Dana 60 info and help

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kman521

kman521

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Need some help with a Dana 60 gear swap.

I have a Dana 60 from a 69 Charger in my Dart and I'm in the process of switching out the 3.54 gears to 4.10's.
The 4.10 gears are used Richmond gears.
I've set the pinion depth but when I mocked up the carrier I have at least 1/8" backspace and I can see that there are only maybe .030" shims under the passenger side bearing so even if I remove all those shims I will still be no where near the correct backspace. :banghead:
From what I've read I should be able to use up to 4.10 gears without using a ring gear spacer.
What am I missing?
dunno.gif


Thanks
 
uhhhggg... who makes the carrier? we go thru everytime... there is 2 series of carriers, a 3 and a 5. depending on which gear you a running you need one or the other, some of the Richmond gears now seem to be one or the other regardless of ratio...

summit shows the Richmond 4.10 being a series 4 carrier which I have no idea what that is... my guess is you need a spacer.

I would call doctordiff http://www.doctordiff.com/and see what he says
 
805moparkid said:
uhhhggg... who makes the carrier? we go thru everytime... there is 2 series of carriers, a 3 and a 5. depending on which gear you a running you need one or the other, some of the Richmond gears now seem to be one or the other regardless of ratio...

summit shows the Richmond 4.10 being a series 4 carrier which I have no idea what that is... my guess is you need a spacer.

I would call doctordiff http://www.doctordiff.com/and see what he says
Click to expand...

No idea who makes this carrier because there is no name on it and it was in the car when I bought it.
Apparently there are carrier series 3, 4 and 5 now.
I have a series 3 carrier which I identified this morning by info from a 4x4 web site that shows measuring it from the ring gear mounting surface to the outside of the carrier bearing. If it measures 2.225" it's a series 3 and if it measures 2.360 it's a series 4, no idea about the 5.
Richmond 4.10 gears must be odd because the series 3 carrier should support 4.10's without a spacer.
Anyway I ordered a spacer today.

Thanks,
 
kman521 said:
No idea who makes this carrier because there is no name on it and it was in the car when I bought it.
Apparently there are carrier series 3, 4 and 5 now.
I have a series 3 carrier which I identified this morning by info from a 4x4 web site that shows measuring it from the ring gear mounting surface to the outside of the carrier bearing. If it measures 2.225" it's a series 3 and if it measures 2.360 it's a series 4, no idea about the 5.
Richmond 4.10 gears must be odd because the series 3 carrier should support 4.10's without a spacer.
Anyway I ordered a spacer today.

Thanks,
Click to expand...

what was the thickness on the spacer? you only needed .125 thick right? I thought the spacers were thicker, more like .250?
 
805moparkid said:
what was the thickness on the spacer? you only needed .125 thick right? I thought the spacers were thicker, more like .250?
Click to expand...
The spacer is .160 but I do have shims on under the carrier bearing that I can remove if need be.
I never actually measured the bs but it's around 1/8", could be more but I know it's way out.
Approximately for every .010" of side movement the bs will change .007"
The spacer won't be in until Wednesday next week.
 
Sounds like you have the "thin" 4.10 conversion gear which is designed to fit 4.56 and lower carriers.
 
DoctorDiff said:
Sounds like you have the "thin" 4.10 conversion gear which is designed to fit 4.56 and lower carriers.
Click to expand...

Yes, since I bought these gears used I think that's the problem.
The guy I bought them off switched out these gears for 4.56's so that might be a clue that he had a 4.56 carrier. I had no idea at the time there were different size carriers for the Dana 60. Live and learn.
The .160 spacer should give me the adjustment I need, if not the 3.54's are going back in and I'll be selling the 4.10's to someone that can use them and buying the right ones for my carrier.
I'll find out next week.

I'm curious, do the spools for a Dana 60 come in different series and do they make a spool for the stock 23 spline axles?

Thanks,
 
Dana 60 rearends used 2 different carriers depending on the gear ratio.

