Topic: Dana 60 install '97 4Runner

[cougarfreak]

I have been running the stock Toyota 8" rearend in my 4Runner with 4.56 gears, and a Detroit Locker.  Back in 2005, I was Chasing a VORRA desert race in Hawthorne for my friend Oscar Lara #724.  We were prerunning the course with 5 guys total in the vehicle (includes me driving), and a full load of recovery gear in the back in case we were to get stuck, or broke.  There is an 8 mile or so section on the course that has 6 30' rollers that one can hit as fast as your vehicle can go...  we hit them at about 80mph.  It was like a roller coaster ride...  an absolute BLAST!!!!!  At the end of the section, I stopped to make sure everything was ok....  well, it wasn't.  I had installed airbumps in all 4 corners, but the rear housings I mistakenly only mounted 1/2 way up the frame.  The housing bent into the center of the frame cocking the air bumps off their pads, and rendering them useless.  I nursed it back to the pit area where I heated up the frame and moved the bump housings back to where they needed to be, then full frame gusseted both sides with some 0.250" angle iron.  That did the trick and I was back in business.  Unfortunately, Oscar's race didn't fare much better.  Oscar's motor caught fire from all the ATF fluid that was puking out his breather tube (faulty valve body) and ended his race 3 miles from finishing in 1st for his class.  The long term effects of this Roller coaster ride were bent axle tubes from the perches out.  this issue didn't rear it's ugly head until last year (2006) when my wheel bearings started making a terrible grinding noise on the way home from a Rubicon play day.  Time to ditch the 8"...


 I thought about a Diamond Axle housing, or a race 9",  but both would have set me back at least $3500.  I weighted my options, and $$$, and...  I sourced a Dana 60 rear axle from PnP out of a 1975 Ford F250 Hi-Boy.


The rear axle shafts were 16 splined (30 splined are much more desireable), but I was going to have to go with custom shafts anyway since I was cutting it down from 64"(stock width WMS-WMS) to 60.75" (Stock 3rd gen 4Runner 8" width).  I didn't keep it stock width because I didn't want to have to run spacers in the front to keep the track width proper.  The cost of having the axle tubes cut down and bored out to accept 35 splined axle shafts was not too bad, so I went that route.  I could have gone with dually hubs (They make the WMS-WMS narrower, but I'm not sure by how much), but I didn't want to make another trip to the junk yard to get those.  I also didn't want the hub sticking out too far, as I tend to smack them from time to time (found this out when I ran center cones in my rims and had to cut them out after deforming them on a wheeling trip).  So here's the list:

    * The diff cover is from Ruff Stuff and is 0.375" thick (that aughtta handle a good beating).
    * Axles are 1541 Chromolly 35 splined Yukon trim to fit.  They arrived 33.5" in length.
    * Rotors are '75 Chevy 3/4 ton fronts (lots of years use same rotors)
    * '76 Cadillac El Dorado brake calipers (parking brake)
    * Great Lakes Offroad's mounting brackets (Ford and Dodge are different)
    * Detroit Locker
    * 4.56 Yukon Gearset

Time to install!!!  I cut down the axle shafts.  This is what they looked like out of the box:


Time to trim...  Driver:


Passenger:


Trimmed an extra 0.120" each side and chamferred:



Looking good with 35's!!!


Set under the truck, 1.5deg angle pinion flange to the d-shaft to keep everything running without vibration:


Welded perches (I love using gas):


Time to Truss (No more bent housings for me!!!). 2"x4" 0.120 wall square tubing will be used. This will go on top of the axle. The axle tubes are beefy already with 0.50" wall, but I saw a Dodge in a desert race make a smiley face outta his front axle with the same tubes. If I bend this axle, there's going to be a lot more wrong with the rig than just bent axles!!! Let's not find out!!!!

[cougarfreak [OP]]

 Is "A" going to be better than "B"? Lighter, yes (I kinda threw lightweight rearend out the window when I decided to go with a D60), but will it justify the extra effort to get to "A"?

[topar]

  Looking good.  Those are some damn nice welds! 

[cougarfreak [OP]]

I thank you kindly... 

[DTB]

Looking good.  Those are some damn nice welds! 

i was gonna say the same..u using a tig welder?

[cougarfreak [OP]]

No, mig wire feed with argon on a Weldmark 135 plus...  Heat cranked to J, wire speed at about 4 out of 10.

