Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) hub conversion issue

[dodgediesel91]

I have a 1991 dodge w 250with a cummins and im prety sure there is a dana 60 in the front of that and i also have a 1995 dodge 2500 cummins i was wondering if i could use the lock out hubs, spidles, and axles from the 1991 into my 1995 to have lock outs on my 1995. if someone cud help me i would apriacate it thanks

 

[cerberusiam]

I think your biggest problem is going to be around tie rod size and orientation on the spindles.

 

[DennyDay]

Check with Matt Martin at Solid Axel in Ohio. . He manufactureres the SpynTech kit and is pretty knowledgable about the older trucks. number is 234. 759. 3105

 

[SRath]

Your 91 is a passenger-side-drop. It also has real kingpin Dana 60, not the wimpy balljoint pseudo-D60 your 95 has. NOTHING but the ring and pinion will interchange between the two. The wheels won't even swap due to the larger hub diameter of the 95.



Ironically, almost all front axle parts, including the entire front axle, will swap between a 1st gen Dodge and 87* and older Chevy K30. Good stuff! Chevy d60's had 35 spline inner axles and I believe the dodge D60 had 30-spline just as the 2nd gens used. So the chevy D60 was a little better. (* crewcab K30s up until 91 still used the "old" body style and still had Dana 60 front axles, but not regular cabs)



You can, however, find a balljoint Ford dana 60 (driver-side drop) with lockouts and use everything from the balljoints on out on your 95, but will need to buy aftermarket 1-piece 1. 5" diameter axle shafts and stub shafts. Now your axle will be as strong as it will ever be, but still not as strong as the 91's since it will still have balljoints instead of kingpins. Your current 95 axle shafts are the same diameter as 1/2 ton Dana 44 axles. Wimpy!



You have the right idea, and live-bearing hubs and lockouts and solid, full-1. 5" diameter dana 60 shafts are a big improvement, but none of that will solve the major steering/suspension problems that also came with your 95 that your 91 does not have. It was a horrible change for the far worse that dodge did from 94 on up and short of a completely custom-built axle and suspension, there is no easy or even effective cure.



If, like me, you like the creature comfort improvements of the 2nd gen over the first gen (such as a more spacious extended cab), then I truly think you would be money ahead figuring out to how to put a 2nd gen body on a 1st gen chassis. Then you'd have a real truck and comfort. But given all the expense and hassle, if you are comfortable in the 91, don't ever part with it. The 95 has a slightly better Cummins and a better manual transmission (if both are manual), but perceived appearances and comforts aside, the 91 is simply a much better truck, including the NP205. The front end issues with 2nd gens outweigh any and all other improvements over the 1st gen, imo. They never end or stop costing you money. It's an incurable design defect.

 

[JMcCoy]

SRATH is correct in that your king pin dana 60 parts won't work. You will need parts from a 91-94 or 95-97 (maybe 98 can't remember). You can either drill your outter knuckle (4 to 5 hole) or drill the ford spindle (5 to 4 hole) so they match up. This will give you your lockout hubs, but won't address your brakes. I replaced everything from the ball joints out. This will give you the free-spin lockout hubs and larger, ford dual piston calipers. They were a huge improvement.



As far as the ball joint / king pin thing goes, I have had no problem with my ball joints. No question the king pins are stronger, but they wander more on the highway. That is assuming you have done all the front end upgrades available. You should get long life out of moog greasable problem solver ball joints. Now I don't use a snow plow like I know SRATH does, but my truck sees a lot of Florida mud. I use my truck to reach back woods hunting and fishing spots as well as trail riding and towing. Needless to say it sees plenty of hard use (not abuse). I still need to replace the dodge axles with the 35 spline one piece axles. I plan to do that when I install a locker and change gear ratios $$$.



I too would like to install a np205. A nv271 might be a good compromise.



Good luck.

 

[cerberusiam]

There is little wrong with the 2nd or 3rd gen front ends that can't be fixed with the addition\replacement of the correct parts. The OE implementation just suffers from cost cutting and too light parts for a lot of uses.



The 1st gen front ends have their own unique problems so its really just a tradeoff. Really don't gain much for the cost of trying to intermix parts from other brands. The perceived benefit frequently is much more than the actual.



The coil spring front is much better and a lot more tunable is most applications than leaf system, at least for the truck as a unit. When you hang a snowplow on it or a heavy bed in extreme use its a different scenario. At that point an F350 front end complete with leaf springs is the ultimate fix.