Dana 44 or 60?

[Cody chance]

which would be the better axle?

[pumpkin]

Depends on tire size and how your going to use it. 35's and smaller I would go with a d44. If your going to use it hard the chrome molly axles an ctm u joints. They say this si as strong as a stock d60. Bigger than 35's its time to start looking at a d60, but you loose ground clearance till the tire size gets up to about 42's. I run 35's and am pretty hard on it at times. I want to keep the 35's and as much clearance as possable, so I run a 44 with chrome molly's and ctm's, with a shaved ho72 out back.

[1969k10stepside]

Front or Rear? Rear I would go 14 bolt full floater.They are cheap.Front I would go dana 60.This combo is good for 37s and up IMO and if you do hard wheeling.The dana 60 front will set ya back about a grand in most cases though.If you are runnin 33s or close to that 44 front will be fine.The dana 60 rear is a weak axle.

[CrashEd]

What did that run you to set up that way. I was looking at one site and it said them joints were $400.00 each? was that per side with axles or just the joints. Could you get a picture of the shaved HO72 sounds like somthing id like to do.I was going to save my 14bt i also have a good HO72 rear just wandering if that would give more cleance than a shaved 14bt.

Sorry for the high jacked thread
Dana 44s are tough and there still preaty cheap.I got a blazer with a 44 front and i run 40 inch goundhougs on it and i haven't had a problem yet. it has a 383 strocker motor and i run the heck out of it off road but i make sure and keep good joints in the axles and lots of grease.
Ed

[special-K]

What can you "shave" on an Eaton HO rear?The Dana 60 isn`t a weak rear,it`s just not as strongly designed as some.My`72 GMC has one and it hauled a 5th wheel all it`s life.I`ve never hurt one in two different trucks,both with 14.50/37s.How can a D60 be weak,yet a D44 be tough enough for 35s?Alot of myths floatin`around IMHO.

[1969 GMC]

Originally Posted by special-K

What can you "shave" on an Eaton HO rear?The Dana 60 isn`t a weak rear,it`s just not as strongly designed as some.My`72 GMC has one and it hauled a 5th wheel all it`s life.I`ve never hurt one in two different trucks,both with 14.50/37s.How can a D60 be weak,yet a D44 be tough enough for 35s?Alot of myths floatin`around IMHO.

On pirate4x4 there are at least two guys running shaved eatons. you basically hack the housing off below the axletubes, and fabricate a new one that has the look of a "mohawk"-i.e. a central ridge for the ring gear to spin in. IIRC one of them even shaved the actual ring gear down to get even more clearance. i think it's way overkill, and the design isn't proven...i think you might run into problems with not enough gear oil. however, i've also seen mildly shaven Eatons....just like above, but on a smaller scale. Cut the housing and weld a flat plate up that gets a lot closer to your ring gear than the stocker.

All that aside, the Eaton has more ground clearance than the 14 bolt to begin with. If you have ever compared the two side to side you'll see.

As far as the D44 vs. D60, comparing front and rear axles can be apples to oranges. The D44 rear isn't very common under GM's, and I wouldn't run one anyway. D60 rear is a strong axle. Not the STRONGEST, but it is strong. Like special-K, I have one under my '69, and I hauled some retarded big loads (loaded the bed up with so much mulch the steering would get squirrelly, and i think when i went over bumps the front wheels actually came off the ground, for example) with it, and no problems. They were used under almost all Ford and Dodge 3/4 tons, a lot of IH's, and even some Studebaker trucks.

However, what makes them strong is the fact that they're full floating (2 wheel bearings per side, the axle housing carries the load, and the shaft just propels the vehicle). The axleshafts are the same size as the inner axleshafts of a D44 front axle, which iirc is 1.3" o.d. and 30 splines. and this is why comparing a D44 front to a D60 rear is kind of apples and oranges. All front axles are full floating, so basically a D44 front is a D60 rear, that has a smaller ring gear, and can steer.

In the front, no questions asked...D60 is stronger. Heavier, but not as much as you may think, than a D44. a D60 front is like a D70 rear, but with a smaller ring gear, and can steer. You see where I am going with this? 1.5" 35 spline shafts, same as a D70 (and some D80) rears.

Aside from just axleshafts, the housings are different too. Kingpins are much stronger than balljoints. I am no engineer, nor do I play one on TV, but in my mind ball joints are to accomodate for movement in more than one plane. In a front axle (hopefully, lol) they just move in one plane. Kingpins are designed to move in just one plane, and therefore do not have the compromises balljoints do. However, I will complain that the nylon upper kingpin bushings are weak, and thats why I am drawing up a solid piece in CAD at work, and I think I will make some out of bronze, or perhaps aluminum.

Now I am starting to go OT, so I will stop. Sorry about the novel, hope it shed some light on the axle strength issue.

[special-K]

I see whay all you`re saying.About the HOs...they are so trim already and the "trimmest" out there.These guys are overlooking strength for what?Go to portal axles if ground clearance is that crucial.
There`s so much hype with drivetrain these days.I`ve always been drivetrain oriented and I can appreciate the direction the 4wd world has taken.About time they came around.I went into a Chevy dealer and tryed to order a short Stepside w/1ton axles in`77.They said ,"No".So,I asked for 3/4t and they sid,"No.Why do you want such a heavy drivetrain in a shortbed?"I said it`s what I`m looking for,that`s all.I went and built a`69 Power Wagon(W200)and put W300 axles under it with 40 Monster Mudders.The only chrome was the door handles and POWER WAGON letters on the side of the hood(`68 hood).I never hurt those Danas.
I wasn`t comparing front against rear.It may have appeared so because I was as far as,if a front D44 can take 35s,why can`t a D60 rear?I know fronts have shorter shafts which makes them stronger there.But the steering aspect presents a weaker effect.Or,at least a point of vulnerability not present in the rear.And,the matter of ring gear.The D60 Rr is stronger there than a D44 Fr.Shafts are only part of the comparison.
Adam,I`ll give you this...you know this stuff well and it shows.I appreciate what you offer here.You da axle guru.