[mudguts]

Cool thread dude 




 

[cougarfreak [OP]]

heat welding area with propane torch, 1" welds per session, each session welding each corner alternating sides and ends, working from outside :welder:in. 30 min cool down between each session. tack 2" square tubing (cut off and ground after final cool) to the bottom side of the axle tubes...    Hopefully weld it this week.

[Fearofrunner]

Good plans i like where this is going

[harley1615]

 :dunno:I was wondering if you could have made the Toyota rearend just as strong by installing a full floater and disk brake kit, build axle trusses, ect... And still be lighter in the rear?? Or does it equal out to be a Dana 60?

[cougarfreak [OP]]

I was at that point when I realized I had bent tubes.  I went thru the whole process of sourcing Supra calipers, an early 80's front end, obtaining FROR's axles and flange, Marlin's outter axle flange, I even had it with the 6pin mod.  I put it all together and when I slid the chunk in, I saw I had bent tubes...  I was seriously 20 minutes away from wheeling when that zinger was thrown at me (that was 6 months ago  ).  So I went thru all of the avenues I could think of to get a new axle housing.  TAP doesn't get any in that are straight (apparently it's an epidemic) and i was faced with a diamond that was pricey, and no one else i sourced had any 4Runner or early pickup axles available.    I also went thru the long education on the fact that a Tacoma rearend isn't the same as a 4Runner rear end (that little bit of education cost me about a month of build time, and $35 in shipping to send the non TRD Tacoma/Tundra rearend, mistakenly known as an 8.4" back to the parts place I bought it from).  For $1600 I have a stronger rear axle with all the goodies I'd have had to spend upwards of $3500 for a bombproof 8" and still had a borderline ring and pinion for the weight of my rig, and what I intend to do with it.  For a pickup, no problemmo with the 8".  With a 3rd gen 4Runner exoed, Sas'ed, and armored to the teeth...  I'm voting D60 (Well that's what I'm installing anyway)!!!!  I also am putting 4340 chromos in the D44 in front.  You might be ahead of the game in weight and clearance with the 8", but the strength and ability to rescue much larger vehicles (Which I do from time to time in Desert Races) with the larger ring n pinion are worth the install of the weight challenged d60, IMHO.

[kneedownnate]

I love this idea!  I was kinda thinking of doing the same but with a 9".  Housing probably isn't as strong, but the gears and shafts are very strong so I figured I'd be ok.  That and my friend's dad has narrowed 9"s successfully, even built one for a vw bug he trasnplanted a v8 in.  Lookin good man

[cougarfreak [OP]]

Thank you!!  I considered going 9", but a nodular 3rd put that price right back up with the built 8", and clearance wouldn't have been much better than the d60 after getting the pinion angle right.  d60 and 9" appeared to be within 0.25" of each other.

[cougarfreak [OP]]

Now I just gotta clean the axle and weld it!!!

[tom w.]

my brother is into desert racing, so it's cool to see some toy prerunners.

[cougarfreak [OP]]

VORRA, BITD, MORE, SCORE, SNORE?  Which Series?  Which class?

[tom w.]

he's just pit for a guy a couple times, and helped out at Black Market Fab in vegas. and i think the events he went to were SCORE.

[cougarfreak [OP]]

Sweet.  I'm going to do all the desert races in VORRA next year on my quad.  I have to gusset the frame first tho.  I love the desert!!!!

[tom w.]

actually, now that i think about it, he's done some races on his CRF250 too.

[Goose]

Man thats a beefy axle
about how much did the whole axle cost, ive been thinking about doing a d60, but cutting it down means those custom axles, and from ive seen it looks spendy... =/

Are you gonna end up cutting the holes in it, or leave it solid?

[cougarfreak [OP]]

No holes in the gusset. 
-$150 The axle PNP                                                         
-$300 cut axle down to 60.75" and broach for 35 splined Yukons   
-$100 Yukon 1541 chromolly trim to fit axle shafts               
-$200 4.56 gears Yukon
-$600 35 splined Detroit
-$138 Install kit
-$90 Toy pinion flange
-$100 Bearings races and seals
-$15 perches Parts Mike
Total=$1700

Much better on the pocket book than the $3500-$3800 I was looking into spending on a Diamond axle.

