Dana 60 questions

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1973Barracuda

1973Barracuda

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Emailed Dr Diff with a few questions, but have had no response. Ordering a Dana 60, is there any reason to go with other than 1/2 x 2 studs on a street car? there were quite a few options. Also, for a street car, Trac Lok is the best choice, correct?

Last, any input on gear ratio suggestions I would appreciate. Building a 73 Barracuda with a 6.1, a41, Dana, 245/45/17 tires. Thinking 3.73 after getting advice from a few guys, figured I would poll the audience one last time before spending this money.

Thanks

Jason
 
Dr. Diff is slow response but they do return emails.
As for gear ratio- that depends on what you are going to do with the car.
3.73 with a short tire and it is an animal out of the hole
3.73 with a tall tire and she's a real dog to get going.
What is the ratio of the transmission gears. What speed and rpm do you want to end up with.
There are plenty of calculators on line to tell you what you want to know but pick a place and then go.
If you ask everyone here where to go on vacation then you will get 500 answers.
Only you can decide what you want. once you decide then you can ask how to get there.
Good luck.
Joe
 
1973Barracuda said:
Emailed Dr Diff with a few questions, but have had no response. Ordering a Dana 60, is there any reason to go with other than 1/2 x 2 studs on a street car? there were quite a few options. Also, for a street car, Trac Lok is the best choice, correct?

Last, any input on gear ratio suggestions I would appreciate. Building a 73 Barracuda with a 6.1, a41, Dana, 245/45/17 tires. Thinking 3.73 after getting advice from a few guys, figured I would poll the audience one last time before spending this money.

Thanks

Jason
Click to expand...

Edit:
I forgot to mention, just call and talk to Cass. He's a great guy and will spend the time to help you out.

II I remember correctly, those are the studs I got. I also got the disk breaks he offers to go with it. I went with 4.10 gearing because I am taking the car to sears point as well as usinng it as a daily driver.

The only time I ca go fast on the street around here is my early morning commute, annd that's only for 13 miles at about 70mph, so 4k rpm isn't enough to be tiresome.

I am running 255/61/15 tires on the rear. (best I can do without a mini-tub) and I am concerned about the M/T sportsman st tires sticking. I'll probably need to get some of their DOT slicks in that size.

Suspension replacement is on my to do list, but it's still about a year out.

I got the tru-track, it's great on the street.
 
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Thanks to all with the responses.

Street car. May go to the drags rarely. the tires are 25 inches. I did the rpm calculator, My rpms at 70 will be 2400 ish. The engine is a stock 6.1, I have tried to talk to as many people as possible about where the engine is happy, and of course I had many different answers.

the a41 ratios are 3.06, 1.63, 1.0, .70

Want to be able to do some distance without being worn-out from the gears. If that makes sense.
 
I always use 3 inch studs with thick flanged aluminum wheels.
 
Syleng1 said:
Dr. Diff is slow response but they do return emails.
As for gear ratio- that depends on what you are going to do with the car.
3.73 with a short tire and it is an animal out of the hole
3.73 with a tall tire and she's a real dog to get going.
What is the ratio of the transmission gears. What speed and rpm do you want to end up with.
There are plenty of calculators on line to tell you what you want to know but pick a place and then go.
If you ask everyone here where to go on vacation then you will get 500 answers.
Only you can decide what you want. once you decide then you can ask how to get there.
Good luck.
Joe
Click to expand...

I run a dana 60 w/ 3:73 and a Detroit locker, 30" tall, drag radials, rear disc brakes, 1" narrower than stock A body length. Not a dog at all w/ over 700 horses, and I can drive it on the 4 lane as well. It slides sideways till the drag radials get hot , then hooks up, "if left in drive" , it shifts about the time they get hot, which doesn`t take real long. Ditto on the 3" studs ,
Would I like to take a trip in it? NO !
 
If you are ordering a new S60 rearend then Cass will most likely tell you to step up to the Strange helical gear differential. Did you look at the ordering form on the Strange website? If not you should walk thru the option list. I just ordered a new S60 rearend and I went with the helical differential, I had the longer Ford wheel studs installed, I went with the billet pinion yoke so I can run a speed sensor and I went with 3.23 gears since I wanted a little overdrive out back. My five speed transmission has a super low first gear and then 5th gear is 1:1 so I wanted a higher rear end ratio.

I'm not sure what rear end gears I'd order with your trans. I suppose I'd research the cars that that transmission came in to see what the factory guys did. 3.73 wouldn't be a bad choice but the final ratio will be pretty high with that 0.70 overdrive. I might go with a 3.91 gear ratio but it all depends. I run a 28 inch tire with the 3.23 gears so we might not be that different but I haven't calculated it out.
 
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in the above post you stated you went with a 3.23 gear in the S60 you ordered --- is that a mistake as 3.23 gears are not available for the Dana 60 --- only 8 ratios available i see at Strange and Doctor Diff is 3.54 , 3.73 , 4.10 and up numerically .
 
