By -October 19, 2002Dana50 IFS stock F-250Dana 60 Frontin F-250The ‘donated’ Dana60 out for a cleaning.IFS Front axle removed,time to get the grinder out.A – Location of protrudingbracket AFTER being ground down. B rivets holding bracket to framecross member.A – The bracket as viewedfrom the drivers side, after being ground down. (Click image for largerview).Axle positioned undertruck, u-bolts finger tight, looking good!Why can’t I make it upthis slope?
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Actually I did but only with generous amounts of throttle.The solution to all theproblems: a locked, 4.56 geared, 35' swamper pushing Dana 60.ProcedureFirst a donor vehicle with a Dana 60 mustbe found, look for 1986 and up F-350 trucks, see backgroundfor more information. To the left is the Dana 60 with hubs, spindlesand axle shafts removed.Before you startA complete rebuild of the Dana 60 is recommended, however if the gear ratio iswhat you need and you do not plan to run a Detroit locker the rebuild processis greatly simplified. Before removing the old differential jackthe truck up so that there is no weight on the front wheels, note the amountof travel of the front driveshaft.
Now compress the springs as muchas possible, note the travel of the driveshaft. Measure the distancefrom the center of the spring pad to the yoke on the differential, you’llneed a straight edge perpendicular to the yoke. With the vehicleweight on front (wheels on ground) disconnect the drive shaft at the diffand measure how much the drive shaft compresses relative to the axle pinionyoke. Save these numbers for later to determine if you need to haveyour driveshaft shorten / lengthened.
I had to have mine shortenedone inch. If the driveshaft is too long it could jam into the transfercase causing major damage. At this time also note the clearance betweenthe driveshaft and the transmission cross member with all the weight ofthe vehicle off the front wheels.
To do this jack up the truck andplace jack stands under the frame, after lowering the front wheels shouldstill be off the ground, if not you’ll have to jack it up higher.The Dana 60 sits lower than the IFS front, you may need to add a spacerbetween the cross member and transmission to maintain driveshaft clearanceif using the original driveshaft. More on this later.Removing the old axleAfter rebuilding the Dana 60 remove theold Dana 50/44, steering linkage and sway bar.
For a quick and dirtyremoval just pop the pitman arm to tie rod joint and leave the rest ofthe steering linkage attached to the axle, this makes it a bit harder tomaneuver when removing the diff and you may end up separating the two half’sanyway (possibly ruining the axle seal in the process) but it is quicker.If you think you may want to reuse or sell the axle than follow the procedurein the Haynes manual, which is to remove one half at a time. Thecross member bolts and nuts were metric (sizes 18 and 21) on my ’91.You do NOT need to remove the front calipers if you have the Dana 50 front(maybe true for Dana 44 HD, check first), as they are the same as the calipersused on the Dana 60.Once the old IFS axle is removed you’llhave to remove the cross member to axle brackets to make room for the Dana60. There were two brackets which unbolted and came off with no problems.A third, on the drivers side, is riveted and bolted to the frame near theengine mount. It also appears to provide structural support to theengine mount. You may wish to grind down the rivets and remove thebracket altogether, however we felt it best to leave it in place and grinddown the part that would interfere with the Dana 60, see the followingpictures. But if you do this you can’t go back, so understand theconsequences before getting out the grinder.Once the cross member has been preparedyou’ll need to remove the pitman arm from the steering box since the pitmanarm is different for the Dana 60 than for an IFS steering linkage.The socket required to remove the nut holding the pitman arm on is largerthan found in most 1/2' drive socket sets, so you’ll need a 3/4' drivesocket set as well, you’ll also need the same 3/4' socket set for rebuildingthe axle.
After removing the nut you’ll need a puller to removethe arm. Some auto parts stores will rent or loan (Lisle loan a tool)a pitman arm puller. Canadian Tire loans the tool in Canada.You may need to remove the steering box to do this, but if using the propertool you should be able to do it on the truck.
Attempts with a wimpy2 jaw puller will require removal of the gear box, and probably a brokenvise or stripped puller its much easier with the right tool. Alternativelyif you remove the steering box with pitman arm attached you can take itdown to your local Ford dealer and ask one of the mechanics to impact itoff (they have a special tool), for 10 bucks or so. If they are nicethey may even do it for free.Next you may need to grind down the leafspring center bolts. Measure how far they protrude from the bottomof the leaf, then measure the distance from the spring pad to axle housingon the Dana 60, through the hole where the center bolt goes.
If thebolt protrudes farther than the space between the spring pad to axle you’llneed to grind down the spring center bolts. I had to take about a1/4' off each bolt. Don’t take off too much or your axle wont centercorrectly on the springs.Installing the new axleIf you have rebuilt your axle it is easierto leave the axles/hubs off until the axle is underneath the truck andbolted into place. If you need new u bolts the Dana 60 uses the samelength as the old IFS axle.Place the Dana 60 on a jack and positionit under the springs. With the help of a friend center the axle onthe leaf springs, and start the u bolts/nuts.
Tighten the nuts tospecified torque.Once the axle is firmly in place put theaxles back in and assemble the spindles and hubs.I did not get the sway bar and sway barbrackets when I purchased the Dana 60, if you did now is a good time toinstall them. My F-250 only has the little 302, we figured that Iprobably wont see much body roll given how stiff the front springs are.I am going to try it out without the sway bar and decide if it is needed.An added benefit is that I’ll gain some extra articulation with the swaybar removed.If you choose to replace any of the tierods make sure to count the number of turns when removing the old rods,and put the new rods in with the same amount of turns. If you dothis you are more than likely to have the alignment close to spec.Straight axles can be aligned by the home mechanic, with the weight ofthe vehicle on the wheels, put a small pin (to hook your tape measure too)in each front tire, at the front of the tire, measure the distance betweenthe pins, roll the truck backwards, until the pins are 180 degrees fromthe first measurement.
Now measure the distance between the pins,this will give you the amount of toe in or toe out. You can thenloosen off the tie rod sleeve and rotate the sleeve the desired amountto adjust the toe in. Or pay the $50 bucks and take it to an alignmentshop when done.If reusing your IFS front driveshaft youmust check for proper driveshaft length (do not attach the driveshaft tothe front diff yet) measure the distance from the center of the springpad to the yoke on the axle pinion, using a straight edge perpendicularto the yoke, next with the weight of the vehicle on the wheels, measurehow much the drive shaft can compress relative to the axle pinion yoke.Compare the numbers with those measured with the old axle.
We foundthat the yoke on the Dana 60 was an inch further back than the yoke onthe Dana 50, requiring the drive shaft to be shortened one inch.You must also check the driveshaft to transmission cross member clearance.We found that at full axle drop (jack stands under frame, wheels off ground)I only had about 1/4' of clearance, this may be OK for most ‘normal’ drivers,it didn’t give me a good feeling. A good hard landing and the driveshaftmay meet the cross member. I make a up a 3/8' spacer (1/4' was probablymore than enough but I had 3/8') out of a 3' by 5' piece of aluminum, withtwo 9/16' holes drilled in it. The spacer was placed between themount and cross member (with a coating of never seize to prevent corrosion).Once you have the driveshaft installedyour done, if you rebuilt the front diffmake sure to follow the break in procedure or all your hard work will beruined. However you may notice something odd with the rear to front track.Have fun.More,.