Dana 80 questions

JPTHING · Jan 26, 2008

How much difference is there between the dana 60 carrier, and the dana 80 carrier? I am thinking about building a Dana 80 axle with a Dana 60, 40 spline spool. Or is there a spool for a Dana 80? Can it be machined to fit 40 spline axle shafts? The Dana 60, 40 spline shafts are 1.705", and the bearing seats are 1.774"

Binder · Jan 26, 2008

The difference between the two is huge. Why would you want to do this?

zukkev · Jan 27, 2008

Dana 80 is an absolute baheemoth when sitting next to a 60.....and yeah, what binder said...?

JPTHING · Jan 27, 2008

because 40 spline shafts are very unlikely to break. I absolutely hate to break. With that in mind I know if I had a Dana 60 with 40 spline shafts the ring and pinion would break. So I am going down the line and finding items that will break, so this was the next step.

zukkev · Jan 27, 2008

Fair enough; man, if your gonna do this hybrid setup, you should do a tech thread....it'd be interesting to see how it turns out...gonna ask our local driveline/gear shop about this mon....

JPTHING · Jan 27, 2008

zukkev said:
Fair enough; man, if your gonna do this hybrid setup, you should do a tech thread....it'd be interesting to see how it turns out...gonna ask our local driveline/gear shop about this mon....

I already have a Hybrid 14 bolt front axle, I am just working on a set of axles for my YJ.

darius · Jan 27, 2008

You feel that you would break the 37 spline shaft's that come in the 80 from the factory?

JPTHING · Jan 27, 2008

darius said:
You feel that you would break the 37 spline shaft's that come in the 80 from the factory?

Well if only 37 spline was enough then why would they make a 40 Spline axle? Why would Manufacturers make 300m shafts? Of course they could break. It just depends how much bind my tire is in while cranked all the way to one side, with a heavy foot.

Binder · Jan 27, 2008

So why not build a 60 with 40 spline shafts? What's the purpose of the 80? BTW a 60 carrier won't come close to fitting correctly into a 80 housing.

Pat · Jan 27, 2008

Just because someone sells something doesn't mean you need to buy it.
You will probably break stuff from getting stuck dragging your gigantic center section across rocks- in other words most people don't think the huge loss of clearance is worth a small gain in strength.

TreeClimber · Jan 27, 2008

My project rig has D60 with 40 splined shafts. Detroit makes a 40 splined gear to accept the 40 splined shafts. Mosier builds the shafts in alloy. It takes a minute amount of machining to accept the bigger shafts into the carrier.

I sincerely doubt I can break the axles or the shafts.

Unless you're going to run 66 inch Michelin Agriculteral tires, I suggest you do the same as I.