.07 gear is how smooth the idi purred at highway speeds when empty.

With the close ratio gear box you ended up with 3rd 4th and 5th as all useable as a road gear, depending on the load you were moving/pulling.
I did use the 84 to pull home large round hay bales on a trailer fairly often when it was still on the road. (a bit over 10000ish Lbs total) and the clutch did have to be slipped more than I liked to get every thing moving. Thankfully I never had to go far, so yes,not a good gear for long distance pulling.

Of course I did not know it had 3.07 gears when I bought it.