[Rory McNeil]

[QUOTE=Dwight Southerland


Recently, I was helping to build a Dana 60 for a friend and he had an opportunity to buy a brand new empty housing. Out of curiosity, I weighed the housing when he brought it to me and then weighed an empty 12 bolt '67 Chevelle housing in my shop. There was only 12 lbs difference.[/QUOTE]
Agreed, when I switched my bracket car from an automatic to a Jerico 4 speed, I felt the 9" I had would marginal without replacing just about everything. Pricing it all out, it was cheaper to build a new Dana 60 that upgrade my 9". So before I sold the 9", I weighed it. And when it was finished, we weighed the Dana 60, The Dana was only 6 lbs heavier. AND, that was with the 9" having 33 spline axles, a factory Ford N case, and an early non braced housing. The Dana had 35 spline axles, and was a truck housing with thick axle tubes. I`m sure if I would have braced the 9" , bought a Strange iron case, plus bigger 35 spline axles, the weight would have been about identical. Both rear ends were the same width, and used the same brakes. I know the 9" could have been lighter with an aluminum case, but that would have added more cost. And in 15 years since the change, the Dana gears still look mint. I have never raced a car with a 8 3/4, but I do know many guys who have, and it seems most of them have dealt with broken gear sets for years, before biting the bullet, and switching to a Dana, or a 9" if legal. The only downside to a Dana 60 is ratio selection and availability in the steeper ratios, but I don`t know that the 8 3/4 is any better in that regard. I think the mindset that the Dana 60 is terribly heavy is when in a street car, the limited slip unit is about 40 lbs, but a Dana spool is about the same weight as a 8 3/4 or 9" spool. A drop out rear like a 8 3/4 or 9" is nice if you have extra chunks already setup with different ratios.