[cougarfreak [OP]]

I've been informed that I will be lucky not to have a bent axle welding only to one side of the tube, and that I should consider a small truss on the bottom side of the axle as well to even out the heat and shrinkage to both sides. I'm trying to avoid a bent axle here. If I'm going to be lucky NOT to have a bent axle after welding in this truss as I have it, I'm a fool for putting it in as it sits in the first place. Luck and I rarely get togther at the same time. For rock crawling, I soooo don't need it. But that's only part of the vehicle's designed adventures. I also want to be able to fly in the desert and dunes, and for that, I'm thinking I do need it. i know I can't have my cake and eat it too, but I wanna come close!!! Build it for the worst conditions in any one particular adventure without severely detracting from any other adventure. that's my philosophy.  Am I over thinking this?  Probably, but I don't like doing things twice, and I don't want bent tubes again!!!!

[harley1615]

You can weld your tubes first, then put temporary truss on bottom while welding both sides evenly. try to  keep everything close to the same temp. Just rember that your seals and bearings are reciving the same temps. i like to gut everything first, them put  it in a jig and weld away

[cougarfreak [OP]]

Thanks , I have some 1.5" 0.250 wall tubing I could use, and could gut it and put the old bearings in to hold the tubing where it needs to be.  would that work as a jig, or is it something more elaborate?

[cougarfreak [OP]]

Possible solutions include...  not trussing at all (get's me on the trail quicker, but worried), Trussing the back:


or the bottom:

[cougarfreak [OP]]

I am having serious thoughts of ditching this whole idea of trussing the axles and just not jumping the rig. The axles are only one area the jumping abuse will effect. I'm not racing it, and I rock crawl more than I run the desert. The reality of NOT needing trusses for mild desert running/chasing/prerunning, and certainly not rock crawling is very real. In reality my rig is more set up for rock crawling anyway with only 2.5" of uptravel in the front end. sure I could go more, but then it would be taller and th CG would be higher... I'm thinking I'm trying to go to an extreme that just isn't realistic for this rig. I'll build a 700 truck and jump it if I really need to jump something... or just use my quad... I do appreciate everyone's input, and thank you very much. I haven't given up yet, but I am considering it.

[86 4runner]

Time to Truss (No more bent housings for me!!!). 2"x4" 0.120 wall square tubing will be used. This will go on top of the axle. The axle tubes are beefy already with 0.50" wall, but I saw a Dodge in a desert race make a smiley face outta his front axle with the same tubes. If I bend this axle, there's going to be a lot more wrong with the rig than just bent axles!!! Let's not find out!!!!

heres one way to think of it maybe    the 4 Runner is lighter than the dodge, assuming your talking full size and not dakota and its narrored so theres not quite as much leverage for it to bend if that makes any sence.

im just pulling out of my ass, that i thought made sence so who knows, lol

[Goose]

Cougar, I too like desert racing, and rockcrawling. Somthing about pitching the back out around a big long curve in the middle of the desert just makes me smile...     I could see trussing it, cause bent tubes are definely no fun. In fact I was on the way up to my friends house friday, and as I was bouncing along his 9 mile long dirt drive way to the middle of narnia,  I started wondering how hard the potholes and massive washboard is at 50mph on my rear axle    His roads the closest thing i got to dirt racing unless i pack my ass up and head to Nevada, so I tend to have my fun, go fast, and get a lil' sideways... 
What kind of hard abuse did you put to the axle when you realized your tubes were bent?
Do you think some hard washboard could bend em?

[Rockcrawlintoy]

just weld and inch at a time and let cool completely. it will take a while but it will be ok. also if you can weld it in a jig it will be better

Drew

[cougarfreak [OP]]

IMHO whoops, yes, washboard, no, unless you're hitting your bumpstops.  That's when your axle sees the most force.  Coming down hard is the killer (and how many applications could you put that statement to?).  I made mention at the top, so I'll summarize here... Immagine yourself on a rollercoaster ride at your favorite theme park where you're not attached to the tracks.  Throw in an 8 mile section of 5 consecutive 30 foot floater jumps with 5 dudes in the rig at 80mph...  yup, that'd do it!!!!

Cougar, I too like desert racing, and rockcrawling. Somthing about pitching the back out around a big long curve in the middle of the desert just makes me smile...     I could see trussing it, cause bent tubes are definely no fun. In fact I was on the way up to my friends house friday, and as I was bouncing along his 9 mile long dirt drive way to the middle of narnia,  I started wondering how hard the potholes and massive washboard is at 50mph on my rear axle    His roads the closest thing i got to dirt racing unless i pack my ass up and head to Nevada, so I tend to have my fun, go fast, and get a lil' sideways... 
What kind of hard abuse did you put to the axle when you realized your tubes were bent?
Do you think some hard washboard could bend em?