Rockwell front axle question

[712edf]

This is under a mid-late 70's Ford F600 2-ton 4x4. I am almost certain its a Rockwell. It looks strikingly similar to the one that come in the 74-77 W600 Dodge trucks.

The older Dodge W500 series used split case front axles.

The rears of both trucks (F600 & W600) also look almost identical to each other.

Does anyone know anything about these front axles?

I have become fascinated with the 2 ton civilian 4x4's that Dodge, IH & Ford built back in the 60's & 70's.

Thanks,

Bucky

[Gordon Maney]

What sort of bed do you imagine on a truck like this when you are gripped by this fantasy?

[712edf]

What sort of bed do you imagine on a truck like this when you are gripped by this fantasy?

I envision a 72 -78 crew cab with matching 8 ft sweptline bed over super single wheels with 46-53" Michelins. (yes I have to play with the wheelbase a bit.)

W500 were available with the sweptline crew cab. I have yet to see a W600 that hasn't a regular cab. The W600's seem to be rarer.

An oil field winch bed with gin poles or a roll-off would be more useful though.

Bucky

[712edf]

Should I post this question/thread at Pirate?

Such a friendly crowd over there......

Bucky

[Gordon Maney]

Should I post this question/thread at Pirate?

Such a friendly crowd over there......

Bucky

I am not sure what you are saying.

[712edf]

I am not sure what you are saying.

The pirate 4x4 website is made up of mud bogger & rock crawling enthusiast, who have mostly heavily modified rigs. Rockwell top loader military axles are very popular in those competitions. And the members there might be knowledgable about the Rockwells used in W500's, F600's & IH 2 tons..

But not all the members there are as hospitable as what I am used to here & on the other two sites (Joe's & Scott's) that I view. Many times threads deteriorate into cussing, name calling & the emoticons themselves have quite a few obscene gestures. New members are incouraged to go to their own "lightweight" forum first, so as not to clutter up the main forums with "stupid newbie questions". Some of this might be amusing to read & maybe its all meant as a joke. But I'd just assume to converse with more friendly folk.

I understand that maybe not alot of folks here are familiar with the big Rockwells.

Thanks & I hope I didn't confuse or upset anyone.

Bucky

[mattsoldmopars]

I am not sure what front axle that is. But it looks strikingly similar/same as the front axle that was under a 2-ton 4x4 1977 IHC I used to own, a few years ago. I only owned it for a year or so (it is the only non-dodge I ever owned) and I never felt the need to look at the front axle for a ID tag, sorry I cant tell you what it was, but it looked a lot like that one. I have also seen some axles like that under 2-ton 4x4 Fords, but Never under a 2-ton 4x4 Dodge.

I have a friend that has a 1973 W600, (old body style) it is has the same "looking" Timken (split housing) as the 1959 W500 I used to own and the 1959 W500 I currently own. I have seen 7 of the 1974-1977 newer body style W500/W600's in person and they all had Dana 70 front axles under them.

There was two of them on Denver C/L in the last few months, I never looked at them in person, so I cant say what axle they had under them.
I don't have any books to back up this next statement (so don't take it to the bank) but I was always under the impression that the 1974-1977 2-ton 4x4's had Dana 70's. I am only basing that off of the ones I have seen myslef all had Dana 70 fronts.

[712edf]

Thanks Matt,

Yes I have seen a W600 (on Ebay) with a Dana 70 front. Seems like it was lime yellow, maybe an ex grassfire truck. It was pictured next to a passenger car, made the car look like a toy.

The Fargo W600 bucket truck on Denver CL back in July appeared to have an axle similar to the one I have pictured above. It wasn't a split case.

The 74 W600 currently on Denver CL also appears to have one of these front axles. I have been in contact with the seller & am awaiting pictures.

The axle I have posted is under a 70's Ford F600. I think it is a Rockwell FA106. I need to drive back to OK to take a closer look.

Bucky

[712edf]

This appears to have one!

http://worcester.craigslist.org/cto/2009431023.html

This front looks bigger than a 70. I can't tell from the small picture. I will call and ask for info or a picture of the front axle. But I don't have much luck getting sellers to send pictures. The guy with the Fargo W600 agreed to (and didn't), the guy with the W600 in Kremmling CO has agreed to (and hasn't).

Bucky

[mattsoldmopars]

I am not sure as I said,, I have never seen "in person" a dodge 2-ton 4x4 with that other style front axle like you have pictured in the 1st post on this thread.

8-9 years ago VPW had a 74-77 W500 for sale, it was a bright yellow-ish green-ish color seems it was a ex-fire truck. I saw it at the rally I went to that year, it had a dana 70 front axle.

In 2001, I found two of them in western KS, both of them were 74-77 W500's both parked next to a fire dept, in a small town, both had dana 70 fronts.

