Making a front Dana 60 live

[PJTPW]

I'm building a rock / go fast buggy currently and am looking for ways to make a front Dana 60 stand up to what I want to do.

Basic specs on buggy will be 115" wheel base, 4,000 lbs, and I'll be running separate coilovers and bypass shocks in the front with air bumps.

I plan on trussing the axle and reinforcing the inner knuckles to prevent bending. What I'm specifically looking for is how to make the kingpin / ball joints stand up to hard landings and impacts at speed. I'm assuming the kingpin set up would fare better for this?

I know there are aftermarket knuckles that run a bearing instead of a bushing on the upper king pin, and this seems like it would be the weak link.

I'm also looking at running larger spindle studs.

What have racers done in the past with straight axle fronts?

What is everyone's opinion on what would be optimum?

Thanks,

Ryan

[GOAT1]

Look at the old class 3 racers included Jeep cherokees and early Broncos. I have a simliar vehicle to what you are building. I have a dana 44 front that has been holding up to quite a lot of abuse. I have Spicer ball joints, stock late 70's wagoneer knuckles, spindles(bigger inner bearings), hubs and brakes. The only failures I have had are the inner axles which dont hold up to much abuse any way, I have replaced them with Superior Alloy axles. I have ripped the inner C from the tube landing a big jump but has been fine since gusseting.

[JESSE_at_TLT]

Well, it sounds like you know all about the kingpin death-wobble, but the bearings that you mentioned should fix that (are they sealed?). Lots of people are also having problems breaking ball-joints on the newer ball-joint/unit-bearing D60's. We chose to build a king-pin D60 for our HD2500 (http://www.trailslesstraveled.com/vehicle.php?id=20) project (straight-axle conversion with coilovers and bypasses), using a Tera housing and Dedenbear knuckles. Troy Johnson, who is building the truck, will be gussetting/trussing the whole axlehousing. I'll try to post some pictures of the progress soon (axle-housing hasn't been ordered yet - still determining the width).

By the way, you're Dodge (http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=248543&page=1&pp=25) is SWEET. I saw that thing two years ago at EJS. Tell us more about your plans for the rest of the build-up.

[JESSE_at_TLT]

Oh and you probably already know this, but if you decide to build a BJ D60, try to get one out of an early 90's Ford. They have live spindles/hubs instead of those aweful 30-spline unit-bearings.

[JESSE_at_TLT]

I have a simliar vehicle to what you are building. I have a dana 44 front that has been holding up to quite a lot of abuse.

Coolest Jeep ever built.

[PJTPW]

Plans for the rest of the buggy are:

I plan on running 18's in the front with 10" of uptravel, and then squeeze a bypass and air bump in. I've got a hp Ford 60 that will get gusseted, ARB, and gear ratio to be determined. I'm shooting for over 100 mph on the highway, so I've still yet to determine the ratio.

Engine will be a Chevy 350, TH400, and an Atlas transfer case.

Rear suspension somewhat yet to be determined. Likely parallel lowers and triangulated uppers with coilovers and bypasses mounted on the lower fabricated links.

I'm building the chassis from scratch. I picked up a buggy chassis cheap, but am selling it because it wasn't well suited for what I want to do.

Other than that, I'm definately in the research phase. All of the go fast stuff is pretty new to me, and I'm already hooked.

Yeah, the Dodge isn't bad for a guy that couldn't weld, and had never bent a tube when he started. I did get a roll pic in 4 Wheel and Offroad from EJS which was cool.

I still want to see pics of Goat1's jump down Potato Salad Hill. It's been quite the topic of discussion around here.

Ryan

[johnnyweb]

with a little gusset work i dont see where you will have a problem breaking a d60 in a 4000lb truck with only a 350 powering it. me and my bros constently beat on our d60s and they are hard to break. ever with bb 502s behind them and alot less travel then you are talking about. the deadenbear knuckles would be a good up grade and they do make forged and c knuckles. but gusseting the stock knuckles should do the trick.