Just wondering.

 

Stock horsepower or very high horsepower. Just depends on the driver and the trucks intended use.

 

Not sure about the 70s but I hear about guys blowing up stock dana 80s sled pullin. Makes you think more about the 70s. I have a friend with a C14bolt in his 1st gen. He beats the heck out of it and nothing yet. He went through 2 D70s. He swapped the gears out to 3.73 and loves it with his 5-speed

 

i agree. it all depends on the driving style of the person. My brother went though two dana 80s with only about 280hp in his 2nd gen. I drive my truck respectfully and my 70 is still holding and i am putting out more power then him.

 

Your guys' answers are very vague. I guess I should check with some of the 1st gen leaders on the board.

What axle did the record holding yellow work truck run with?

 

I think that is a question like what color is the prettiest. There is no telling how much power they will handle under a certain circumstance. They will probably handle 6/800 hp if you don't dump the clutch. If you ease off the clutch pedal and start mashing on it at a normal rate probably handle 1200 hp. The u-joint should be the fusible link. A 160hp truck wound up to full hp/tq will probably shell one out if you dump the clutch a few times if the u-joints don't break first. Way too many variables to determine what it will hold. If my cousin drove it the way he abuses stuff 75hp will tear it up. Not ragging on ya Head just saying alot of variables come into play. What were you thinking about doing? truck pulling? drag racing? muddin?. I would say shock load is the "one" of the deciding factors to what will hold. JMO though.

 

Dana 80. Only because it was used for competition, in drag race form. Like I said, it's all about how you intend to use the truck. My stock Dana 70 is holding just fine for daily driving, HP testing, and dyno runs at 556hp 1300ftlbs. It has more to do with the DRIVER!

How do you intend to use this truck?

 

What if you run an auto?

 

Thanks for the input. I was just wondering about our axle and what it can take. My truck is a towing truck mostly now. It's parked if I don't need to tow something. I got a little Honda to drive around to keep the wear and tear off my truck.

 

Some people can tear up an anvil with a rubber hammer. My D70 is fine and my truck still has the same u-joints that were in it when I got it.

Driving style still applies to automatics.

What really kills driveline parts on these trucks (besides stupid crap like dumping the clutch) is not being careful of road conditions when you lay the power down. If the road is bumpy, there is a lot of shock loading when the tires slip and then grab again. Don't play around when the road is bumpy, wait for a smooth area to get on it hard. Power doesn't break these things if it's applied smoothly.

 

the dana diffs are a pretty tough bunch but everything has its limits.Its when you start bouncing your 4x4 trying to gain traction or wheel hopping your 2wd.I have run a dana 60 in my race truck a 1959 dodge half ton with over 700 hp and a tranny brake and have never killedit or the 70/60 in my diesel and i 4x mine hard but not stupid with it.

 

He is running a D80 with custom axles after shearing some IIRC, but we are talking about a 4x4 at 6500 plus pounds, you drop the clutch in 4x4 with a vehicle that heavy and somethings got to give...

 

My 70 only lasted 7 hooks till it broke, like everyone else has said it all depends on how you use your truck. I am not very nice to my truck and the 80 is still holding up good after 25 hooks lots of burnouts and relentless abuse.(I guess I did break 1 d80 yoke) suprisingly I have never broke a 1410 u-joint, guess I'm not tryin hard enough

My broken 70 pinion

 

I had probably 100 runs down the strip on my D70 at 350-450 hp with my manual before I broke it just "driving down the road".
If I had an auto I would not hesitate to run up to 550 hp through it if I never wheel hopped it.

I have heard that sledpullers will break 70s pretty easily at anything over 350 hp auto or not.

Wish I still had a 70; I am willing to bet this (02) disk braked 80 weighs a bit more than a drum braked 80 and probably 150-200 lbs more than my 70.

It is waaaay heavy and I am considering going to a drum braked 80 if I can just find an accurate weight on one.

You won't break that 70 with light abuse in an auto.

 

mines not broke....yet.

guess i need a little more power...