'05+ Ford Super Duty Dana 60 Axle Tech & Info

[Bullitt1]

They work with the Ford oem units it’s a little bit of a bitch but I’m running them.

Here is the video I watched to figure out how to get them apart

Damn..I hunted YT looking for a video just like that! I tried like hell to get those larger black plastic fingers to come loose and just ended up cracking that cage..I was lucky enough to find a set of new Warn premiums on FB marketplace for cheap so going away from stock hubs wasn’t too painful. I like that I’ve got chromoly Warn parts mixed in with the 300M RCV stuff..that way I can bust my R&P..LOL.

 

[westracing01]

Nope, H3 axle is staying the same. If I ever changed it up I’d imagine I’d do fab axles.

Thanks, I have seen different axle ratings over the years. In the 250/350 I figured it’s spring related. F550 I have seen as little as 6k and as much as 7500. I wasn’t sure if tube wall thickness or knuckles and crap changed. I’m not sold on the M235 metric crap yet.

Ford axle ratings are indeed based on the spring rate which is just determined by what package was ordered on the truck. My 450 was ordered with the plow/camper package and has 6k springs, thus a 6k FAWR.

As far as I know, 5200, 5600, 6000, 7000 FAWR all are using the same actual axle.

The only difference comes in the 450/550 flavor with the extra width, 10 lug, larger brakes, etc.

 

[arse_sidewards]

I broached the side gears in my 2019 so the axle shaft would spin inside the side gear. No broken hubs this day but most the time the hub fails first.

Maybe I missed it but can you explain why?

 

[JR4X]

Maybe I missed it but can you explain why?

From the carnage thread. You and I agree it’s a quality control issue. IMO the hubs and spider gears are bottom line save a dollar failures. The front hubs are half plastic and the amount of gear engagement to lock them is pathetic. I don’t think the side gears are good ol D60 super hardened gears anymore. It was a reverse pull extraction on my end, and I should know better than to pull someone by backing up. I didn’t think I had that much traction but on that day it did.

This one seems dumb but pertinent. Last Thursday I get to work after it had rained for about 12 hours straight. It’s muddy but I’m getting around ok with no chains till I find an electric utility truck stuck in the road, no way around them. They’ve got front chains on no rear chains, haven’t lost all ability to move yet but can’t get the ass back on the road. I threw on my front chains and had nowhere to turn around. So I nose up to the truck where I’m all the way in the ditch to their right. We hook up the tow rope to my front hook and I have them try to drive forward while I back up trying to get their ass end to pivot back up on the road. My 2019 superduty in 4 low spins the tires backwards a little, straightens the truck up a little and I can feel I’ve got a good bite to the road. I give it a little gas pedal to pull into it and BOOM crunch crunch goes my front differential.

It didn’t break an axle shaft. It didn’t break a ring and pinion. It broached the splines out of the side gear. Kinda took the edge off the axle splines but I can almost spin this side gear on the axle by hand. The good one next to bad one for comparison. Pretty disappointed in the side gears but the 1550 u-joint feels brand new, the axles didn’t twist or bust the ears off and the R&P were fine. They told me after my front end sounded like a bowl of Rice Krispies that the bucket truck weighs 24k pounds.

I can 100% see some textbook engineer deciding that they can skimp on the heat treat, or spec an alloy that lends itself better to the gear teeth duties for the side gear because the root of the spline is bigger (because female part) and the simulation says it will last the warranty.

 

[Oddball]

Are the side gears sintered metal? They look like it.

 

[WaterH]

Not your typical desert but a desert none the less. I think we have enough annual rain fall to have a green place to live. But the soil composition is such barren trash nothing but weeds and sagebrush can flourish in it. There is no fixing our soil into a nice farmland without literally just dumping real rich topsoil on top of our natural dirt. I go up and down thousands of feet in elevation change every day and it looks the same on top of the mountain or down in the valley except where people have paid mega bucks to bring in good black dirt.

Had no idea it was like that. Never been to NM. Someday I’m driving through there.

 

[Sean]

They work with the Ford oem units it’s a little bit of a bitch but I’m running them.

Here is the video I watched to figure out how to get them apart

What an utter and absolute shit show that hub design is. Fuck those things. No way am I running those. Thanks for the video. 9 minutes in and there's just too much fragile plastic tabs and shit inside it to consider it a solution. I'd run the MileMarkers before I'd run those.