3 series carriers fit 3.54, 3.73, 4.10 and 4.30 street gears.

5 series carriers fit 4.56 and lower gears, all pro gears regardless of ratio, and Richmond "thin" 4.10 street gears.
 
DoctorDiff said:
Dana 60 rearends used 2 different carriers depending on the gear ratio.

3 series carriers fit 3.54, 3.73, 4.10 and 4.30 street gears.

5 series carriers fit 4.56 and lower gears, all pro gears regardless of ratio, and Richmond "thin" 4.10 street gears.
Click to expand...

Any idea what the series 2 and 4 carriers listed on the Summit web site are?
:dontknow:
 
kman521 said:
Yes, since I bought these gears used I think that's the problem.
The guy I bought them off switched out these gears for 4.56's so that might be a clue that he had a 4.56 carrier. I had no idea at the time there were different size carriers for the Dana 60. Live and learn.
The .160 spacer should give me the adjustment I need, if not the 3.54's are going back in and I'll be selling the 4.10's to someone that can use them and buying the right ones for my carrier.
I'll find out next week.

I'm curious, do the spools for a Dana 60 come in different series and do they make a spool for the stock 23 spline axles?

Thanks,
Click to expand...

no such thing as 23 spline axles... 60's go by 30, 35, and 40 spline

kman521 said:
Any idea what the series 2 and 4 carriers listed on the Summit web site are?
:dontknow:
Click to expand...

they probably labelled them wrong
 
Yes, '66-'69 Mopar passenger car Dana 60 rearends came with 23 spline axles.

Richmond has never labeled the series of their Dana 60 gears correctly.

If a gear is labeled as "3 series", it should fit a carrier designed for 3.54 and 3.73 ratios.

If a gear is labeled as "5 series", it should fit a carrier designed for ratios like 5.13, 5.38 etc..

I avoid using the terminology "4 series" to avoid confusion associated with 4.10 and 4.30 ratios.
 
DoctorDiff said:
Yes, '66-'69 Mopar passenger car Dana 60 rearends came with 23 spline axles.

Richmond has never labeled the series of their Dana 60 gears correctly.

If a gear is labeled as "3 series", it should fit a carrier designed for 3.54 and 3.73 ratios.

If a gear is labeled as "5 series", it should fit a carrier designed for ratios like 5.13, 5.38 etc..

I avoid using the terminology "4 series" to avoid confusion associated with 4.10 and 4.30 ratios.
Click to expand...

Ok, thanks
 
Well the ring gear spacer arrived and the gears are in but the pattern is not exactly what I would call perfect.:sad1:
I have removed all the shims from the passenger side carrier bearing and I still have a bs of .012" which is right on the edge. The patten is the best I can get because if I better the pattern by moving the pinion towards the front of the car the bs gets too big. I've tried shims for the pinion from .025" to .045" and ended up with .035"
Maybe it's not ideal that I have a series 3 carrier with 4.10 Richmond gears that are not for that series and a ring gear spacer to compensate.

I've switched gears in my 8.8 a number of times 2.73, 3.27, 3.55 and 4.10's and have never had this much trouble but I have never used Richmond gears before or worked on a Dana 60.
 
Yep.... Dana 60's are a love hate relationship. they set up on the first time or they will fight you all the way. And the one I just did for my dart was a fight all the way. I have done ton of them and most of them have been a fight. the old man that showed me how to set a rear end up said it was like sex. In to deep and she will let you know about it not in far enough she will let you know in just right she will love you all the time.. think about it....
 

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Dr Diff, PM sent about the width of the Dana 60 spool vs the 8 3/4 spool. I want to switch from a 8 3/4 to a Dana and want to know if I can still use the 35 spline axles that are in my narrowed 8 3/4.
 
You can build an identical width Dana 60 with equal length axles and tubes. The resulting pinion offset will not be the same as your original rear, but It won't hurt anything.
 
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