Crawlercreations 60-9 front axle and $$$$$$ build

[crawlercreations]

I have officially started building my new front axle. I'm sure many of you know what this is already but for those that don't; this is a hybrid axle built with a ford 9" center section and Dana 60 axle shafts, inner Cs(where the ball joints attach to the housing) and Dana 60 knuckles, spindles and hubs.

I am using a spidertrax pro 9" housing with chromoly center section and heat treated tubes. I have Cs and knuckles from a '96 Dana 60. The knuckles have been machined, drilled and tapped for high steer arms. They came with 1 high steer arm and I have metal coming to build the second arm. I've installed new ball joints in them and have all new bearings and seals. I want to re use my current wheels and tires for the time being so I've machined down the o.d. of the huge Dana 60 hubs and redrilled them to the correct lug pattern. I'll be adding a ton of pictures so this will be several posts long.

Housing as I bought it. It was mis cut so I got it really cheap.

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The axle Cs.

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Some of the machine work on the Dana 60 hubs.

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More machine work on the hubs.

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Axle shaft comparisons between chromoly Dana 44 shafts and the new Dana 60 chromoly shafts.

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[crawlercreations]

Along with building this 60-9 I'll be building a fabricated housing 35 spline rear axle, extending the wheelbase, 3 or 4 linking the front, changing the rear 4 link and installing coilovers front and rear. A bit of a big change. Later on I'll be getting an atlas transfer case and 40s.

More of the goodies.

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Second housing. Black Friday deal.

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Yukon hardcore hubs. Really low profile and the strongest you can get without going drive slugs.

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New wheels for the eventual 40s.

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Rebuilt fox hydro bumps. Got them cheap.

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I started getting a little at this point. Decided to really build it once and right. True hi9.

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Full hydro steering with upgraded ram and Artec ram mount.

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Wilwood brake calipers and cross drilled and slotted rotors for fun. These calipers fit the Chevy conversion brakes if anyone is looking to upgrade their brakes. Bolt on deal.

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[crawlercreations]

Currie 35 spline rear axle shafts.

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Fox coilovers. 14" for the front and 16" for the rear.

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[crawlercreations]

Now that most of the goodies are accounted for I can actually post a little of the work I've started on.

Housing cut to the right width.

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Internally sleeved and welded up where it was cut before I purchased it.

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And the Cs attached.

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I've only gone a single pass on the C welding. I'll give it another pass tomorrow and weld up the ends as well. The rest is basically assembling it so I can get the ram in position and weld the ram mount on. I'll be attaching the lower link mounts as well before I start installing it in my Bronco.

[Booger]

Wow. That's going to be a helluva setup. Wanna see this out playing in the rocks again.

[Rox Crusher]

That is going to be awesome !

[Strike2]

Man that some collection of parts! I will be following this thread

[Dirtheadz]

NICE!!!!

[ScottBarnes]

Oh man -- what a great thread!! anxious to see it progress!

[Kinder]

Sub’d, very cool upgrade! Can you send me the shop info that did the machine work on the D60 Cs & hubs, I need some similar work done.

[crawlercreations]

Sub’d, very cool upgrade! Can you send me the shop info that did the machine work on the D60 Cs & hubs, I need some similar work done.

I did the hubs myself and the C's came from an axle that was already 3.5" and the old tubes were already removed before I bought them from Pennsylvania. I just ran an engine hone in them to clean them up. The hubs I machined on my brake lathe.

[Kinder]

Gotcha, thanks.

[Jesus_man]

Man! So much awesome!!

What caster angle are you running? This is on my bucket list! I wish I could be your apprentice thru this process!

Did you have to modify the wheels to fit over the D60 hubs or was all the machining on the hubs?

[crawlercreations]

Man! So much awesome!!

What caster angle are you running? This is on my bucket list! I wish I could be your apprentice thru this process!

Did you have to modify the wheels to fit over the D60 hubs or was all the machining on the hubs?

I'm currently planning on 8° of caster. That's what my Dana 44 is set at currently and I love it.

All the machining was in the hubs. No wheel modifications needed.

[crawlercreations]

I didn't have much time to work on it today. Got the Cs fully welded and the ram mount fit. I think the ram mount is rotated a little high but that's an easy adjustment.

Welded Cs.

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Ram mount initial fit up.

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[Kinder]

Did you do any pre-heating of the cast iron parts? A lot of fab and welding sites discuss it, but I’m not sure of the circumstances were it’s beneficial.

[crawlercreations]

Did you do any pre-heating of the cast iron parts? A lot of fab and welding sites discuss it, but I’m not sure of the circumstances were it’s beneficial.

Nothing I've welded is cast iron. The Cs are cast steel so they weld up like any other steel. I did do some less important welds on them before burning them in hot and I wrapped them in a jean jacket to slow their cooling but I don't think it was needed. When I welded the Cs on my Dana 44 I didn't even go that far and they've not moved in 8 years of use so I'm not worried at all.

[crawlercreations]

Not a lot to update. It is close to done and ready to install. The ram mount is in positon and fully welded up. Ram is test fit and tie rods are built. I'll fully assemble the axle on the bench and see about putting on the lower link mounts now or when I install it. I'm really happy with how it's turning out.

Second high steer/ double sheer arm built

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Front view with ram installed

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Penetration

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Fully welded and braced

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[Jesus_man]

More awesomeness!

[crawlercreations]

It is assembled! One little thing needs attention that I'll address but otherwise it was as expected and assembled just like any other front axle. Now I'm really anxious to get it installed!

Front view

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Who doesn't like penetration??

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Brakes

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Back view

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Wide view

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[TOOLMAN]

All I have to say is.....beefy.

[Jesus_man]

What about a birds eye view? Do you already have a hydraulic supply? Envious for sure. This is what I've wanted to do for a long time.

[Kinder]

It looks great, I like the double shear mounting on the ram to knuckles.

[crawlercreations]

What about a birds eye view? Do you already have a hydraulic supply? Envious for sure. This is what I've wanted to do for a long time.

I'll be running a full PSC system. Pump, lines and orbital. I've heard good and bad about the PSC pumps so I'll make sure to hang on to my good, high flow Saginaw pump I've got on my Bronco right now.

Birds eyes

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[crawlercreations]

It looks great, I like the double shear mounting on the ram to knuckles.

I decided that was a requirement once I decided on full hydro. I have the arms angled down a little right now. I'll change that with different spacers to get them perfectly level with the ram when it's done.

[Jesus_man]

Your ram alignment front to back is great. But sounds like you need a little up and down. I've seen less aligned stuff work just fine.

[crawlercreations]

Your ram alignment front to back is great. But sounds like you need a little up and down. I've seen less aligned stuff work just fine.

I was wanting to get the ram closer to the diff actually. It would've given me a better angle but the bolts to the ram in front of the center section already rub the center section while installing the ram so that is as close as I could possibly get it with the Artec ram mount. I considered building my own ram mount but didn't see enough gain to do it. I am trying to make this as strong as possible so I can just go out and enjoy it, without worry, on whatever trail I want to tackle.

[Kinder]

What do you think the full setup weighs?

[crawlercreations]

What do you think the full setup weighs?

That's a good question. I've been thinking about it. I have to disassemble it tomorrow anyway so I'll weigh each piece I remove and then add them up. My initial guess is around 500 pounds. I'll update once I know for sure.

[crawlercreations]

What do you think the full setup weighs?

Just did a full break down and weigh in. I weighed EVERYTHING including lug nuts, seals, etc.

Grand total with steering ram is 450 pounds. Lighter than I expected! I still need to add link brackets to that so around 500 total but that is actually pretty light considering it is the main steering weight as well.