 

[JR4X]

What an utter and absolute shit show that hub design is. Fuck those things. No way am I running those. Thanks for the video. 9 minutes in and there's just too much fragile plastic tabs and shit inside it to consider it a solution.

The Warn ones are almost completely metal and minus the diaphragm. They do have some pot metal parts instead of plastic but still better than the ford plastic

 

[Sean]

The Warn ones are almost completely metal and minus the diaphragm. They do have some pot metal parts instead of plastic but still better than the ford plastic

That's what I'm leaning towards at the moment. Maybe couple them with some RCV guts.... ~$728.

Or, go cheaper (~$489) and get MM hubs (from the install instructions, they omit all the plastic cage shit/diaphragm and simplify things greatly...look to be all metal, though I'm sure it's cast pot metal) for snow/ice on road and for any actual offroad swap to an ECGS/TMR/BKOR drive flange. Probably worth the extra ~$240 to just hop out and turn the dial though.

Cheaper still is to roll the dice on MM for $189 or the Warns at $388 and keep the Ford's in the truck as spares. Break one, then worry about a solution. Murphy's Law says get the Warns...then you just upgrade them to RCVs when they break.

The MM 549s seem ultra simple....(no wave springs or pins).

 

[Levigarrett76]

What is the deal on the 23-up trucks?

Are the spider gears spinning all the time when the other side is unlocked? I didnt see a CAD

 

[JR4X]

What is the deal on the 23-up trucks?

Are the spider gears spinning all the time when the other side is unlocked? I didnt see a CAD

No cad, the passenger side is spinning the spider gear or differential all the time.

I’ve got a combined 6 or 7 hundred thousand miles on superduties alone and I never unlock the hubs anyway. I’ve not yet changed a single driveshaft u-joint on one. Inner axle u-joints on one truck only

 

[WaterH]

What is the deal on the 23-up trucks?

Are the spider gears spinning all the time when the other side is unlocked? I didnt see a CAD

They would only spin when steering or spinning a tire.

 

[Sean]

No cad, the passenger side is spinning the spider gear or differential all the time.

I’ve got a combined 6 or 7 hundred thousand miles on superduties alone and I never unlock the hubs anyway. I’ve not yet changed a single driveshaft u-joint on one. Inner axle u-joints on one truck only

That's a pretty good track record! Sounds like a non-issue other than some extra resistance and wear on parts.

 

[Sean]

JFYI, Paul over at ECGS confirmed they are working on '05+ SD60 super hubs. $550 for a pair...scheduled release date is January 2025.

 

[Levigarrett76]

They would only spin when steering or spinning a tire.

If one side is locked, and the other is auto, wouldnt the pass side shaft(locked) be spinning and either also the driver side(unlocked) or less likely the driveshaft?

 

[Levigarrett76]

No cad, the passenger side is spinning the spider gear or differential all the time.

I’ve got a combined 6 or 7 hundred thousand miles on superduties alone and I never unlock the hubs anyway. I’ve not yet changed a single driveshaft u-joint on one. Inner axle u-joints on one truck only

Assuming yall keep the axle joints greased? (that noone else seems to lol)

 

[JR4X]

Assuming yall keep the axle joints greased? (that noone else seems to lol)

They are sealed non greasable. So no lube. My 2010 6.4 truck has 210K miles on the the original u-joints all through front to back

 

[Levigarrett76]

They are sealed non greasable. So no lube. My 2010 6.4 truck has 210K miles on the the original u-joints all through front to back

Axle joints, I know a 2014 that had zerks, my 2017 & 2020 have zerks, weird. Poundsign Ford, reminds me of the 1330/1335 bs

 

[WaterH]

If one side is locked, and the other is auto, wouldnt the pass side shaft(locked) be spinning and either also the driver side(unlocked) or less likely the driveshaft?

Yes, one or the other would half to spin. But I don’t think the driveshaft would be less likly. On a chain case, the Tcase and driveshaft like to spin even when it’s in 2WD. (Hubs unlocked) On my Bronco, I can be in 2WD and drive down the road for several minutes at a steady speed. Then I can shift into 4WD without grinding. I use to put a tierap from the universal to the radius arm to keep it from turning. That tells me it was all spinning. The added help of one locked hub would seem to get the whole works spinning quicker.

