Dana 60 size axles for M37

[pieter]

I am hosting and starting this thread for Bruce B.
I will let him explain what the photo's are and then I will update the descriptions on my photo page as well.

Enjoy as this is really awesome!!

[pieter]

Picture 1

[pieter]

Picture 2

[pieter]

Picture 3

[pieter]

Picture 4

[Joe Rokon]

Those look nice,but whats wrong with factory "tracta" joints. They're tougher than those.

[MasterYota]

Those look nice,but whats wrong with factory "tracta" joints. They're tougher than those.

When the weak link is the factory axleshaft, it dosen't really matter how strong the tracta joint is...

Fill us Pieter on where you found these axle shafts. Or what you've had done to make them work.

[J Lebowski]

I think the D60 stuff would be stronger. Modern metallurgy and D60 stuff is physically bigger (isn't it?). Ever see how big a Dana 60 ujt is? Pieter, I too would I'd like to hear more info on this.

D60 is a 1480 series ujt. Huge. 2lbs. I think you need to hold one in your hand to appreciate how big and beefy they are. Go to the parts store and ask for a D44 joint and a D60 jt. You'll see who's got the beef.

D60 axle strength reference:
http://www.longfieldsuperaxles.com/graph.html

Those look nice,but whats wrong with factory "tracta" joints. They're tougher than those.

[Bruce B]

pic 1-
shows a "off the shelf" 1 1/2 x 35 spline 4340 D-60 outter and the axle that i was using in my 1/2 ton with a M37 front. a broken Tibus 4340 outter that used a D44 size joint.use pic 4 for a size referance between the 60 and the 44 ujoint. the CTM ujoint broke before the axle and you can see the result.
i will use a high strength d-60 ujoint upon final assem. the generic one pitured is just for a size referance.

pic-2
shows a mdified d-60 1 1/2 spindle with modified GM style caliper bracket mounted to a M37 knuckle.this setup will allow for M37 stock hubs to be used with my existing flange for the GM rotor.
all this is UNTESTED as of now but works on paper.
Thanks Pieter for taking the time to post the pics. BB

[J Lebowski]

Bruce,
Looks interesting and thanks for sharing. Any idea on when we can expect to see more pics or hear of your progress? Will you be done by the weekend? ;-)

[Bruce B]

pic-3
shows a 4340 1 1/2 35 spline short side inner machined to fit the M37 knuckle bell.
on bottom is the D-44, again for size referance.
pic-4
left upper- 12 hole drive flange and side gear resplined for 1 1/2 35 spline
right upper- stk parts for compairo
bott left- inner D60 size
bott right- D44 size for compairo
I used the Tibus axles(no longer availible) since 2001 in a WC 1/2 ton with cummins 4BT and 44 in tires. they served me well in the flat FL mud but were no match for mid west/nothern hills and trails.
according to Tibus tests the stk traca joint failed @4500 lbs and the 4340 D44
with CTM ujoints failed @ 9000lbs. the last figure seens a little high since the last #s on the D60s are around 9500lbs.
i have not done any tests but expect a safe conseritive guess the above to be atleast twice as strong than a stk tracta joint. BB

[J Lebowski]

pic 1-
pic-2
shows a mdified d-60 1 1/2 spindle with modified GM style caliper bracket mounted to a M37 knuckle.this setup will allow for M37 stock hubs to be used with my existing flange for the GM rotor.
BB

Just in case others are wondering...... 1 1/2 means 1 1/2" diameter shafts. It took me a few times looking at that to realize what was meant.

Your brake setup sounds interesting also. Did you modify a GM caliper bracket? Did you mount your own rotor flanges onto the M37 hubs so that you could bolt on a GM rotor for disc brakes?

Wow, Dana 60 strength on the front end would be wonderful. I hope this is a successful conversion possibility. :-)

[Bruce B]

yes, 1 1/2" refers to the axle dia. stk is 1 3/8" although some manuals claim
1 7/16".
I modified a aftermarket caliper bracket desinged for the GM style single piston calipers. it must have the ID enlarged and the dodge 5 bolt knuckle pattern drilled.
the D-60 spindle needs the 4 1/2" knuckle index enlarged and lengthend and the five bolt pattern drilled also. i make the rotor flange out of hubcenteric 8 bolt GM dually wheels. the ID is perfect and the 8 bolt pattern matches the 3/4 ton GM rotors.i just roughly cut the centers out of the wheels and machine to the proper OD( i think it is around 8" OD). since they are hubcenteric you can grab the ID in a lathe to turn the OD with no problems.then machine the M37 hubs to the depth needed for the rotor flange.
using D-60 spindles adds a little to the track width so i do not use a spacer
(the thickness of the brake drum) on the wheel side of the hub. by doing this on both sides i can gain half of the added width back. 1/2 ton lugs are required to do the spacer elimination above.

HAHA,maybe done my next weekend 2010??? i move very slow. BB

[Joe Rokon]

Bruce B, Do you have alot of problems breaking stock axle shafts?

[Bruce B]

Joe,i have never run the truck with both stk front axles. i put the 4bt,M37 front end w/Tibus axles,and the 44" tires all at the same time. after i broke the first D-44 size combo i ran a stk axle on one side and a tibus axle on the other for a short time.
the stk axle broke while trying to climb a muddy hill and 3 seconds later other D-44 axle combo broke (acctually the ujoint broke and wiped out the axle yokes just like the first one).with the closed knuckle the broken parts have no where to go and by the time you getter splooled down every thing is wasted. i prolly could have let off the skinny pedal and saved the second one but didnt.i am usally easy on equiptment compared to most that is why the
D-44 size axles lasted as long as they did.
the short side inner axle "C" broke on the tracta combo if you were wandering. BB