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XJ Rear D60 Swap Questions

8K views 44 replies 13 participants last post by  fedx95 
#1 ·
1993 XJ 5.5" Lift 36" Military tires.

I busted my XJ D44 a few days ago. The pinion bearing went and locked up the driveshaft messing up a few things. I'm going to the junkyard and I could get an 8.25 or something else that requires custom fab. Im also running really narrow military tires with bushwacker fender flares meaning I was looking into getting wheel spacers as well as rims with less backspacing to get the wheels out.


My question:

Since I am doing an axle swap, why don't I go all out.
I am thinking of getting a rear dodge d60. Its about 7" wider which will put me on the width that I am looking for.
All I would need to do would be torch off the leaf spring mounts and reweld them to the correct width. I will also be getting rims obviously.
I might have to relocate the shock mounts and d60 yoke is the same as the 44 so my driveshaft should work assuming the length is alright.

Don't worry about the front thats something in progress as well.
Are their any flaws to my plan?
 
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#4 ·
It's a little big (the differential), but you will always have room to grow into. So if you're planning on bigger tires later, I would say go for it.
 
#5 ·
Make sure your rims will fit around the drums on the D60.

A standard rear D60 has 30 spline shafts, same as a D44. Only advantage is that it is full float.

Yokes are not the same. Dana 44 yokes are 26 spline. Dana 60's are 29.

The pinion side of the D60 will be much longer than the 44.

Good luck.
 
#26 ·
My 8.8 has 31 spline shafts, is spline count directly related to shaft diameter? Because it would seem the 8.8 shaft should be stronger (or at least larger) than the Dana 60 shaft.
 
#11 ·
Napa should have conversion u-joints, or just put a different yoke in your driveshaft. The 8.35 should be 1310, I think the 60 should be 1330 or 1350.
 
#29 ·
Thanks! I'll have to make a build thread now for sure.
Also, custom long arms, I already have the crossmember,
d60 front here I come lol.

Ill have to find someone with a chop saw. Also, once you cut it, how do you know the yoke is sitting perfectly square?
 
#19 ·
fedx95 said:
Yes, I forgot to mention this:

What's the rear spring perch width for a 1994-2002 dodge ram dana 60?
Why does it matter? The XJ springs are 2.5" wide and you need to put new perches on anyway
 
#20 ·
a ford 8.8 is a nice and easy upgrade. it has the 5x4.5 bolt pattern. easy to find an adaptor so you can use your current driveshaft (found in junkyards from other trucks). a bit of fab work for the spring perches and shock mounts is all that needs to be done, but many people weld the tubes to the housing including myself which is just a preventative measure.
 
#22 ·
I won't have to reqeld the perches . I have to cut a notch on the tips to let the ubolts fit. Same thing as the dodge guys do. I went and measurd the spring perch width and its identical (from a 1500). I'm going to try to do this without redoing the perches. If I have to bite the bullet I will .
 
#25 ·
The distance from the center of the axle tubes to the end of the pinion yoke on a Dana 60 is longer than on any stock XJ axle. You will need to make your drive shaft shorter to accommodate this. Your drive shaft has 1310 yokes on it. The Dana 60 probably has 1330 yokes on it. A D60 hangs at least a half inch lower than any XJ stock axle too.
 
#27 ·
foggybottombob said:
The distance from the center of the axle tubes to the end of the pinion yoke on a Dana 60 is longer than on any stock XJ axle. You will need to make your drive shaft shorter to accommodate this. Your drive shaft has 1310 yokes on it. The Dana 60 probably has 1330 yokes on it. A D60 hangs at least a half inch lower than any XJ stock axle too.
Yup. I was reading up on ways of shortening a driveshaft. So far all looks good except for cutting the tube perfectly square. I'm not sure how i will be able to do that.
 
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