Also in 2001 I was in OK for a few days, found two 74-77 W500's ex-fire trucks also, both of those had dana 70's.

I spotted a 74-77 W500 in WY a few years ago, it also had a dana 70 front axle.

I used to know of a 74-77 W500 in central Colorado not far from where that one on Denver C/L is at in Kremmling, I used to do quite a bit of work in that area. Anyways, that one also had a dana 70 front axle. Last time I spoke with the guy about (5 years ago) he offered it to me pretty cheap, I just didn't feel like going after it, it is a little to new for my taste. Not sure if it is still there, I have not been to that area of CO for at-least 3-1/2 years.


So I assumed that all 74-77 W500's/W600's had the dana 70 front axle, only because the ones that I have seen,, always had them.

It is hard to tell any real detail with craigslist pictures. They don't show much.

Matt

[712edf]

Later style Dana 70 fronts

I now am wondering if all W600's (74-77) don't have the Dana 70 & it's just my hopeful imagination (along with sellers saying Rockwell axles pl.) that has envisioned this idea of a giant banjo style front instead.

Just curious, Matt, do these Dana 70's have the 6 lug on 8 3/4" center wheels/hubs? Also do you recall if they were closed knuckle & drum brakes?

Thank you for your input on the later 2 tons. They appear to be a great unknown in the world of Dodgedom.

Bucky

[712edf]

Picture of 1974 W600 front axle

The square tubes & lack of differential cover to me appear to be Rockwell, not Dana 70. I know the picture isnt the best.

Bucky

[mattsoldmopars]

I now am wondering if all W600's (74-77) don't have the Dana 70 & it's just my hopeful imagination (along with sellers saying Rockwell axles pl.) that has envisioned this idea of a giant banjo style front instead.

Just curious, Matt, do these Dana 70's have the 6 lug on 8 3/4" center wheels/hubs? Also do you recall if they were closed knuckle & drum brakes?

Thank you for your input on the later 2 tons. They appear to be a great unknown in the world of Dodgedom.

Bucky

Bucky,

As I said before,,, I have never seen any 74-77 W600's with any front axle BUT the Dana 70. I am not saying that they did NOT make them with Rockwell, but that I have ONLY seen the Dana 70 front axle, I am only saying what I have seen.

Just for comparison, (according to Don Bunn's big green book) they made 754 W600's in 1975, he does not mention how many they made in the other 74-77 years, but if WE "assume" that they made close to these number for the other 3 years W600's we are talking about, that would be close to 3,000 W600s (Give or Take, a few hundred) from 1974-1977, I have no idea where Don Bunn got those production numbers? But lets just say they are right, I have only seen a VERY SMALL percentage of the W600's made from 74-77!!

Yes the ones I saw with Dana 70 fronts, had six bolt rims/drums/hubs, and were drum brakes, closed knuckle axles. I have never seen a open knuckle Dana 70 front axle under a dodge truck.

I had suspected from the start of this thread, that Dodge could have used some other axle then just the Dana 70, but never said anything, until I had some facts to go on. I had also suspected, that it could be a GVW thing as to the two different types of axles. Dodge did that in other trucks, like the W200's over years had two different GVW front axles.

So, I have a friend that has every Dodge parts book and factory service manual from about the mid to late 1930's up until 1980. I called him a few days ago to have him look up what front axles were used in the 74-77 W600's. He said according to the books, there was two front axles available

1 standard front axle W600, Dana 70F 6000LB capacity, 14x2.25 Drum brakes

2 optional front axle, Rockwell FDS75 7500LB capacity, 15x3 Drum brakes.

Also here is a picture of one of the 1974-1977 W600's I saw years ago. I have no idea what year it is, never called the owner. All I know is it has a Dana 70 front axle. Save the picture to your computer and blow it up, you can clearly see it is a Dana 70F.

[712edf]

Thanks for the picture Matt, that is a nice looking W600.

You & your friend are absolutely correct. There were 2 axles offered on W600's, the Dana 70 & the Rockwell. The hood tag on the W600 I am looking at shows optional 7500# front axle capacity.

I'd like to have your friend's book too. I bet it has a lot of good info. I do have some of Don Bunn's other books, quite helpful.

Matt thank you for calling your friend & sharing your findings here. I enjoy learning about the 70's Dodges. When I get this truck I will post pictures of whatever unique features it has, assuming I'm not the only person interested in these giants.

Bucky

[mattsoldmopars]

Bucky,

Your welcome, I like to learn new things about Dodges. I agree there is not much out there about the later W600's. The other day (before I called my friend) I did a Google search for about an hour on the later W600's I did not find much info, on them.

Most of my books are from 1957-1960, so I am limited on any info on the newer trucks.

Post some pictures when you get that beast home.

Matt