Dana 60 gear issues

[Jim Hawkins]

Thanks for all the replies and PM's.
The housing in this car is braced by tubing welded from the housing end on each side to the front of the carrier by the seal. Also bottom of carrier to each ladder bar bracket. Has steel cap on left side and light steel MW spool. Still has tin cover but may replace that. After looking at the ring gear again may try and set up pattern a little deeper on new gears as teeth must be bending to tighten up like this. Also my super secret clutch guru (former multi stock world champ, Indy winner, likes green race cars) has advised me toward a different clutch tune which may help.

[Dwight Southerland]

If you are not having the gears treated, you are missing a step that can greatly increase gear life.

[Bobby DiDomenico]

Been a while since I looked at one. Do they have a rear support option with the 12 bolt gear sets in the Ford 9" centers?

[Mike Taylor 3601]

Originally Posted by Bobby DiDomenico

Been a while since I looked at one. Do they have a rear support option with the 12 bolt gear sets in the Ford 9" centers?

Don't think they do.

[D. Hake 4459]

I have been looking for Dana 60 gears and it seems almost all of them are made offshore. According to Dana Spicer's web site their gears are made in the U.S.A. so I will probably get a set of 5.13's and see how it goes. I don't think they are like pro gears used to be. If I have time I may get them cryo'd and polished. That should help them live. I'm not sure how they would last in a Super Stock application but it might be worth a try. http://www.dennysdriveshaft.com/c872...gear_sets.html

[V M Kauffman]

One of the big mistakes that guys do so to take the preload out of the Dana case because it a pain when setting up rear. You want to preload to keep the ring grear from moving away from the pinion!

[Lou Jeffery]

Originally Posted by V M Kauffman

One of the big mistakes that guys do so to take the preload out of the Dana case because it a pain when setting up rear. You want to preload to keep the ring grear from moving away from the pinion!

I totally agree with Mr.Kauffman. No matter what type of gears or where they are made, there must be enough diff bearing preload or all your efforts are for nothing. In my opinion, If you can remove and reinstall the spool or diff without a case spreader you do not have enough preload.