D60 Hybrid Axle Build------>

[Mad4wd]

Guy,
We wanted to make a clean D60 hybrid axle and basically we are thinking of offering this as a kit. I have seen other hybrid conversions and frankly I was not that impressed by the level of the work. This is a Isuzu axle but I will be doing some for Yota and possibly Nissan.
We are splining the D60 inner shafts so the will slide into the third member. We are also looking at broaching the side gears as an option. What are your thoughts?

thanks,
Larry

[Mad4wd]

Dual lip seals which will be where they need to be.... near the bearings on the third member.

[Mad4wd]

More--->

[Mad4wd]

The tube is turned to match the inner 'c' bore and the OD of the original housing so it looks clean, and then turned down more to slip the full length inside the orinal housing tube. This provides a wall thickness of .475" if i remember correctly. It was machined with .001" clearance, the housing tubes were heated to 400deg and it dropped in. It locked up tight when it cooled. We will be also drilling a few rosette weld holes and buffing them down just to be sure it stays put.

[Mad4wd]

That is a 2" tg&p line up bar...

[Mad4wd]

We also have some inner 1/4" plates the tubes will be going thru where the seals are located. Basically this boxes in the whole housing. Thoughts and feedback encouraged .

thanks,
Lar

[wngrog]

That is awesome, but not many folks woudl do it right with the line-up bar and without it, the axle would be a warped POS as you know.

I can't see that working as a do-it-yourself kit. 3rd member axle housings are so prone to warping.

[Mad4wd]

I was thinking that to. Its really only on the short side you have to watch. I can have a customer cut the ends off their rear axle and ship it via UPS to us and have us weld it for a few bucks. We could turn it in a day and ship it back.

Lar

[Mace]

don't mill the splines.. Broach the cruiser third..

[gunmetalcruz]

I would offer a pretty signifigant truss option as well, since these housing bend pretty issue form moderate use.

[orangefj45]

i'd definetly have the customers ship you the donor housings. it'll keep problems to a minimum. tom's right, better offer/include a truss with the "kit".

i think it's a cool idea and the work is outstanding as usual, but how much of a market is there for a housing like that? 5-10 a year, maybe? is that worth the time and effort you're putting into this? not like you're sitting around the shop doing nothing.......


just my $.02 worth.

[CaliCruiser]

That is pretty cool!

Dylan

[LC_Hamma]

Little different than my hybrid LC/ D60, but that seems to be the way *most axle builders are doing that - Wild West Fab & Marko @ Flat Nasty. Are you assuming your customers are going to run an LC ARB or Detroit cuz the stock carrier's windows are kinda large, thin cast metal case, only 2 side gears & I don't think they're large enough to be broached for 35 spline? I used a stock rear housing for my front mainly cuz of the extra width & the cover is'nt welded on like the front's. Top notch welding & machinework as ALWAYS

[wngrog]

Yeah, I cant imagine much of a market here seeing that Diamond will make you a custom housing to fit a Toyota 3rd member

[peesalot]

great minds think alike.
How much for a housing at 60 " WMS ? LC chunk,

[independent4x]

This is actually my housing for a company project truck i am working on. I came up with the idea af doing a hybrid Isuzu rear/D60 a couple years ago....based on all the 9" hybrids guys were doing.

I approached Larry on this and he & i had been kicking around ideas and talking about building this housing for ....hell ...well over a year now. I am damn psyched w/ the result so far. I knew i could count on him to make it a reality.

i will be using an Isuzu rear 12 bolt 3rd member with my house brand of isuzu 5.38 gears and an ARB. i am going to run 6 on 5.5 D60 outters on it w/ 35 spline stubs.


For shafts, the current plan is to cut and spline a set of 4340 chromo D60 inners to fit the Isuzu side gears in the ARB.

i think in this case, having an "off the wall" axle application...........Larry has put together a cool solution. I do however see the counter you guys are making......the Toy market has no shortage of alternatives for custom housings.

in this case, i am going to have a kick ass 1 off axle

[Mad4wd]

I know they make them for the yota (and so do I) , but i was figuring we could do this cheaper than a complete housing. I am also trying to give a some of the non main stream axles a chance at being a front... like the Isuzu and Nissan. Just wanted to throw it out there and let you guys take a look and thanks as always for the compliments on the work.

