2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission a rant about the 'D60' in rams

[Fueler]

ok... so i have been putting off changing out badly needed ball joints in my 01' 2500 for some time now. mostly because of the horror stories i have read on here and the fact that i am fairly unfamiliar with this axle and dont own a FSM.



for a little background... i am a gear head. i have built a few trucks. put a REAL D60 under my old IFS chebby. i got into rock crawling and built a D60 for my toyata/thing. i have pretty much be through the later ball joint 60's found in fords and have been through numerous king pin 60's.



i took time out of my skydiving obsession to tear into my dodge this long weekend and could not believe how much of a POS this vaccum accuated, unserviceable wheel bearing thing is. why on earth would a manufacturer take a bullet proof D60 found in earlier modell trucks and turn it into such a piece of crap? after this weekends battle with this thing... . i am buying a drivers side 60 from somewhere and preping it to go into my ram. the truck handles like ***... . and should not cost 8 billion dollars to COMPLETELY rebuild.



i narrowed a chevy 60 to fit under my toyata, put new bearings in it, and resealed it for less than it cost to put ball joints in my dodge. un-fricken-believable. i have an old. cracked knuckle from a 93 ford 60 in my pile o junk and for ****s and giggles put it next to the one from my dodge. one word... . pathetic.



dont get me wrong... . i absolutley love my dodge... but the front end is complete garbage.





that is all. rant over.

Alex

 

[jabird]

What he said... ... ... ... .

 

[JGheen]

Don't know why you would call such a stout axle a POS. I haven't had any issues with my front axle at all, got over 80,000 miles on the stock suspension and then another 60,000 or so on my new suspension with 37" tires. Ball joints are still fine and tight, no play what-so-ever.

The only thing I think that is bad about the front axle are the control arm link brackets on the axle. They are junk as I already ripped the upper driver side one apart and had to weld it back on. Not exactly a Dynatrac design, but it has been holding since. Wish I could weld some more beef to the axle some how, but that will only weaken the housing more from the factory welding.

 

[Extreme1]

POS is an understatement. I'm sure the way that it got there was that Dodge put the pressure on Dana to cut weight and cost, at least that's what usually happens. Right now my 3500 is 7 hours away getting the driver side POS wheelbearing (still a dealer only part for a 3500-they're not interchangeable with a 2500) replaced.



So now I get to waste a full day to drive up and get it. I even checked the bearings before I left, ****ed-off is an understatement on how I feel about the front axle right now.



Fueler, are you aware of any particular year/model that would have the same carrier offset, width and stud pattern to interchange? Lockouts would be cool but mostly I want to get rid of the weak spindle assembly without spending the ton of $ that one place wants for a lockout kit.

 

[jabird]

When are you leaveing to go get it Eric?

 

[biggy238]

I know they wear out from time to time but the bearing packs on mine look bullet proof compared to a conventional spindle bearing hub lock-out assembly. They might eventually wear out because of things that would get any other axle though.

The only things I don't like are the ball joints and the control arm mounts. The mounts truely are crap and I don't feel safe riding on them. The rest of it should hold up pretty good for the weight they hold.

Kyle

 

[Fueler]

Fueler, are you aware of any particular year/model that would have the same carrier offset, width and stud pattern to interchange? Lockouts would be cool but mostly I want to get rid of the weak spindle assembly without spending the ton of $ that one place wants for a lockout kit.

you can have quite a bit of offset between pinion yoke and t-case output before major problems occur. a CV joint front shaft will fix that if required.



what most people dont know is that it is not rocket science to cut and re-tube a front(or rear) axle. i havent actually measured the short side of my chevy 60 but i will tomorrow to see how close they are.



the only real important measurement is the center of the yoke to the wheel mating surface(WMS) on the short side. the long side can be cut or lengthened for very cheap. it cost me $160 in labor for my machinist buddy with a jig to cut down a 60 i have in my toyota. so for less than ONE unit bearing... . you can cut and re-shaft a standard D60.

 

[Extreme1]

When are you leaveing to go get it Eric?

Friday after work. Ye-ha. We have to turn around and come back for a gathering on Saturday. Then I can fix the bad bearing on the PTO end of the F7 driveshaft, another fun task. Then I can pull the new wheel bearing out to install the rotor I was going to put on a week before the trip the bearing died on. Think I would have noticed the bearing being bad if I had it in my hand? I do.

 

[GMincher]

I'm with you bud, give me manual hubs and servicable wheel bearings! While you're at it give me leaf springs!!!

 

[DWitcher]

I'm with you bud, give me manual hubs and servicable wheel bearings! While you're at it give me leaf springs!!!

As of right now I'm going to do my poor 95 3500 4x4 a favor and install a 78 Ford High Pinion Dana 60 with leaf springs so I can do away with that CRAP thats under it once and for all . Whoever said leaf springs ride stiff has no idea how to tune a set for ride quality. That one bearing in the stock 60 goes and bye bye wheel. No Thanks!

 

[BigDan]

POS sure is right. These past few day I really HATE my D60. I broke the drivers side inner shaft. Can you believe its only 30 spline, looks just like a D44 where it goes into the carrier. I broke it in 2 pices and it took me 3 hours just to get out the pice that was stuck in the carrier.



Oh and what the fawk is up with the long shaft. It a 3 pice shaft WTF???? it goes from male to a female coupler to a male. Oh and how the heck do you remove the inner inner shaft????



Ok and ulike a real Dana 60 you cant drive yout truck without the axle shaft. Yeah I found out the hard way 2 hours ago when my "wheel fell the fawk off" yup the berring came apart and off came the wheel at 35 mph, it got bound up in nthe caliper and locked up the wheel, causing the spindle to crack.



Yea, I love my POS dana 60.



I need d60 parts now... . anyone have spares????



Thanks

 

[McCRam]

I hear ya. I'm not going to fix my axle when it breaks. Is there a particular axle that will take the least amount of work to fit under the 3/4 ram? I can do alot of work but I would rather not have to cut the thing up. I've got 79 ford laying around that im hoping I can make work.

 

[EKohl]

The pinion bearings decided to let go in a big way last week in my D60. Pretty much wasted everything inside cause it happened when I was 1,300 miles from home. Had to drive it from Montana-WI like that. Bill is gonna be around the 2K range when all said & done. Ouch.