Competition Strength of the Dana 70??

[Morse]

I just put a 96 dana 70 in my race truck. It has a factory posi, and a mag hytec rear cover. Are there many street or drag guys that have broke this rearend? I was considering going with a locker and a set of 35 spline axles. . Just wondering if this would be a wise investment, or a waste of money?? Any help will be appreciated. . Thanks. .

 

[TReed]

just broke pinion in half of my D70 pulling, that seems to happen alot.

 

[crawler]

As light as your little truck will be; the D70 should do well.



If you break it then I might have a D80 with a titanium spool and 40 spline axles in it laying around that would work out for you :-laf



~Wes~

 

[Sled Puller]

Lack of strength would be a better title. One hard launch, and the 70 will be toast.

 

[Nate]

Nah. D70 is plenty stout. If your breaking D70s, you need to think about Rockwells.



Figure the D70 is a bit stronger than a Corporate 10. 5" aka 14 bolt.

 

[dlange]

what exactly is stronger on the 80 over the 70? My 70 probably has over 30 big launches on it, so they will take a little. Buy pushing them will put a person on borrowed time for sure.

 

[zstroken]

Stouter pinion and much larger ring gear.

 

[Turbo Thom]

Pulling and not racing, it will be toast. Racing and not pulling, have at it. I've spun mine many times with 33" cheater slicks, and all is just fine. I did install a LS unit though. Don't add the extra juice, and it locks real well.



. . Preston. .

 

[mcoleman]

I have a lot of passes on mine without any troubles so far. Most all of the passes are in the 1. 66 to 1. 77 60 foot range so I'm pushing it pretty hard. And I've heard the 10. 30 4X4 truck is also running a 70. I don't think I would want to sledpull with it much though.

 

[turbomatt1]

100's of 1. 7-1. 8 60' launches on slicks, & dozens of 300+ foot burnouts on street tires, & my 250k mile D70 is in perfect condition. It's in a 95 2x4 that dyno's 505hp & 1070 ftlbs. Not sure how you sled draggers are able to break'm in the dirt!

 

[Bobcat698]

Just swapped from a Dana 70 LS to a Dana 80 LS last week. . Stupid thing was I broke a spider gear just driving around the same day, my typical luck



But, the Dana 80 IS much stronger.



I heard a story about a guy being mainly into drag racing, but wanted to try hooking to the sled, and he had a Dana 70 rear end.

A couple guys told him that with the power he was running that it would probably break the ring and pinion when he locked the converter.

Sure as sh** he locked it up and POP went the ring in pinion

 

[turbomatt1]

Just swapped from a Dana 70 LS to a Dana 80 LS last week. . Stupid thing was I broke a spider gear just driving around the same day, my typical luck



But, the Dana 80 IS much stronger.



I heard a story about a guy being mainly into drag racing, but wanted to try hooking to the sled, and he had a Dana 70 rear end.

A couple guys told him that with the power he was running that it would probably break the ring and pinion when he locked the converter.

Sure as sh** he locked it up and POP went the ring in pinion

see... once again my TDR membership has paid for itself! ... cauz I've been to several pulls, ... & I am SOOOO tempted to hook my truck to the sled! I certainly would have locked the converter as well. any idea what HP level is likley to break one in the dirt ?

 

[Bobcat698]

see... once again my TDR membership has paid for itself! ... cauz I've been to several pulls, ... & I am SOOOO tempted to hook my truck to the sled! I certainly would have locked the converter as well. any idea what HP level is likley to break one in the dirt ?

I hear that anything over 400RWHP is like flipping a coin. . Depends a lot on the track though :-laf

 

[Morse]

Thanks for the replies. . It won't ever hook to a sled. . It's just a half ton 2wd. Randy's Ring and Pinion has a set of 35 spline axles, and a detroit locker for $800. A decent price for insurance, though I'm just wondering if I would actually benefit from it. . Has anyone every broke a locker drag racing or on the street? Would a spool be a better choice. I know, spools suck on the street. .

 

[turbomatt1]

I dont know of any that have been broken drag racing. (dont fix it till it's broke ;-)

 

[PSU-CE]

It's almost impossible to break a Detroit. In truck pulling one of the only ways is by snapping an axle while pulling. Even then they don't always break. Racing wouldn't see the same forces being created in the rear end as truck pulling!

 

[Sled Puller]

Shall we tell them about the 2x4 1st Gen that was breaking 70s at the strip? Nah.



If that was $800 for the Detroit only, its about $200 high.



I broke both axles at the same time, 3 years ago, and then one last year, on the start line, and went 3 wheel drive for about 250 feet.

The Detroit survived them all, I couldn't believe it.

 

[Bobcat698]

I just put a Dana 80 out of a dually in my truck as preventative-maintenance



Here are some pictures:



Before Swap:



Dana 70 Wheel Protrusion

#ad




After Swap:

#ad




#ad

 

[Nate]

Yeah I paid just over $500 for the Detroit in my D70... got it from Randy's Ring and Pinion.



D70s hold up fine off road with 44s, big blocks and a heavy foot... I think you guys are tough on parts to be breaking them left and right.

 

[Rhondasway]

My D70 has 155K+ and well over 200 launches at the strip. Last season my clutches began to fail, but other than that it has held perfectly. New clutches from Randy's Ring and Pinion and we're rolling strong again. My 60's are around 1. 68, I'm only running about 675hp and tires are 265/75/16's. I'm happy, though...