1975 Dana 60's, can I convert the closed knuckles to open and disc?

[MidnightRebel07]

I found a guy that has a set of front and rear Dana 60's from his 1975 F-250 for sale for $100. I have a coouple questions before I spend the money and bust my A$$ loading and unloading these big *****es.

Can I convert the drums (front and or rear) to disc? Can I even use the closed knuckle front axle or haow hard would it be to convert them to open knucles?

I know most guys go with '78-79 F1-50, 250 axles for the disc brakes and bigger axle tubes. I'm still looking for a set for the right price but came across these and was wondering if they might be worth it or just pass. Would it be worth it to just get the rear Dana 60?

 

[MidnightRebel07]

No one wants to chyme in? I'll keep looking for '78-79 axles then.

 

[colintrax]

What size tires are you wanting to run? I don't know about converting to open knuckle but I'm pretty sure you can convert both to disk. Look on pirate4x4.com there'll be some more info about these axles and what to do with them there.

And let us know what you find out!

 

[colintrax]

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/ford/1072259-dana-60-question.html
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/ford/885944-dana-60-use.html

And lots of info http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/60_front/index.html

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Thanks for the links. I passed on the axles, looked into it and it'd cost more to do the conversion and fab work (doing the owrk myself to convert it over to open knuckles)then to just get newer axles that have open knuckles and disc brakes. Thanks.

 

[sport97]

Out of curiosity whats the pros/cons of open vs closed?

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Here ya go Vince... by the way, how's the repairs going?

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/Dana44.htm

 

[sport97]

Thanks for the link.

I got a buddy who said he would offer his shop space and help to pull the intake and do the 00M12 repairs. Need to find a weekend day to make it up there.

 

[IZwack]

I found a guy that has a set of front and rear Dana 60's from his 1975 F-250 for sale for $100. I have a coouple questions before I spend the money and bust my A$$ loading and unloading these big *****es.

There's a reason why its $100

And FWIW - when you go to buy a D60, bring a set of tools to remove as much of the outers as possible (mostly the brakes) to make it lighter. Else, bring a fork lift or an engine hoist. I was able to man handle the old full-width D44 but a D60 is in a different level - your back is going to hate you.