Front Dana 60 upgrades for the XTC
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From: Nevada City, CA
Front Dana 60 upgrades for the XTC
Hi, it's been a long time since I've been on here. I want to talk about my axle upgrades; what I've learned; and some questions to you axle Gurus as to what i really have. The thing to take away from this is all the upgrades are geared to Carry a 2600 pound loaded truck camper over unforgiving terrain.
Since I bought a new 2001.5, 2-series, 4x4, HO CTD, NV5600, NV241HD (wide chain to combat snow plow shock loading), D-60(32 spline), D-80 (35 spline) I have been constantly upgrading the truck to haul my small, hardside Lance Camper, to the ever present dismay of my wife, Jeanie. It used to be Jeeps and Toyotas as projects. 50 years later, I'm focused in on building what I call the XTC: eXtreme Truck Camper for traveling and layovering over any surface; in any weather; during any season; for any length of time; any where in the hemisphere.
The rear axle is pretty hefty as is, but a decade ago I put a D-70 Power-Lok in the D-80 to increase the off-road traction. I"ve had almost every kind of locker and limited slip made over the 50 years of building jeeps (except for the OX locker) and went for cone shaped, heavily preloaded, tried and true, Power-Lok as the most forgiving and most enduring for what I need. The other attributes I wanted were good snow and ice manners with the L.S.'s. This is a case where full lockers are not so forgiving (down to the snubbers with a 40" load of Sierra Cement).
In analysing the situation i realized that carrying a camper adds 90% of the 1742 pounds wet weight to the rear axle and approaching none to the front axle. A couple years ago I decided to upgrade the D-60. Why upgrade? I just don't want it to break. Chrysler Corp. bean counters have determined that the inferior ball joints (compared to Ford's choice of King Pins) are the way to save $0.06 per axle. That being $0.03 per side, it adds up! The notorious Unit Bearings on the axle are unretrievable and are throw-away. The CAD: central axle disconnect is a weak point in the front axle. The steering components and track bar (pan hard rod) on the 2000-2002, 2 and 3 series trucks are way too wimpy. The outer 30 spline stub axles are wimpy. 32 spline axles are not the ticket. That's a start.
Here is a list of upgrades I made to make it more viable in the rough:
1. TopGun Customz Dodge Ram Control arms for a 2 and 3 series 4x4, spec'd out for a 6" lift, but used on a 3" lift. Why? to locate the front axle 1-1/2" forward for more fender clearance for my new 35" tires on Stockton steel wheels.
2.SpynTec Dodge Dana 60 Shorty Hub Conversion kit, inner spindle bearing kit, new spindles, new wider spaced Timken bearings, hub seals, Dana 70/35 spline outer stub shafts, Mile Marker Dana 70 lockout hub assy, factory ABS sensors and studs. Front D-70 35 spline Eaton Detroit True Trac, torque biasing, gear driven limited slip. Mosier 35 spline (1.50") long and short axle shafts. Front axle disconnect delete. Front unit bearing delete. Now with so many D-70 parts, what would you call this axle? A D-65? The only things lift of the D-60 are the RGP and the housing.
3. Gen 4 tie rod, drag link, TRE's, track bar, pitman arm, steering stablizer, Solid Steel Industrial Mfg. steering box brace.
4. 3" front lift pucks. You know, with all the changes made to the interior of the axle, there is not much to see, save the locking hubs and stupid high load range steel wheels.
So, if you have any suggestions, comments, or answers, I'm all ears. jefe
a rare pic without the camper on. With the Lance camper on the rear it settles down to about flat and parallel to the ground.
8-leaf rear suspension on the Dana 80 (11,000 pound weight max) with 3 secondaries and 5 leaves in the main pack working to give a kind of 3-stage progressive suspension:
The tires have a 3860 pound capacity so i can carry 7720 pounds on the rear axle. There is some comfort knowing i'm usually around 6200 pounds on the axle when the fully loaded for the boonies camper is on.
Since I bought a new 2001.5, 2-series, 4x4, HO CTD, NV5600, NV241HD (wide chain to combat snow plow shock loading), D-60(32 spline), D-80 (35 spline) I have been constantly upgrading the truck to haul my small, hardside Lance Camper, to the ever present dismay of my wife, Jeanie. It used to be Jeeps and Toyotas as projects. 50 years later, I'm focused in on building what I call the XTC: eXtreme Truck Camper for traveling and layovering over any surface; in any weather; during any season; for any length of time; any where in the hemisphere.
The rear axle is pretty hefty as is, but a decade ago I put a D-70 Power-Lok in the D-80 to increase the off-road traction. I"ve had almost every kind of locker and limited slip made over the 50 years of building jeeps (except for the OX locker) and went for cone shaped, heavily preloaded, tried and true, Power-Lok as the most forgiving and most enduring for what I need. The other attributes I wanted were good snow and ice manners with the L.S.'s. This is a case where full lockers are not so forgiving (down to the snubbers with a 40" load of Sierra Cement).
In analysing the situation i realized that carrying a camper adds 90% of the 1742 pounds wet weight to the rear axle and approaching none to the front axle. A couple years ago I decided to upgrade the D-60. Why upgrade? I just don't want it to break. Chrysler Corp. bean counters have determined that the inferior ball joints (compared to Ford's choice of King Pins) are the way to save $0.06 per axle. That being $0.03 per side, it adds up! The notorious Unit Bearings on the axle are unretrievable and are throw-away. The CAD: central axle disconnect is a weak point in the front axle. The steering components and track bar (pan hard rod) on the 2000-2002, 2 and 3 series trucks are way too wimpy. The outer 30 spline stub axles are wimpy. 32 spline axles are not the ticket. That's a start.
Here is a list of upgrades I made to make it more viable in the rough:
1. TopGun Customz Dodge Ram Control arms for a 2 and 3 series 4x4, spec'd out for a 6" lift, but used on a 3" lift. Why? to locate the front axle 1-1/2" forward for more fender clearance for my new 35" tires on Stockton steel wheels.
2.SpynTec Dodge Dana 60 Shorty Hub Conversion kit, inner spindle bearing kit, new spindles, new wider spaced Timken bearings, hub seals, Dana 70/35 spline outer stub shafts, Mile Marker Dana 70 lockout hub assy, factory ABS sensors and studs. Front D-70 35 spline Eaton Detroit True Trac, torque biasing, gear driven limited slip. Mosier 35 spline (1.50") long and short axle shafts. Front axle disconnect delete. Front unit bearing delete. Now with so many D-70 parts, what would you call this axle? A D-65? The only things lift of the D-60 are the RGP and the housing.
3. Gen 4 tie rod, drag link, TRE's, track bar, pitman arm, steering stablizer, Solid Steel Industrial Mfg. steering box brace.
4. 3" front lift pucks. You know, with all the changes made to the interior of the axle, there is not much to see, save the locking hubs and stupid high load range steel wheels.
So, if you have any suggestions, comments, or answers, I'm all ears. jefe
a rare pic without the camper on. With the Lance camper on the rear it settles down to about flat and parallel to the ground.
8-leaf rear suspension on the Dana 80 (11,000 pound weight max) with 3 secondaries and 5 leaves in the main pack working to give a kind of 3-stage progressive suspension:
The tires have a 3860 pound capacity so i can carry 7720 pounds on the rear axle. There is some comfort knowing i'm usually around 6200 pounds on the axle when the fully loaded for the boonies camper is on.
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