Larry

[Radd Cruisers]

Does welding with a fixture keep the axle strait?


When I worked in a ship drive manufacturing facility, everthing was welded prior to machining even if fit in a fixture before welding.

[peesalot]

FWIW I did a similar axle with a LC rear housing and was able to not have to retube it. I just cut it and put the inner C's on. Axle tube thickness is a little thin but I gusseted it and so far so good. IMO I would not run links unless a nice truss was used and built very well taking tube thickness into account. Turn the new tubes to take that new seal at the outboard axle end so they are just inside the C and when the custom inners are made have em put a 1.5" seal surface just behind the yoke.

[wngrog]

Originally Posted by Mad4wd

I know they make them for the yota (and so do I) Larry

Duh, sorry Larry, I should have known that

[Mad4wd]

Grogan...when you going to have me build you a buggy? We can take care of the "in limbo' problem for you

Larry

[Mad4wd]

Originally Posted by Radd Cruisers

Does welding with a fixture keep the axle strait?


When I worked in a ship drive manufacturing facility, everthing was welded prior to machining even if fit in a fixture before welding.

We do alot of post machined weldments for industry also here, it all depends on the job and the tolerances you are looking to hold. When we have to machine bores and certain fits that require tolerances within + or - .002"...we are definitely machining after welding. If it needs to be tighter than that, normally it is not manufactured as a weldment. On the axle, if we hold within + or - .030" we are more than good to go for what its purpose is. I dont think people will pay to have me put this on a boring mill to ensure a few thousanths... You should see how bad factory housings are out before we touch some of them.

Larry

[woody]

I think I donated a couple of those "outta whack" housings to you...haha (which reminds me, if you need more, I have plenty...)

beautiful work as always...reminds me that I really need to decide on my buggy build plans one of these days

[bustanutley]

Are you going to add support inside the third area where the new tubes terminate? I think this would add a lot of strength to the housing and maybe illuminate the need for an external truss. I don't think it would be much work and should be easy enough to get in there and weld it in. Just a thought that crossed my mind while looking at this fine work

[Mad4wd]

bustanutley,
Yes, we have 1/4" plates the we cnc'd out that will fit inside the housing. We have about 5/16" of tube sticking out of the plate. This will be welded to the plate and the plate will be welded to the factory housing. This should significantly stiffen up the housing as a whole, especially on the short side. Thanks for the compliment also.

Lar

[too tall]

great looking work , any idea how much $$$ yet for one with a cruiser center section?

[Tapage]

Beauty .. ! but I still loving the closed knuckle yota style, anyways you can't get all good stuff together ..

[Mad4wd]

Originally Posted by too tall

great looking work , any idea how much $$$ yet for one with a cruiser center section?

I think we are going to be around 1200.00 to 1300.00 for it when its all said and done. I am still trying to finalize the exact figures. I think I can include the welding in it for that price.

Kit:
2 Machined Tubes
2 Double Lip, Rebuildable Axle Seals
2 Dedenbear Dana 60 Kinpin 'C's
2 Chromo Inner Shafts (Probably Yukon 4340)
We cut and weld your housing

Lar

[Sputnik40]

I would be very very interested in something like this - but for a rear axle. I'm pretty satisfied with my stock Cruiser axle housing with 6 shooter knuckles, 4x4 labs high steer, 30 spline longs and matching hub gears, and 6 pin hubs.

I've been holding off on upgrading my t-case due to being uncertain about what rear axle to run. I've a D60 with moser shafts, discs and what not that needs going thru - but was really impressed by the recent Crawler mag write up about the Diamond axle conversion for Ben Swain at Slee. Just really thought it was a work of art, off the shelf components - with exception to milling the 9.5" bearing races to accept the 35 spline Dana axles. A toyota centered axle beefy enough for my 39's and perfect for the Atlas or Stak.

PM me if you figure out how to make that kit affordable, to include a used stock 9.5" 4 pinion stock 4.10 diff, the referenced D-60 Toyota crossover kit, and the brake components. Trussed or what not for a 4-link. I'd be first in line (PM me if you consider) and would sell off the D60 project and my stock FJ40 rear with discs and Poly axles.