Can anyone out there explain to me the differences between these diffs/axles?

I'm especially interested in the differences between the Dana 50 and Dana 60. I picked up some 4X4 magazine yesterday, and it seems everyone and his dog is using a Dana 60, but not a word about the Dana 50. My '02 has the Dana 60, my brother's '99 has the Dana 50, I'd just like to know the differences and advantages of the 60.

Thanks,

Waxy

 

The Dana 50 has a smaller ring gear than the Dana 60. The 60's is 9.75", I don't know the size of the 50 off the top of my head. I believe both have the same axle shafts of 1.5" 35 spline.
-Cope

97 F-350 PSD ZF 5 Speed 4x4

 

Another thing about the 50. Smaller ring gear and the axle shafts neck down to a 44 diameter. If you aren't putting huge tires on and mashing the throttle at full steering turns then either axle is plenty strong. The big thing about a Ford is the fact they are high pinion (reverse rotation) model. Puts the drive axle up higher. The rear Sterling is just a brutally strong full floating drive axle. Too big and heavy for most things besides a hauler.

 

I believe the Dana 60 is 9.75"
Dana 50 is 9.0" I think
Sterling is a 10.5" ring gear is just made by a different company and is roughly equivalent to Dana 70??
I am not sure about the Dana 44 but alot of serious off road jeeps use it. The jeep is very light.

 

The Dana 44 has a 8.5" ring gear diameter if I recall. It's about as tough as a Ford 8.8. These are on the front ends of F-150's and Light Duty F-250's. I got the short end of the deal however and somehow ended up with a 44 on my F-250 Heavy Duty anyway. This is a reliable axle on a full size as long as you're not mashing the throttle or into serious rock-crawling. I know a guy that ran 38" Swampers on his 44 for several years. For the last 2 years he's ran 44" Boggers on the 44. A couple of months ago he got his hands on a 60 and destroyed it the next week. Go figure. So as long as you're into going easy on it on the trail, a 44 is great if only for it's aftermarket support.
The 44 has a rediculous amount of aftermarket support, and the 60 has almost as much. The 10.5 is just now getting some cool doodads, and you can't find jack for a Dana 50.

The Law
1989 F-250 HD 4x4
460, C6, BW 13-56
Almost Stock

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 04-Sep-02 AT 11:52 PM (EST)]I am not completely sure about this, but I was under the impression that a Dana 50 had a 8.5" ring gear. I thought that the only difference between a 44 and a 50 was the housing strength. (And the fact that it is reverse cut, with Ford not using 44 fronts anymore, Dana is no longer producing the reverse cut version) The 50 does use the same shafts (1.31" 30 spline) and u-joints (Spicer 297x) as the 44. This would be the weak point of these two axles. You are never going to hurt one of these axles in the differential, especially in reverse cut form, before the shaft ears let go where they wrap the u-joints. Upgraded chome-moly shafts and the new CTM super joints (a direct replacement for the 297x, albiet an expensive one) will cure your weakness at the shaft, but then your weak point may become something within the diff. This is not necesarrily a good thing.

The Dana 60 is massive compared to the affore-mentioned. 9.75" ring gear, 1.5" 35 spline shafts, and Spicer 1310 series u-joints. In reverse cut form in the front of a Ford, with stock or thereabouts sized tires, you will have a VERY hard time breaking one of these.

I don't know a whole lot about the 10.5's. They use the same carrier as the old 10.25's, and they have 35 spline 1.5" shafts. This axle is comparable to a Dana 70. I do know this. If you break one, apologize to your truck, because you were doing something that you shaould have never been doing.



As a side note, spline count generally goes up with axle shaft diameter. The larger of a circumferential area, the more splines they can put into the shaft. Most people figure that a spline increase of 1 adds about 30% in strength.

Another side note. The Ford 8.8 is often compared to the Dana 44, but it is a much stronger axle. The increase in ring gear diameter of .3" plus the addition of .01" of shaft diameter and one extra spline to engage the carrier make for some serious beef when they are all put together. Not to mention the fact that the 8.8 shafts neck up to 1.6+" near the flange end of the shaft. The only real weaknesses in the 8.8 (considering that it is a 1/2 ton axle) are the carriers and the bearing caps. The bearing caps are known to flex a little under high torque loads, but aftermarket cover plates are available that will preload the bearing caps and eliminate this... they are fairly cheap as well. The carriers are known as a weka point (if you see how much metal is removed from the trac lok carrier you will fall over) but just get a Detroit Locker and forget about it An 8.8 is unbelievable, especially when you compare it to that hunk of crap 10 bolt found under Chevy 1/2 tons.

Last side note. The holy grail for axle builders is the American Axle 14 Bolt that is found under Chevy Heavy Duty 3/4 and 1 tons. (sorry guys) It has a 10.5" gear, and 1.5" 28 spline shafts. For some reason these things are indestructable. The only problem is that you need to bolt a caster wheel on the bottom if you are going to use them on a 4x4. (they hang a little low) Then again, there is always the grinder...

sorry about the long post

 

>The Dana 44 has a 8.5" ring gear diameter if I recall. It's
>about as tough as a Ford 8.8. These are on the front ends
>of F-150's and Light Duty F-250's.


The 8.8 on the front of the 150 and ld 250 are reverse cut differential only versions that are made to work with the IFS. I am pretty sure that the diff housing is aluminum as well. I can't see where the carrier and bearing design would be the same as the rear axle version.

 

>If you break one, apologize to your truck, because you were doing >something that you should have never been doing.

Vader1, LMAO

Thanks for the excellent post.

Waxy.

 

 

do f-250 HDs come with a 50 or a 60?

 

error, error, error.

 

im trying to figure out if a 410 gear will fit on a carrier with a 355 on it its a dana 44 front axle

 

in a hp44 you could use a thick gear and keep the carrier you have. i think the carrier breaks a 3.73 and down... if you buying or building axles be very careful. a dana 60 can fetch a great deal of cash. a dana 61 will look almost the exact same and be just about unusable. there also is a dana 71. you will be able to tell a dana50 from a 60 pretty easily. as far as the ford trucks go. if you have a 97 or older ifs (ttb) 4x4 you have either a dana 44 or a dana 50. if you have a solid axle and a f350 can be 99% sure you have a dana 60

 

easy way to Identify a 44 from a 50 is the lock out hub diameter. a 50 is bigger than a 44, by a lot.

 

F250 HD's like the one in your Avatar (91-97) used a Dana 50. A Twin-Trac Beam version of it anyway. An F350 of this vintage would have a solid axle Dana 60. The 99-02 Super Dutys (F250/350/Excursion) used Dana 50's with the exception of the F350 dually which got a 60. The '03 and up Super Dutys used Dana 60's, while the Excursion retained the 50 until it was discontinued after the '05 model year.