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Old 06-18-2021, 07:46 PM   #1
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Picked up my Dana60 in Oklahoma City

Rented a cargo van yesterday and drove to Oklahoma City to pick up a late model Dana 60 axle for my 4x4 conversion. Holy cow, this thing weighs everybit of 600 pounds. It was an absolute nightmare to get it out of the back of that van without a forklift. I thought somebody was going to end up with a broken legs or a crushed foot before it was over.

The axle has 56,000 original miles, payed $900 for it and its complete. They even unplugged all of the wiring instead of butchering it like most salvage yards do. I gave up on finding a lower mileage unit locally. The drive was miserable in a home depot rental van
Course i didnt tell them i was going to be loading a 600 pound truck axle in their van. I just said i was going to Okalahoma to pickup some kitchen cabinets.

Im just glad it didnt shift on the way home and cave the side of that van outwards. Would been hard to explain that away by saying a cabinet shifted.

So now i have everything needed to complete the swap except new coil springs. Gonna see if ford can get me an OEM pair based on the VIN.

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Old 06-18-2021, 10:06 PM   #2
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Since i was unable to find any specifications in regards to the Ford F-350 Dually dana 60 when i was trying to research online, here are some basic measurements i have taken so far today before my back started hurting and i had to call it quits for the day after unloading it. This unit is from a 2006 Ford F-350 dually.

Dually wheel adapter measures 4" inches from the rotor mounting surface to the wheel mounting surface.

The bearing hub lug pattern is 8x170mm, however the wheel lug pattern on the dually adapter is 8x200mm.

The rotor measures 4" inches from the back side of the rotor to the front mounting surface of the rotor.

The distance between the back side of one rotor to the other is 63.5 inches for a total overall width of 79.5" inches WMS to WMS, that includes the dually adapters.

Just a quick two second observation it appears the caliper and rotor combined measures about 15" inches across. Im hoping once i have custom dually adapters machined my current 16" inch ALCOA wheels will clear the brakes. I was expecting the caliper and rotor to be more in the neighborhood of 16" inches. But i will have to do some more measuring when im not so tired.

The axle is in really nice condition, even the paper stickers are still on the axle tubes, but it does have a few spots i might touch up with some paint.

Does anyone have suggestions as whats best for painting an axle? Something that will actually stick and not come off in three months?

If you guys were converting a dually cutaway to 4x4 would you try to retain your existing fancy smancy 16" Alcoa wheels by having new 8x6.5 dually adapters machined from forged steel or would you retain the 8x200mm pattern and run the larger 17" ford dually pickup wheels? If i keep the 8x200 pattern on the front that means i will have to pull one of the rear axle bearing hubs and send it to the machinest and have him build a pair of 8x200mm forged steel bearing hubs for the rear axle. I dont want to mess with trying to swap out the rear axle on this thing. Dually wheels for the Ford pickups are pretty limited selection in 17", even though they arent totally ugly, they arent near as nice looking as the Alcoas.

Regardless, i will still need to have new front dually adapters machined for it because they need to be right about 3" inches not 4". Also if i have rear bearing hubs machined for it to use the 8x200 pattern, they will have to move the wheel flange portion outward on the hub to compensate for the deeper ford pickup wheel offset/back spacing.

Alcoa makes a wheel for the F-350 dually, but the smallest diameter is 19.5" and i dont want that big of a wheel on my rig, plus a good 19.5" tire is over $400 each.

The 17" inch dually pickup wheels look like the ones in these pictures... The one in the middle is a dually with the Alcoa wheels.
There simply is not anything else available for them in 17" with 8x200mm other than standard steel wheels.

The more i look at the F-350 wheels the more they grow on me. Just not sure how they would look on a Van. What do you guys think? The picture in the middle obviously has Alcoa's just for comparison purposes.
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Old 06-19-2021, 03:53 AM   #3
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Awesome. I know a lot of people like using POR-15 on undercarriages.
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Old 06-19-2021, 04:48 AM   #4
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I have read some mixed reviews on POR-15 that left some serious doubts about the product in my mind. Not saying its good or bad myself because i have never tried it. But when i read post after post on Mustang and Chevelle forums about how it flakes off and changes color, im just not willing to risk doing the job twice because i didnt listen to my gut feelings.

I suppose it has its place if a persons axle is coated with rust from one end to the other, but this axle only has a couple of spots from sitting stored on a pallet since it was yanked from the truck. I was thinking some type of actual chassis paint in a spray can maybe? I know when i look at used vehicles at the local car dealers , the frames always look spic and span fresh and new when i glance in the wheel wells at the frame. But when you get underneath and start looking around you can clearly see they have just sprayed the frame and components with some sort of paint to freshin things up. Anyone have any idea what they use?
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Old 06-19-2021, 10:39 AM   #5
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You might consider getting slightly heavier front coils. With the added weight of the new axle the increased inertia will use more suspension for the same size bump compared to the 2wd front end.