 

[JR4X]

Axle joints, I know a 2014 that had zerks, my 2017 & 2020 have zerks, weird. Poundsign Ford, reminds me of the 1330/1335 bs

I have not, to my knowledge. Ever seen a factory 60 inner axle u-joint with a grease zerk. I have 4 superduties all of them 05 up and none of them have greasable u-joints.

My 93 OBS D60 also non greasable original u-joints that desperately need replacing. I need to rebuild the whole front end.

 

[Levigarrett76]

I bought my 2017 f350 new, it had spicer axle joints with grease zerks

My 2020 f250 has them as well, bought used with 33k. I cant say if they werent replaced, but i doubt it.

I grease them every oil change

 

[BUCKWILD]

I have not, to my knowledge. Ever seen a factory 60 inner axle u-joint with a grease zerk. I have 4 superduties all of them 05 up and none of them have greasable u-joints.

My 93 OBS D60 also non greasable original u-joints that desperately need replacing. I need to rebuild the whole front end.

look close it is listed in the owners manual, I have never seen a superduty without them

 

[JR4X]

Well, I’m proven the dumbass. I just grabbed a creeper and got under all 3 trucks currently in my driveway. My 93 D60 no grease zerk. 2019 D60 yes grease zerk. 2024 no grease zerk. I’ll have to look at the 10-12-13 another day.

I bought my 2017 f350 new, it had spicer axle joints with grease zerks

My 2020 f250 has them as well, bought used with 33k. I cant say if they werent replaced, but i doubt it.

I grease them every oil change

look close it is listed in the owners manual, I have never seen a superduty without them

 

[fl0w3n]

Well, I’m proven the dumbass. I just grabbed a creeper and got under all 3 trucks currently in my driveway. My 93 D60 no grease zerk. 2019 D60 yes grease zerk. 2024 no grease zerk. I’ll have to look at the 10-12-13 another day.

So I take it those lasted that long without regular greasing then

 

[JR4X]

So I take it those lasted that long without regular greasing then

On my old 2010 I used to have Valvoline quick lane do oil changes on it because they kept a barrel of Rotella T6 for diesel customers. greased all the grease points so maybe they were greasing them for me. I’ll have to look and see

 

[arse_sidewards]

On my old 2010 I used to have Valvoline quick lane do oil changes on it because they kept a barrel of Rotella T6 for diesel customers. greased all the grease points so maybe they were greasing them for me. I’ll have to look and see

I remember 15yr ago reading threads on what were even at the time old forums where the mud guys were talking about mix and matching crosses and caps in order to get greasable joints in the front axle shafts because for what they were doing regularly forcing the garbage out mattered more than ultimate strength of the cross.

I suspect you and your work trucks are in a similar situation.

 

[Levigarrett76]

Well, I’m proven the dumbass. I just grabbed a creeper and got under all 3 trucks currently in my driveway. My 93 D60 no grease zerk. 2019 D60 yes grease zerk. 2024 no grease zerk. I’ll have to look at the 10-12-13 another day.

I know the 99-04 trucks did not come with grease zerks on the axle joints, they had spicer life series sealed joints.
Like oyu said older ford 60's had non-greasable, but not sure what joints. I feel like the greaseable front joints started in 2011? but cant say for sure. I had an 06' i bought new but cant remeber if it had them or not.

I know of a couple 11-16 trucks where the joints did not get greased and it led to steering issues that were repaired by my BIL's shop.

 

[Wfoyota]

Anybody know if the wilwood brake brackets such as the ones bkor or the jhf are all the same dimensions even if the rotors are different widths such as the 1.5" to the legacy style thin rotors? I'm being a cheap ass and wanting to piece together a kit a little at a time but need the brackets to work with the 99 style 1.5" rotors.

 

[JR4X]

Anybody know if the wilwood brake brackets such as the ones bkor or the jhf are all the same dimensions even if the rotors are different widths such as the 1.5" to the legacy style thin rotors? I'm being a cheap ass and wanting to piece together a kit a little at a time but need the brackets to work with the 99 style 1.5" rotors.

I have the Currie ones for 99-04 knuckles but they look different than the JHF ones. My setup is for vented wilwood rotors and 4 piston WW calipers

 

[Wfoyota]

Organization of this thread sucks. Do all the 250/350 unit bearings interchange between the knuckle difference in 12/13 up?