Dana 60 vs. Stock 62 axles

[dfnngsilence]

Howdy fellers,

I've got a buddy who's going to sell me a set of Dana 60's complete with Disk brakes and Mickey Thompson wheels for a really low price. I'm going to buy them because it's a steal, I plan on doing a spring-over with add-a-leafs, cut and turn the axles and putting 33 BFG MT's on it. This would be a lot easier with the Dana 60's because they're not attached and I wouldn't have to change the brakes over. I'm just worried about unsprung weight, is this something i should be concerned with? It's my understanding that the stock 62 axles are equal in strength to the 60's, but the 60's are a little wider, will this provide an advantage with the center of gravity due to the spring-over? I use it as a daily driver, also with the 3fe being the tractor engine that it is will the extra weight from the Dana reduce the already site seeing get-up and go?

Thanks
Matt

1989 FJ62 Stock

 

[lowtideride]

Dana 60 a no-no for 33s.


Skip a few steps and just put on the 33s.

 

[dfnngsilence]

So keep the stock axles and put 33"s or use the Dana's and go up to 35's?

 

[lowtideride]

So keep the stock axles and put 33"s or use the Dana's and go up to 35's?

If you plan on putting a good beating on your rig down the road just run the tons, but if you are going to just run 33s, 35s just keep the stock axle. Is the rear D60 centered? Which would cause more work more parts.

 

[cody c]

i would hold on to the D60's till later, and just go ahead and run 35's or 33's with the stock axles.
Put those D60's away for now, youll get bored of 33's soon enough.

 

[VTCruiser]

with a spring over, 33"s will be on the small side. If you are dead set on spring-over, I say go ahead and swap in the D60's and get 35's or even 37's.

 

[PPFJ60]

SOA plus add-a-leaf's on 33's? That would be silly! You can fit the 33's with just the add-a-leaf. If you want to run 35's just do the SOA and keep it as low as possible. If you want to run 38's or bigger go with the D60, SOA and add-a-leaf.

 

[brokenparts]

d60's are an overkill for 33s especially the amount of work that is involved to make the swap. Stock for stock the d60 is much much stronger than the toy axle especially if it a kingpin version.

 

[dfnngsilence]

I'm just worried about spring wrap if i don't use the add-a-leafs. I don't have the funds as of right now to upgrade the suspension, and i want to do it right. So i figured an add-a-leaf would beef up the stock suspension which seems to be on the tired side, until i can upgrade it right. I don't know all the specs on the axles they've been sitting in storage for several years now. I hadn't thought about the differential location, that would be a lot more work. The idea of having rear disk brakes is a certainly a plus.
Thanks for all the advice.
Keep it coming

Matt

 

[DirtyLittleSecret]

I'm just worried about spring wrap if i don't use the add-a-leafs. I don't have the funds as of right now to upgrade the suspension, and i want to do it right. So i figured an add-a-leaf would beef up the stock suspension which seems to be on the tired side, until i can upgrade it right. I don't know all the specs on the axles they've been sitting in storage for several years now. I hadn't thought about the differential location, that would be a lot more work. The idea of having rear disk brakes is a certainly a plus.
Thanks for all the advice.
Keep it coming

Matt

Doing a SOA right costs alot more than a new set of OME / ARB springs... Dana 60's are nice, but once you go through them and have them set up you might just as well rebuilt your FJ axles with Longfields and Poly's. IMHO

 

[ntsqd]

A friend of mine has a 40 that he kept breaking the axles in. Did all of the usual tricks and still kept breaking them. He is hard on equipment. So he put in a 14bff/D60 combo. He's told me more than once that it was the worst mod that he ever made to the truck. The large increase in unsprung weight makes it not nearly as much fun to drive on the street as it was with the stock axles. He doesn't regret the mod when off road, but the truck just doesn't see that much off road use since his kids have hit PW/50/80 riding ages.

Obviously a 40 is not the same as a 60, but I'm confident that such a swap in a 60 would have similar results. Perhaps not to the same degree since the 60 weighs more, but still down that same path.

 

[zuluzeugma]

I run 37" MT/R's on stock LC axles and haven't broke an axle shaft yet. I'm running welded rear diff.

YOU DONT NEED D60's for 33" TIRES!

 

[brokenparts]

I ran my 39.5 with longs pretty hard and they held up... although I believe I was pushing the limits.

 

[krookedpandas]

I snapped a rear axle with 33"s and an aussie Anyways, I have to agree, stock axles with polys and longs in them would be more than enough for 33"s or 35"s.

 

[sixty]

I have one tons on my 60 and the unsprung weight is not even an issue. I drive it FAST (400HP+/-) off and on road. The width is AWESOME! There is no comparison in strength of a 60 vs's stock axles, even with longs and other mods,

That being said, its alot more work and $$$ to install than doing a spring over. If you do want to go ahead with the 1-tons, get ready to start swapping drivetrain parts to acomodate the centered rear and take advantage of the added weight. 38's are about the smallest tire you want to run with them.

 

[DirtyLittleSecret]

I have one tons on my 60 and the unsprung weight is not even an issue. I drive it FAST (400HP+/-) off and on road. The width is AWESOME! There is no comparison in strength of a 60 vs's stock axles, even with longs and other mods,

That being said, its alot more work and $$$ to install than doing a spring over. If you do want to go ahead with the 1-tons, get ready to start swapping drivetrain parts to acomodate the centered rear and take advantage of the added weight. 38's are about the smallest tire you want to run with them.

I dont know of anyone who has done a SOA correctly who spent less than going with a "kit" SUA such as OME...at least if time is factored. Pro's and con's to everything though!

 

[dfnngsilence]

I should mention what the cruiser is going to be used for. Right now it is simply a DD, weekend wheeler,
next spring i'm moving to Peru South America to drill water wells with one of my buddies. This is going to be my workhouse and DD there up in the mountains. Ideally i'd like to get there via the Pan American Highway vs shipping it there but that comes down to funds. So i need the ultimate and reliability. If I do the swap am i'm losing the Toyota reliabilty? It has to be able to handle whatever terrain comes up so bigger tires and ground clearence are essential, cuz most of the roads there can be considered trails here.
I probably should start a new thread shouldn't I?

Matt

 

[VTCruiser]

I should mention what the cruiser is going to be used for. Right now it is simply a DD, weekend wheeler,
next spring i'm moving to Peru South America to drill water wells with one of my buddies. This is going to be my workhouse and DD there up in the mountains. Ideally i'd like to get there via the Pan American Highway vs shipping it there but that comes down to funds. So i need the ultimate and reliability. If I do the swap am i'm losing the Toyota reliabilty? It has to be able to handle whatever terrain comes up so bigger tires and ground clearence are essential, cuz most of the roads there can be considered trails here.
I probably should start a new thread shouldn't I?

Matt

In that case, I would recommend keeping the 'yota axles and running 33" tires with a ~3" SUA suspension. This is why:

• Spare parts availability
• tire availability
• fuel economy

I'd say 90% of the expedition rigs I have seen/read about have a 3" lift and 33" tires max. That makes for a rig that is plenty capable but retains as many original components as possible to make it easier to fix and find spares. In remote areas, it would not be easy to find a 37" or even 35" tire. And what if, in an extreme scenario, you damage an axle housing beyond repair? With SOA, you'll need to locate a new housing and then modify it, versus just swapping it out. Expedition rigs are best kept simple IMO.