Ford LP60 Worth Building?

[Impact]

Hey Guys,

The owner said that it's a 79 F350 Dana 60... I went to take a look at the truck... King pins, open knuckles, disc brakes and a low pinion. I'm guessing that it's actually a 76-77 Dana 60 (60F stamped on diff housing). I believe these years also came with smaller u-joints.

I can't really seem to find any aftermarket support for this axle...
What about running gears and a locker (30-35 spline etc) from a rear 60?
How about then changing out the inner knuckles or grinding the inner part to accept larger u-joints? Then running 78-79 inner/outer shafts, spindles and hubs?

My goal is to have it fit under my TJ and be able to run the stock coil mount location.

Any thoughts???

[BlackYJ]

Any thoughts???

Anything can be done with a little imagination, welder and grinder 

[hps4evr]

if you're goin to that much trouble to mount a d60 under the front of your TJ, look for the 78-79 HP version. and, the inner and outer knuckles on the ford d60's seem to be known for cracking sooner then the chevy d60 knuckles. some people swap the chevy knuckles onto the ford housing. google the info you need, or try pirate4x4.com.

[cLAY]

HPs are over rated. If you are doing a custom build anyway you can rotate the pinion up to get a good driveshaft angle and rotate the outer "C's to keep your caster in spec. Having a lower pinion gives better clearance between the top of the pumpkin and oil pan.

HP have stronger gears as you aren't running on the backside of the gears but I don't see it being an issue with a 4.0L TJ.

[Bnine]

HPs are over rated. If you are doing a custom build anyway you can rotate the pinion up to get a good driveshaft angle and rotate the outer "C's to keep your caster in spec. Having a lower pinion gives better clearance between the top of the pumpkin and oil pan.

How would you ever be worrying about clearence between the pig and the oilpan, and what would it have to do with the pinion orientation? You'd honestly have to be doing something seriously wrong to get into the pan.

Here's a HP 9. The pinion is over an inch higher then one on a hp60




Personally I would never go through the effort and expense to put a 1 ton diff in front of a TJ and not do a high pinion.

Low pinions are weaker, have less clearence, and can reduce your travel.

Anything other then the longside ford will have to be re tubed/sleeved to accept stock spring mounts. Coil overs you can make it work, but the clearence to the frame will still be terrible.

Longer short sides also have stronger shafts.

Stock ford knuckles are known to be weak. 3 options. Plate and weld them, swap to chevs, buy after market.

[Impact]

How would you ever be worrying about clearence between the pig and the oilpan, and what would it have to do with the pinion orientation? You'd honestly have to be doing something seriously wrong to get into the pan.

Here's a HP 9. The pinion is over an inch higher then one on a hp60




Personally I would never go through the effort and expense to put a 1 ton diff in front of a TJ and not do a high pinion.

Low pinions are weaker, have less clearence, and can reduce your travel.

Anything other then the longside ford will have to be re tubed/sleeved to accept stock spring mounts. Coil overs you can make it work, but the clearence to the frame will still be terrible.

Longer short sides also have stronger shafts.

Stock ford knuckles are known to be weak. 3 options. Plate and weld them, swap to chevs, buy after market.

Your such a show off!!! LOL JK. Is that going under your TJ?
Long side Ford? Isn't  78-79 the longest short side?
Okay.... swap in chevy d60 knuckles and hubs... What about inner shafts? Can i use chevy d60 gears in it since it's a low pinion too?
Where I'm from it's almost impossible to find a 78-79 HP60! I figure if i can get this axle for $200ish then I should be okay, as long as I can figure out the shafts, gearing and etc.
Like i said my main goal is to use my stock coil location.

[cLAY]

Look like you TJ guys have a bit more room there than the XJ/ZJ crowd. On my XJ with the D30 I could flex it up enough to crush the exhaust down pipe. When I built my D44 I had to be careful on where to place the pumpkin to give enough clearance on flex. The LP D44 I ended up using was a lot easier to fit in than the HP D44 I started with.

