Ricks Bronco: 1and 1/2

[janderson4010]

Sounds like this is coming from experience. Good info, thanks.


After searching for months and months, I finally scored on my High Pinion 1979 Front Dana 60. Found it on craigs list in the Baltimore area. It was actually on the outskirts of Baltimore no more then 60 miles from home. He had it listed for $800 and I offered $700 and he took it.
No it's not a passanger drop axle, it's laying wrong side up lol.

it is from experience lol, I've spent plenty of time on my back in the dirt.

you didn't specifically need a 79 axle, I assume you are narrowing it, most people leave the short side alone and just shorten the long side. the 79 just has a bit longer driver side tube, the only time you really need that is if you are welding a leaf perch on there. still 700$ is not to bad of a deal, my dad bought his chebby d60 for 700 as well.

 

[rookieshooter]

I really need to measure the wheel mounting surface and compare it to the rear 70, I know the rear is slightly longer then the front narrowed 44 which I narrowed on the longer side. I purposely did not cut off as much off the rear 70 just for the anticipated 60 swap. Just wonder if there's an acceptable difference in lengths as far as off road is concerned? As in, lets say 1 to 2" for example between front to rear. He said it's the 78 79 snow fighter D60. Need to find the BOM # which is easier said then done. Some of those stampings are ever so slight.

 

[rookieshooter]

BOM# 610023 2
Can't believe I found that # behind all that rust.
Works out to be a 78-79 F250 & F350 Dana 60 Snow Fighter. 3.54 standard

 

[rookieshooter]

Did some quick research and read that it's no big deal to have the front wider then the rear. In fact one said that it helped in the turning radius. One post whether true or not even says that some make trucks, might have been chevy has as much as 4" different width from front to back. The front was wider. But need to check into it more. Just want to make sure about those 13" wide IROKs clear trailer fenders.

 

[janderson4010]

my rig is about 2" wider in the front than in the back, on paper it does help with turning radius slightly. There are about a zillion different widths of 14 bolt rear ends for chevy's, as far as I know the chev 60's are all the same width. One thing with those snowfighter 60's is they will have necked down shafts, and I think the chromo's are more expensive for them, since they don't interchange with other d60 shafts.

 

[rookieshooter]

my rig is about 2" wider in the front than in the back, on paper it does help with turning radius slightly. There are about a zillion different widths of 14 bolt rear ends for chevy's, as far as I know the chev 60's are all the same width. One thing with those snowfighter 60's is they will have necked down shafts, and I think the chromo's are more expensive for them, since they don't interchange with other d60 shafts.

I know on my rear D70 it came with necked down shafts. But after ordering some Moser alloy axles there were no more neck downs at the spline end. Moser will make the same for this axle plus even increase the stub shaft to 35 spline. I know just by looking at the u-joint of the 60 where the inner connects to the outer, it's just plain massive compared to the 44.
I'll probably go with Dana Spicer Premium life series u joints...Cold Forged.

 

[janderson4010]

yeah if you order Moly shafts they won't be necked down, that axle should have shafts that have a really stupid groove in them just before the splines.

 

[rookieshooter]

2013 Truck Nationals

Had a blast up at the Truck Nationals. Here I'm parked next to a Unimog.

Going to try out this automatic grenade launcher on those low riders that like to drag their bottoms all over the show field road ha ha. To each their own I guess.

Driving up to the pavilion to meet the lovely ladies for the awards ceremony.
This year in the Extreme 4x4 Trail Class the judging was done by Carlisle events, where in the past it was done by Roush Creek OHV. I did not have to do any rides through the little obstacle course set up for the jeep guys, but I did anyway. To give it a little more challenge I drove Samson around the other side of the concrete Jersey walls where there was no dirt piled up to them. Was not sure if the B2 would do it. But I placed the front driver side tire directly up against the edge (end) of the wall which may be about 6 to 8" thick. Both axles locked and in low. Samson walked right up to the top where it did a little balancing act. And then dropped down just below the top and drove it around the wall leaving a beautiful tire print of those 40 IROKs lol.
Anyone that might have been there and got pics of it on or marking the wall, please contact me.

Sorry for the brag, while I adjust my halo. Samson has took another First place award win, making it 3 out of 3 for the last 3 years since this class conception.

Thought I'd award Samson with some goodies for doing so well. As in an ARB for the new acquired Dana front 60, 5.13 ring & pinion, master rebuild kit and some seals. Check out the great show prices that 4wheelparts had. I just love the way the rear ARB works, so with that experience, I'll do the same for the front. As long as you do the plumbing and wiring right, it's just plain flawless.

Next plan is to start working on the 60 which will be shortened and then a trip down to Big Dogs for the Summer Slamb event in about 2 weeks for some serious rock crawling.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

congrats again rick! your almost going to need to bring another truck to haul all your trophy's you keep winning!

 

[rookieshooter]

congrats again rick! your almost going to need to bring another truck to haul all your trophy's you keep winning!

Would have been better had you been down there. Met a few more people from Canada. All of them are just a great bunch of guys...that is that one guy with the flamed out Explorer, just kidding.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/carlisle-events/

Here's a bunch of pics from Carlisle flickr account.. hell with the trucks, check out all the sweetie pies.

Also the removal of the hood and fenders let me get a good look at that Jersey wall as far as getting a line on it. It's not for show.

 

[rookieshooter]

Picked up four of these 3/4" shackles while up at the show from 4wheelparts. Again great price @ $11 each. The 4 pt harness was bought on line from some off road supply house.