It's my understanding the POR15 can chip badly (because it's so hard) when driven on gravel roads, so painting the axles on a truck or van doesn't always work out. I have had good luck with Eastwood chassis products.

You might look at other years of dually Fords for different wheel spacers that may fit your needs better. I believe the 99 to 04 use 16" wheels but the brakes got bigger in 05. I don't think your 16" wheels will fit, especially if you move them in an inch.
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Old 06-19-2021, 10:43 AM   #6
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Not what the used car lots use (which is usually whatever cheap black spray bomb they can get their hands on) but you might want to give Steel-it a look: https://steel-it.com/products/polyurethane-aerosol
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Old 06-19-2021, 11:54 AM   #7
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Originally Posted by ScrapIron View Post
Course i didnt tell them i was going to be loading a 600 pound truck axle in their van. I just said i was going to Okalahoma to pickup some kitchen cabinets.

I've always wanted Full Float kitchen cabinets in the rear of my van.

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Old 06-19-2021, 04:15 PM   #8
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You might consider getting slightly heavier front coils. With the added weight of the new axle the increased inertia will use more suspension for the same size bump compared to the 2wd front end.

It's my understanding the POR15 can chip badly (because it's so hard) when driven on gravel roads, so painting the axles on a truck or van doesn't always work out. I have had good luck with Eastwood chassis products.

You might look at other years of dually Fords for different wheel spacers that may fit your needs better. I believe the 99 to 04 use 16" wheels but the brakes got bigger in 05. I don't think your 16" wheels will fit, especially if you move them in an inch.
The 99-04 trucks used the 8x170mm lug pattern with 16" wheels (not that you couldnt find larger wheels with the 170mm pattern), that said they wouldnt be a solution to the issue im facing. All the vans use the old 8x6.5" pattern.
The only real solution i see is having new front dually adapters machined with the 8x6.5 pattern.

If the 16" wheels wont clear the brake caliper then the only option is retaining the 8x200mm adapters and having rear bearing hubs machined using the 8x200mm pattern and centerbore diameter. But they would also have to relocate the lug flange on the bearing hub to accomodate the backspacing of the ford pickup wheels so the tires dont rub on the leaf springs.

I can get front dually adapters machined from forged steel for right at $500 a pair. But the rear bearing hubs would require a bit more labor and design time. Just guessing i would be into the custom rear hubs for $1000 bucks a pair.

Im not certain yet what the exact backspacing is on the Ford F-350 dually wheels because i have been unable to locate that information online. I know all the specs on my 16" Alcoa wheels, just cant find info on the 05+ 17" pickup dually wheels. I will most likely have to call a salvage yard and have them measure one for me.

Heres a rear bearing hub from a full floater axle to help visualize...

As far as the coil springs go, i have spoken with Tim at Timberline since im using his kit and we discussed springs specifically. Since its his kit and he is familiar with its characteristics i have to go with his recommendation as a starting point.
Not saying youre incorrect, but i have to have a starting point. Once its drivable again i can gauge the ride from there and make changes if needed.
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Dana 80 Hub #2.jpg   Dana 80 Hub #4.jpg   Dana 80 Hub #3.jpg   2007 E-Series coil springs.jpg   springs.png  

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Old 06-20-2021, 12:52 PM   #9
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Oh man, this is terrible, i think i may have picked up lice at the motel i stayed in when i was in Oklahoma. Anyone know anything about them and what they look like?
I have found four little tiny white bugs crawling on my arm at different times during the night while i was trying to goto sleep. Now just thinking about it i start itching and everytime i feel a hair on my arm move i start looking for a bug.
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Old 06-20-2021, 08:13 PM   #10
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Oh man, this is terrible, i think i may have picked up lice at the motel i stayed in when i was in Oklahoma. .

I hope they aren't, but likely they are bed bugs, and now you have brought them home. There hard to get rid of, so you better do some research and start immediately.

As for painting the frame and diff, I don't know what you hope to accomplish, but every fall I get under my van and do touch up on spots that are starting to rust, and I just use Rustolium. Winter roads are really harsh on everything. If there's slightly more than surface rust I brush on a rust converter first. I did the same to the full float I just installed, and after just one trip, it looks just like the entire under carriage. It's not rusted but very dirty, so no matter how nice of a job I could do, it would never show.
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