On the V8 ZJs I've seen the oil pan dented in enough to hit the crank as it came around from the pinion coming up an contacting it. In fact my long arm actually has a funny offset to the driverès side upper arm for this reason.

With a stock 4.0l I just donèt see HP being a critical asset other than bling factor.

[hps4evr]

whats wrong with bling? lol!!! i think the other factor is just cause you have it doesnt mean you have to use it, maybe a v8 and 44" boggers are in his future? what all is there out there for this ford low pinion d60? could be too odd to waste energy on, thats all im saying. i do understand your point of view clay. im putting a hp60 in my yj and was wondering about clearnce on the topside. d60 are rather portly:)

[Impact]

I haven't been able to find any after market stuff specifically for the lp60... Maybe after combining and alot of gues work it could be a good axle... especially if you don't have the upper area for a HP compress into.
Here is a link to a built up LP60... But the owner bought the whole Jeep with it already in it and has no idea about really what was used ( axle specific) to build it.
It's got the same 60F stamped on it as the one I'm looking at...

http://pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=827880&highlight=

[Bnine]

As long as it is a standard 60 then any lp60 gears will work.

Yes the 78 ford stuff is the longest short side there is. If you really dont mind putting in the work you should be able to stretch your short side and cut down your long side to match a 78, then buy some inner shafts. Yukon replacement shafts for that model are pretty cheap. Not the best shaft on the market, but in a 35 spline with a stock 4.0, they should suffice.

Hi pinions have little to do with strength when dealing with 4.0's clay.

When you get into custom suspension and long travel, that is where they really come into play.

As soon as you flush mount your lower control arms, a lp driveshaft is the lowest link to the ground. Where as a HP is still protected by the arms.

Getting into 14 plus inches of travel, the difference of 2 inches of pinion height can be the difference between shaft bind, or no shaft bind at full travel.

At the end of the day a hp is stronger, proveides better clearence, is more reliable due to better clearence, and provides for more suspension travel.

All in all, they are just better.

Considering how much work it is to install a 1 ton axle into any wrangler I'd never recommend doing lp unless you absoutely had to.

That axle pictured has been running in my rig for a couple years now Impact. Im building a set of them for the wifes jeep currently. If you have the patience, you can peice by peice a 9" over time.

[Impact]

As long as it is a standard 60 then any lp60 gears will work.

Yes the 78 ford stuff is the longest short side there is. If you really dont mind putting in the work you should be able to stretch your short side and cut down your long side to match a 78, then buy some inner shafts. Yukon replacement shafts for that model are pretty cheap. Not the best shaft on the market, but in a 35 spline with a stock 4.0, they should suffice.

Hi pinions have little to do with strength when dealing with 4.0's clay.

When you get into custom suspension and long travel, that is where they really come into play.

As soon as you flush mount your lower control arms, a lp driveshaft is the lowest link to the ground. Where as a HP is still protected by the arms.

Getting into 14 plus inches of travel, the difference of 2 inches of pinion height can be the difference between shaft bind, or no shaft bind at full travel.

At the end of the day a hp is stronger, proveides better clearence, is more reliable due to better clearence, and provides for more suspension travel.

All in all, they are just better.

Considering how much work it is to install a 1 ton axle into any wrangler I'd never recommend doing lp unless you absoutely had to.

That axle pictured has been running in my rig for a couple years now Impact. Im building a set of them for the wifes jeep currently. If you have the patience, you can peice by peice a 9" over time.

Do you have any build threads on your 9" axle builds?
How much did you end up spending?
I think it's a rough start when you purchase a 79 HP60 for around a $1000... then have to make it work for your application... Another $1000...

[Bnine]

Here's the link to my build thread on Pirate.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=512789&highlight=rockjock+prorock

Money wise they were pretty expensive, but everything in them is top of line, garunteed for life type stuff.

[WhiteOut]

Here's the link to my build thread on Pirate.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=512789&highlight=rockjock+prorock

Money wise they were pretty expensive, but everything in them is top of line, garunteed for life type stuff.

I just spent all class reading that thread. All  I can say is