Starting to clean up the long passanger side of the 60 including spring perch. Going to definitely shorten this side. Haven't decided if I'm going to do it or someone else.

Done.

This bracket on driver side will have to go also.

The threaded holes for the caps really needed chased out.

 

[rookieshooter]

Before

After.

Ahh, the infamous Dana 60 driver side crack. I purposely wired wheeled this area just to check. Have two choices here.
1- Fix myself with the usual cast weld bracing thing with pre heating and post heating. Which I've done before as in the dana 44 knuckle which has worked well so far. Would be fun to DIY just to see how much abuse it could take. Tow rig +trailer = take it to the limit a little more.
2- Or some Reid/Dedenbear knuckles.

 

[rookieshooter]

Talk about fast, just ordered the ARB locker at the show on Sunday along with the master rebuild kit for the front Dana 60 and got it Tue.
Still waiting on the 5.13 ring & pinion though.
Jon the salesman I dealt with at the show (4wheelparts) was just great in getting me all the right stuff. He suggested using the thick 5.13 gears and then go with the 4.10 and down ARB for more strength in the ring gear.
He also gave me some info about a company or guy that can cut the rear axle down. They're located in Raleigh NC just in case I don't do it myself.

 

[rookieshooter]

Installing both 4 pt. harnesses. All points are secured to the cage. This is on the pass side where the rt hand side lap belt is tied into the cage.

The stock diagonal over the shoulder style belt is still in the truck for street. But for rocks I want to be really secured into the seat. My head is only inches away from cage and roof.

Also talked to East Coast Gear about shortening the axle housing. Which they can do. They also have custom length axle shafts that can be made plus Reid off road knuckles.

 

[rookieshooter]

chopped off
After copious amounts of measuring and then some more, here's what I came up with. The driver side length from centerline of pinion to WMS is just fine compared to the front Dana 44 which works fine for all link mounting and driveshaft angle. So the difference in length will be made up on the passanger side of the 60.
I want the WMS to WMS the exact length as the rear D70 within a frog hair. Any longer and there's a conflict with the trailer fenders. The rear 70 is 61.500 after I narrowed it, the new front 60 has a WMS of 69.250", which is standard for this style 60.

After setting axle in my chop saw and leveling. Off comes 7.75". Now this from extreme end of axle shaft that protrudes through the inner C.
The grinding marks is where I ground down the weld so the tube can be pressed out. Once pressed out, the C will be pressed back onto the axle tube in the exact location as far as length and camber. And for some reason the C causes any trouble, then a call to Reid Racing for a forged inner C.
FWIW: Axle tube specs are, .500" thick x 3.125" dia.

Here's the last of the goodies I ordered from 4wheelparts at the show. The 5.13 R&P...cool. This Front Dana 60 will be a good winter time project.

 

[rookieshooter]

And for some reason the C causes any trouble, then a call to Reid Racing for a forged inner C.

Well, it did cause Trouble with a capital T. After all that grinding I took the C to a machine shop where a 50 ton press could not even budge it
I made the call to Reid Racing, formerly Dedenbear where I talked to Jeff who really spent time explaining why there is so much hype about their products...They're just that good, that's why. I'll be ordering some of their products early this week.
With the upgrade to a 60 with Reid knuckles, ARB locker, ORI shocks, G2 ring & pinion, alloy axles and some good U-joints it should be a beast of an axle. Like I said many months ago,2013 should rock.

 

[rookieshooter]

Had the twin sticks interfering with the tranny shifter (silver) so I shortened down to the height of the original twin sticks that came with the Atlas...Just too low to reach and more difficult to shift due to the lack of leverage. So I found the perfect medium, I hope. The one on the R is the too low height and working on the L to raise to proper height. Just need to cut some new 1/2 x 13 threads.

Done...I hope Plus I had to heat and re-bend.

 

[rookieshooter]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdgR9MTJBIA&feature=youtu.be
Click on Link Next time I'll mount the gopro on one of the 4 links. This was taken with camera on grill.
Ok, now to test out the new 2nd design Atlas twin sticks. Worked fine sitting in the garage but need to go out and do some crawling before next weekends Summer slamb at Big Dogs. In the video I go up the right side as high as I could until bumper hits tree. But this is not the top of the rocks so backed back down and took a line to the left. Check out how level the truck did on those rocks as the suspension does all the articulation. Got a little tippy when a couple of wheels came off the ground. You can see the truck start to rock. Came about 6" from dropping off the edge. Would have not been good.

Made a big difference in raising the levers.

Then it was time to do some easy trails in this 23,000 acre park only about 15 miles from home. Plenty of trails that can be taken. Problem is that the park ranger does not keep all the trail gates open. If there closed and you go around the gate...Big fine. Had problems with off road motor cycles and atv's which left them banned from wheeling there anymore.

 

[janderson4010]

you're gonna need bigger tires to go with the bigger axle, you're gonna have alloy shafts right? run some 44's

 

[rookieshooter]

you're gonna need bigger tires to go with the bigger axle, you're gonna have alloy shafts right? run some 44's

May need um, but these 40" will work for now.

Getting ready to some crawling at Big Dogs this weekend. Bronco is already secured to trailer. It actually starts around mid day Fri. with some festivities and then a night run. I may do the night run after setting up camp. Be fun to use my Lightforce lights. Long as I don't blind the guy in front of me lol. Jon I also packed in my tool boxes some items you mentioned. Also taking my charger and 100' of cord. There's electric at the camp grounds.
On Sat after drivers meeting around 8 am it's off to the rocks all day. Only stopping is for a Trail lunch and needed repairs. Sun is about the same. Plan to take a lot of pics.