Quote: a dana 30 was great for what it was designed for. a hemi car or a 440 six pack car is not a hd truck. ok I got you the nine inch was only good for a stock car but the dana 60 was good for cars ands hd trucks up to 4 tons. it look like the dana is better to me lol
UHM, no....the dana 30 was used in the front of AMC Jeep CJ's, Chrysler YJ's and TJ's and IHC Scouts, never in the rear. The Dana 35 was Used in the Rear of the Chrysler products, used C clips and was a piece of garbage that people swap out a Dana 44 for. The 44 was used in every half and some 3/4ton trucks ever sold in the US up until the mid-90's as an optional/available axle. The 60 was put in a few Mopar cars, Some 1/2 ton, most 3/4 ton and a few 1 ton truck from all of the manufacturers up until the mid 90's again. Dana 70's cam in 3/4 ton and up to 1.5 ton trucks....the 80 is even bigger...so while you may have the right idea, be sure of what you know.
I have been around 4x4 vehicles long enough to spot a dana pretty quick. Now an AAM that was put in a GM or Dodge...not so much. More options available for the Dana's to upgrade in the truck world. Most 60 truck internals interchange with the car 60, the only real differences were semi floating axle shafts (some jeep and ford 1/2 tons were semi float) and a mount for a pinion snubber. If you don't need the pinion snubber, then the truck housing will work and not cost a lot.
If someone wants to upgrade to Cromemoly tubes and weld them in, just press out the old and in with the new, then weld. I am personally more worried about the casting flexing than the tubes, but that is from my experience with them in the 4x4 world. a 3.5 inch .500 wall tube takes about 2k horsepower to start bending a tube, the gears would probably spit out long before then without upgrades. I also would build a dana with the Ford Torino ends, there are lost more options for production disc brakes and they were better bearings than came in any 83/4. A Ford 9 is a good axle but most only build them too run right at the edge of almost wanting to break because that is lighter. I run a dana because I never want it to break and don't care about the extra 15-30 lbs. Tim
We are talking about DRAG RACING, not off road 4x4s. And if you think it takes 2000hp to bend an unsupported 3.5" chromoly axle tube in a drag car, you are sorely mistaken. Has NOTHING to do with power anyway, has to do with TORQUE. In a drag car, while the strength of the center is obviously important to prevent flex and crashing gears, the NUMBER ONE MOST IMPORTANT thing is supporting the tube. I don't care how big a tube you press in that DANA center. You don't support it, you bend it. Period, end of story. And THAT is the reason banjo rears are the obvious choice for a serious race car. Because you can build a BETTER housing. And the lower pinion aside, that some people claim robs power, the 9" Ford is the obvious best choice for this type rear, BECAUSE the pinion is supported on both ends. This being the case, with good parts utilized, makes the center section virtually indestructible. Couple that with a well built housing and you have a rear that is under the baddest door cars on the planet