In my Strange S60 I went with 3.73 gears with a Detroit locker. The Passon 5 speed has a .70 overdrive. I have 315/35/17 tires in the back, 25.79" diameter. I hope my ratios will be okay.
 
Thanks again to all.

I have been thru the website and went thru all the options.

I cannot call Cass as I am in Afghanistan.

With the 3.73 rear I am going to see around 2400 rpm at 70. Speaking with a friend who has a Charger, he says he cruises around 2000 or so.
 
Unfortunately, the only E-mail I received concerning your '73 Barracuda does not mention a specific question about an S-60 rearend. See below:

Dr Diff, looking for some advice on this purchase. I have a 73 Barracuda, 6.1 hemi going in it. I am considering a b body instead of an e body rear. Reason being if I ever want wider tires than what I have(245/45/17) I can. Planning on using spacers for now with those tires. Also looking for stud length advice. I assume stock length will be fine for this application.

Hi Jason,

You can install a '66-'70 B-body 8.75" rearend into an E-body with my 1" offset spring/hanger shackle kit.
I'm not a fan of wheel spacers, but you can buy a set on eBay that fit your original lug studs.

Thanks,

Cass
 
To answer your specific questions in this thread:

Unless you want to try a set of my prototype 3.23 Dana 60 gears, since you are running a short 25" tire and a low 3.09 first gear, I recommend a 3.54 ratio.

I recommend the S-Trac helical differential, as it is super smooth, quiet and good to 1000 HP.

I also recommend 2" wheel studs, because the 3" version will not fit a common wheel spacer as mentioned in your E-mail.

An S-60 assembly is custom built, so you can choose the ideal width. This depends on your wheel width and backspacing, however. For example, a 10" wide wheel with 5" backspacing fits a '65-'67 B-body width (54.25") housing and my 1" offset spring hanger/shackle kit when installed in an E-body. I can alter this once I know your wheel dimensions.

See below for options and pricing:

Strange S-60 for Mopar, Ford, Chevy/GM

Thanks,

Cass
 
john-9 said:
in the above post you stated you went with a 3.23 gear in the S60 you ordered --- is that a mistake as 3.23 gears are not available for the Dana 60 --- only 8 ratios available i see at Strange and Doctor Diff is 3.54 , 3.73 , 4.10 and up numerically .
Click to expand...

No not a mistake. I ordered one of the first set of 3.23 gears available from Doctor Diff. The car isn't running yet, might be a few more weeks before I have it back on the ground. Lots of little details to sort out......
 
I don’t see 3:23’s on his site for a Dana 60.
 
3.23 Dana 60 gears are in the prototype stage. I only have 1 more set until the production run is completed in the next year.
 
What are they going to cost? I assume they also fit the 3 series carrier?
 
I will probably retail 3.23 Dana 60 gears at $200 set.

They fit a standard 3-series carrier.
 
Are these new gears really 3.23 gears or 3.33 gears (used in Ford PUs - 50/15 teeth)?
Anyways, is the left over set still available (and/or an original 3.33 gear set)?
 
These are new 3.23 gears I'm having made.
The prototypes are for testing purposes prior to the production run.
 
Can someone explain how a wheel spacer works with 2" wheel studs but not with 3" wheel studs. Just curious,thanks.
 
Most THICK wheel spacers like the OP mentioned are made with 1 set of studs installed and an additional set of holes offset from the studs. 3" studs do not work with this type of wheel spacer because they are too long.
 
DoctorDiff said:
Unfortunately, the only E-mail I received concerning your '73 Barracuda does not mention a specific question about an S-60 rearend. See below:

Dr Diff, looking for some advice on this purchase. I have a 73 Barracuda, 6.1 hemi going in it. I am considering a b body instead of an e body rear. Reason being if I ever want wider tires than what I have(245/45/17) I can. Planning on using spacers for now with those tires. Also looking for stud length advice. I assume stock length will be fine for this application.

Hi Jason,

You can install a '66-'70 B-body 8.75" rearend into an E-body with my 1" offset spring/hanger shackle kit.
I'm not a fan of wheel spacers, but you can buy a set on eBay that fit your original lug studs.

Thanks,

Cass
Click to expand...

Cass, thanks for the reply. And you are correct, somehow I did not mention S60 in the email.

I do not see on the website the cost of the helical gears. But am interested.

I was thinking spacers as my rims will are not too wide(BS is fine) but if I change it up I can go wider. I understand you don't like spacers, do they were components quicker?

Anyway, can you PM me some info on those gears(unable to call for the next 3-4 weeks)?

Thanks again for getting back with me.

Jason

Actually, I will send you an email, just saw it on a post.
 
Thanks for the reply! Sounds more like wheel adaptors. Too thick for me. Thanks again!
 
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