Superduty Dana 60 front end

Here is your fix 99-04
I built this for a guy

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whiskeymakin said:

Figured I would bump this one up and ask here instead of a new thread....
If dale Larsen is beating on his s.d. 60 with the rcvs for I'm guessing around 5 grand in it.....why would you build a 10 thousand dollar 14 bolt instead? I understand the 14 bolt is a stronger differential set up with the pinion support, but you also had Bobby tanners high pinion 60 that I never saw really grenade either....
What's the advantage of a expensive 14 bolt build vs. The 05+ s.d 60?

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I can comment on this. You're not comparing apples to apples. The money you see going into the big 14 bolt front stuff is mainly wrapped up in knuckles and big 40 spline shafts and 2.5 ton sized CVs or u-joints. That's not exclusive to the 14, you just see people doing it on 14 builds because no one is dumb enough to spend $4k on shafts to install next to a weak ass 9.75" ring gear and 29 spline baby **** pinion. Now, you can step up to the new 35 spline pinion gears that Currie is offering but they are pricey and I think only available in 2 ratios and you still don't get the 3rd pinion bearing or strength that a 14 bolt offers. I'm on my 3rd set of HP 60 gears in a years time, and can twist 29 spline pinions on command. If you're not playing with big boy horsepower, then yea by all means get one of the new SD 60s and rock out. It's a great budget option. But it's disingenuous to compare one to a fully build $8-10k never lift 14 bolt.

I still personally think you could build a true budget 14 bolt front for the same money or less than one of these 60s if starting from scratch and be stronger in the long run but that's a topic for another time. And don't forget you still have to sink money into some sort of knuckle machining if you want decent high steer on these new 60s.

Dale has broken plenty in his 60, I don't go to the races but I've seen many a video where a front tire wasn't pulling. Probably axle shafts, maybe a R&P, IDK for sure. Bobby I know for sure was grenading R&Ps fairly often towards the end and snapped his fair share of 35 spline shafts before he finally went to a never lift 14 bolt front with big knuckles, big shafts and all the bling ****.

Ok, thanks for clearing that up. I don't go to the races either I was just basing my thoughts off the videos I've seen lol.
So, its safe to say 400 hp and up you should probably pony up for the never lift 14 bolt if you drive brailish... s.d. 60 should be fine for your run of the mill 5.3, 6.0 etc...

whiskeymakin said:

Ok, thanks for clearing that up. I don't go to the races either I was just basing my thoughts off the videos I've seen lol.
So, its safe to say 400 hp and up you should probably pony up for the never lift 14 bolt if you drive brailish... s.d. 60 should be fine for your run of the mill 5.3, 6.0 etc...

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My totally unscientific opinion is under 500hp you're good with a HP60 and 35 spline but once you cross that 500hp threshold you're on borrowed time if you like to never lift.

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Where's the lowly 60 LP rank in this?

In my uneducated opinion, the downfall of the lp60 is that the gears naturally try to force away from each other. On the flip side, the hp stuff trys to pull together. Now, granted the 14 bolt is also lp, but it has the nose bearing to combat deflection.

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tonybolton said:

Where's the lowly 60 LP rank in this?

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LP60 is the new Dana 44 :****:

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redneckengineered said:

LP60 is the new Dana 44 :****:

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Cool....d44 diff's always held up for me......u joints not so much. 8)

The LP60 is fine as long as you don't think your Bobby Tanner. If you drive like you have some sense, they are strong. Obviously the ring and pinion is stronger than the inner C's.

I like my front diffs like my income.....low. :-*

The odd thing to me is why in the heck would you still be buying a 79ish ford 60 for a grand when you can get a s.d 60 with 35 splines big knuckles for around 500? Pepole just unaware?

whiskeymakin said:

Pepole just unaware?

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That's my guess. Or they see balljoints and **** their pants.

Those balljoints are tougher than people give them credit for.

pholmann said:

Those balljoints are tougher than people give them credit for.

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I agree

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Shhhh....don't tell anyone! Don't want prices to go up for these super duty axles. I spent 400 on my first and 450 for the last. Beats 1000 for a kingpin anyday

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I usually get around 600-700 for a matching set.

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By tough....what'r you guys taking about? The ability to not break or the wear capabilities?

redneckengineered said:

That's my guess. Or they see balljoints and **** their pants.

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Everyone I talked to thinks I'm crazy going from kingpins to unit bearings. People hear "unit bearings" and think back to the d30 days.

I guess it can be our secret haha. I would say the pain in the ass is cutting all the cast stuff off but other than that it's a no brainer over a old school 60.