crazyredneckanyho
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- May 21, 2020
- Member Number
- 1050
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What’s the downside to using one of these? Need to replace the d44 in my ghetto hillbilly mud truck with something stronger and I have the 03 60 from a c&c f350 here.
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99-04 d60
- Thread starter crazyredneckanyho
- Start date
total newb
senior jerk ass
Unit bearing bull shit but thats a meh any more these days
wvracer821
Well-known member
I dont see any down side at all and I fully support this swap
total newb
senior jerk ass
Theres down sides depending on desired combos and plans but nothing money wont fix.
I’d be curious what the downsides are compared to 05+ super duty 60.
-Metric bolt pattern, whatever. They can be redrilled
-unit bearings....they have proven to be stout on 05+ Are 99-04 similar?
Doing 30 spline to 35 spline outers is a bigger PITA then the old school traditional spindle. The old school stuff is a bolt in ordeal. 99-04 requires machining....are the machining costs offsetting just getting a 05+? I figure it’s free/cheap if you can do it local but having to buy new unit bearings already machined isn’t cheap.
They are narrower then 05+ if I remember correctly so that can be a plus.
-Metric bolt pattern, whatever. They can be redrilled
-unit bearings....they have proven to be stout on 05+ Are 99-04 similar?
Doing 30 spline to 35 spline outers is a bigger PITA then the old school traditional spindle. The old school stuff is a bolt in ordeal. 99-04 requires machining....are the machining costs offsetting just getting a 05+? I figure it’s free/cheap if you can do it local but having to buy new unit bearings already machined isn’t cheap.
They are narrower then 05+ if I remember correctly so that can be a plus.
'84 Bronco II
El Chingón
'99-'04 is 69" WMS width vs. 72" WMS for '05+
'99-'04 has weaker unit bearings than '05+ that need to be bored out to fit 35 spline outers
'99-'04 has stock 30 spline outers vs. factory 35 spline for '05+
'99-'04 has a smaller ball joint spread (same as '92-'97) than '05+ so the ball joints wear more quickly with big tires and heavy rigs and they will not accept 1550 U-joints like the '05+ stuff (The later ~'13+ axles came with 1550 joints from the factory).
'99-'04 has smaller brakes than the '05+ axles, but that can be a good thing if you want to run 16" wheels for some reason.
'99-'04 housings are much easier to work with since you don't have to cut a huge piece of the centersection casting off if you aren't using the factory radius arm mounts on the '05+ stuff and they have more driver side tube.
A '99-'04 axle is a good axle, it is just that the '05+ stuff is plentiful and is better in almost every way. It will still be a massive upgrade over any Dana 44 axle. My biggest hesitation to run the '99-'04 axle is just the machine work involved on a wear part to run 35 spline outers which you probably want since 30 spline outers are usually the first thing that breaks on a factory axle. Unless you are running huge tires on a fairly heavy rig, the unit bearings aren't really that big of an issue, just don't use cheap part store replacement bearings. For what it's worth, the original bearings on my 7.3L that has been on 33" tires since before I owned it lasted almost 200,000 miles before I had to replace them.
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The short side on the 99-04 is short. Not much tube there.
One 99-04 rabbithole I haven't fully explored is fitting a conventional spindle to the knuckle. It is super thick and could be milled down. Then you'd have something similar to a dodge or OBS knuckle except for an improved caliper option.
One 99-04 rabbithole I haven't fully explored is fitting a conventional spindle to the knuckle. It is super thick and could be milled down. Then you'd have something similar to a dodge or OBS knuckle except for an improved caliper option.
RunningProblem
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2020
- Member Number
- 2860
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i believe aftermarket support is lacking for the 99-04 compared to the 2005+.
Can you get 99-04s that much cheaper then 05+? Once you upgrade to 35 spline shafts and unit bearings bored out to work I’d imagine it would cost more then just buying an 05+
Another mention I think I have found if you want to avoid machine work on the unit bearing is to do this....
my theory will only work with drive slugs. No way to get around it with locking hubs without machine work to the actual unit bearing itself. There is a spindle bearing that spins in the hub. It’s on old school 60s and new school UB stuff. When the hubs are unlocked the shaft is staying still and the hub is spinning, the spindle bearing allows the hub to spin without causing problems as the shaft stays put. When the hub is locked it’s all one unit. The bearing isn’t spinning on the shaft, all the bearing does is support the shaft from deflecting. Since your drive slugs that shaft will never ever spin independently of the bearing. All you need it there is for support.
So, I googled the OD of the bearing bore on a 99-04 axle which is 1.625. The ID is 1.312 (for 30 spline) so basically when someone goes to 35 spline shafts and a locking hub on 99-04 they bore out the hub to accept a 1.5in ID bearing ( it’s probably an 05+ spindle bearing or an old school D60 spindle bearing) so they need it opened up because the OD is probably 1.7 something.
Now, since the hole is 1.625 and drive slugs never need the bearing to actually roll, they just provide deflection support in the locked position, instead of shipping off UB’s and having them bored out someone can take a chunk of DOM 1.75 .120wall they can Chuck it in the lathe and bring it down from 1.75 to 1.625 and then the ID from 1.5 to 1.508 or so....press that in place of the spindle bearing and it provides support to the shaft. I have even found 1.625 OD tubing thats .065 wall. You can open up the ID to 1.508...
If you ever go to a locking hub you would need a new solution like the boring the actual unit bearing but this could be a cheap work around if your just gonna run locking hubs and don’t want to have to run special unit bearings.
Would this work?
Another mention I think I have found if you want to avoid machine work on the unit bearing is to do this....
my theory will only work with drive slugs. No way to get around it with locking hubs without machine work to the actual unit bearing itself. There is a spindle bearing that spins in the hub. It’s on old school 60s and new school UB stuff. When the hubs are unlocked the shaft is staying still and the hub is spinning, the spindle bearing allows the hub to spin without causing problems as the shaft stays put. When the hub is locked it’s all one unit. The bearing isn’t spinning on the shaft, all the bearing does is support the shaft from deflecting. Since your drive slugs that shaft will never ever spin independently of the bearing. All you need it there is for support.
So, I googled the OD of the bearing bore on a 99-04 axle which is 1.625. The ID is 1.312 (for 30 spline) so basically when someone goes to 35 spline shafts and a locking hub on 99-04 they bore out the hub to accept a 1.5in ID bearing ( it’s probably an 05+ spindle bearing or an old school D60 spindle bearing) so they need it opened up because the OD is probably 1.7 something.
Now, since the hole is 1.625 and drive slugs never need the bearing to actually roll, they just provide deflection support in the locked position, instead of shipping off UB’s and having them bored out someone can take a chunk of DOM 1.75 .120wall they can Chuck it in the lathe and bring it down from 1.75 to 1.625 and then the ID from 1.5 to 1.508 or so....press that in place of the spindle bearing and it provides support to the shaft. I have even found 1.625 OD tubing thats .065 wall. You can open up the ID to 1.508...
If you ever go to a locking hub you would need a new solution like the boring the actual unit bearing but this could be a cheap work around if your just gonna run locking hubs and don’t want to have to run special unit bearings.
Would this work?