This is THE WORST axle to work on. Dana 60 swap on ‘97 F250

[@THE-SHOP]

Nice job on the video I just did this swap a little while ago 🤙🏼

[@jnlgarage]

Cool!

[@IronDragonSC]

makes me miss my 97 ccsb, would love to have one with a Powerstroke.

[@jnlgarage]

We love ours. It’s a limited so pretty rare. We have never seen another one like it. It came with factory leather. The short boxes are harder to find.

[@glennkemp7450]

Ford tried to transfer the durability and ride of the original twin I beam front axle, used on two wheel drives up until 1979 (they still used a twin I beam but a worse design starting in 1980) onto their four wheel drive trucks all in an effort to appease the customer looking for a better ride. solid axles had a reputation for rough ride back then. They definitely rode better on the 150s and Broncos but the 250s rode just as bad and they were all plagued with parts wear, loose bolts, cracking and tire wear. (check your frame behind the steering box) I made a lot of money working on them through the 80s and 90s so in that sense I would call them the best axles to work on. Good on you for doing all that by hand, they're bad enough with the aid of air tools and a torch.

[@Fifty8Rag]

That said and with your experience, is it worth swapping for a solid axle or better off rebuilding the original TTB? Thanks

[@glennkemp7450]

@@Fifty8Rag If your truck is mainly used on the pavement and not constantly hauling heavy loads I'd stick with the independent front end. I currently have a 1995 f250 4x4 (independent) with a 460, I mainly use it for towing and it rarely sees the gravel. I've replaced ball joints, tie rod ends and inner pivot bushings over the last 10 or so years but nothing out of the ordinary. If you are going to rebuild your TTB/Independent front axle have a close look at the mounting points for the inner pivot mounts, cross member to frame rail and steering box mounting bolt holes. Those are the most common problem areas. If you're going to run big tires, lift your truck, use it off road then definitely go with the solid axle, they can definitely take more abuse. Personally I prefer the king pin design over the ball joint design because they lasted forever. I replaced thousands of ball joints over the years but rarely had to rebuild king pins. That said, solid axle trucks still have issues with the frame cracking behind the steering box and cross members working loose.

[@daaye2x]

what year dana 60 did you put in. i’m trying to tackle this project myself and any help would be great 👍🏽

[@jnlgarage]

96. A dana 60 from 94.5-97 will bolt right in. 88-94 will require you to put the brakes on from that year range because they are fixed to the axle with wedges not bolts. 99-04 will require you to swap to superduty leafs and a shackle reverse kit because the leaf perched on those years are slightly wider.

[@daaye2x]

@@jnlgarage sweet i didn’t know that i appreciate it