5 Lug Dana 60? Rare?

[Mooosman]

Hey guys,

I was at the junkyard today, and they had 4 1967 bumps! The last time I was at this particular yard, they had only 1 bumpside, a 72. What are the chances that all 4 would be 67s, huh?

Anyway, I was glancing over all of them to see if they had any parts for my 72, when I looked under 1 of the F-100s that was there. This is a 67 F-100 long bed, with an FE of some sort, and a floor shift 4 speed. Under the rear end, it had a cover that looked to me like a Dana 60, and it was 5 lug. I looked in the VIN section here, and it shows that axle code to be a 3.54 axle.

How rare are these rears? Is it worth going back to get it? This yard crushes the cars after they sit a month or so, so it may not be there for long. If anyone is in Vegas and wants this axle, I can give you the directions.

Nick

[Leadfoot]

I have yet to se a 5 bolt dana 60 in any 1/2 tonne ford stock?

all I know for sure is a person may be looking at a dana 60 out of a 70-73 Jeep 1/2 tonne pu that was swaped in. I know they had a optional HD rear end that was a full floating dana 60 with 5 on 5 and 1/2 bolt pattern.

it is a floating axle right?

[FORDification]

No, the 5-lug Dana 60s that came out stock on our trucks were semi-floaters. I've only seen a few Dana 60 5-lugs (one of them is on my '67), and they've all been on '67s or '68s, and they all seem to have 3.54 gears.

They're definitely not plentiful, and definitely worth grabbing if you can swing it.

[Mooosman]

How about brakes for this rear, Keith? Do the 1/2 ton Danas use 9" ends? Or drums, backing plates, etc?

Nick

[FORDification]

Yes, the backing plates, brake shoes, etc. are all 9" Ford pieces. When I rebuilt the brakes on my 5-lug Dana 60 I just used Ford 9" parts.

[averagef250]

They're actually really common. Ford first used the semi float 5 lug dana 60 under F-100's in 1956. They're a huge upgrade from a 9 inch. Not sure when Ford stopped putting them under F-100's, but it had to be sometime in the bumpside era, I've never seen one under a dentside. They seam to be most common under slicks.

[Rockcrusher]

IIRC, '69 was the last year Ford stuffed a SF Dana 60 under an F100. Some Jeep trucks also had a SF 60. All of these had a 5 on 5½" lug pattern and I think all had 30 spline axles.

'66 to '72 MOPAR's with 426 Hemi's and 440 wedge motors came with SF 60's in both 30 and 35 spline flavors.

The biggest drawback to a 60 is its weight . . . At nearly 500 lbs they eat a lot of power.

[72hiboy4x4]

The biggest drawback to a 60 is its weight . . . At nearly 500 lbs they eat a lot of power.

dang they weigh that much? I must be stronger than I thought, cause I've had to move a few by hand, and I can just barely pick on up off the ground (for about a second) Two people makes it almost easy.

[averagef250]

The semi float 60 does not weigh nearly 500 pounds! Maybe, maybe 30 pounds more than a 9 inch! The semi floater uses smaller tubes than a full floater and the brakes are the same. The only difference between the two axles is the gears, carrier and central housing. I'm sure you guys have heffed a 9 inch pumpkin around, they're nowhere near light! An SF 60 does not weigh much more at all.

Shoot, a kingpin 60 front barely weighs 500 pounds.

[ChrisB]

The bearing is a sealed 3.15" OD? Anyone know a Timken part number or inside diameter of the bearing used?

Any known issues fitting a 35 spline axle? Nothing I can think of for a semi-float.

What is the housing end to housing end and wheel mount to wheel mount width?

[averagef250]

The stock 30 spline axles are pretty tough. I know a guy that runs low 10's in a 65 F-100 long bed. He ran the stock 30 spline axles and 4.88 gears with huge slicks for years. Over one winter he pulled the shafts and found one to have a 1/2 spline twist to it so he had some dutchmans made up. I needed to replace the wheel bearings in a SF 60 I had at the time, his were perfect, so I just put them in, twisted splines and all. I wasn't running nearly the power he was through my axle.

[willowbilly3]

The stock 30 spline axles are pretty tough. I know a guy that runs low 10's in a 65 F-100 long bed. He ran the stock 30 spline axles and 4.88 gears with huge slicks for years. Over one winter he pulled the shafts and found one to have a 1/2 spline twist to it so he had some dutchmans made up. I needed to replace the wheel bearings in a SF 60 I had at the time, his were perfect, so I just put them in, twisted splines and all. I wasn't running nearly the power he was through my axle.

Just swap sides and untwist 'em.

[ChrisB]

i've seen some evidence of more recent Dana 60s with c-clips and the axle acting as the inner bearing surface. Confirm the earlier Dana 60s mentioned in this thread have a pressed on sealed bearing retained by a Ford 9 inch style bearing retainer plate, thus no c clip present.

[averagef250]

Never seen a c-clip 60. There'd be no way to run a powerlock. The binder and jeep 60's I've seen use tapered instead of ball bearings.

[ChrisB]

Did some research and found some bearings supposedly for a D60 with the axle as th inner race. It said it was for a late model 60. Who knows, lots of misinfo around there.

I am interested in this hybrid 60 descrived in this thread. I need something to replace a 1970 Cadillac rearend with some usable gear ratios and traction devices etc that make sense. I'm guessing it may be of a width that wouldn't need to be altered. If anything it might need to be widened to fit a large Cad. Somehow I think it will be about right. I should try and find one in the next few months and measure it and see about transplanting it.