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Minitubbed a-body Dana 60 length- whats yours?

Posted By: mshred

Minitubbed a-body Dana 60 length- whats yours? - 03/18/11 12:58 AM

I went out to measure for my Dana 60 today and I just want to see if im in the same range as others. I have 15x10 wheels with 3.5" of backspace on a 28x12.5 ET street. I shoved the tires up in the wells as far as possible, and tried to center them in the wheelwells and make sure they weren't sticking out front or back. I measured in a couple of spots from inside flange to inside flange of each wheel, and I came up with 49" each time. I just want to make sure im in the same ballpark as others with a similar setup before I go ahead and call up Cass to order my axles. This was done in the garage, not at a professional chassis shop, so im hoping im close to the average.

Please share what your overall axle lengths were if possible...thank you!


Matthew
Posted By: Chris2581

Re: Minitubbed a-body Dana 60 length- whats yours? - 03/18/11 01:16 AM

52.5" Dana from the old Direct Connection program.I use a 15x12 wheel with 6.5" back space.

Attached picture 6535359-demon.jpg
Posted By: justinp61

Re: Minitubbed a-body Dana 60 length- whats yours? - 03/18/11 01:29 AM

69 Dart,49 1/4" Dana and 15 X 10 with a 3 1/2" back space.
Posted By: toddd

Re: Minitubbed a-body Dana 60 length- whats yours? - 03/18/11 01:35 AM

I just checked...45"
Posted By: moparniac

Re: Minitubbed a-body Dana 60 length- whats yours? - 03/18/11 02:36 AM

I run 15*10s with a 3.5" backspace wheel... I'll post up tomorrow what my housing flange to flange is! I run disc brakes.... I'm thinking 49" sounds familiar but you just put your wheels in there with no rear and measure up...
Posted By: mshred

Re: Minitubbed a-body Dana 60 length- whats yours? - 03/18/11 03:49 AM

Quote:

69 Dart,49 1/4" Dana and 15 X 10 with a 3 1/2" back space.




that sounds about right and makes me feel comfortable lol
Posted By: mshred

Re: Minitubbed a-body Dana 60 length- whats yours? - 03/18/11 03:49 AM

Quote:

I just checked...45"




Todd, are you minitubbed with stock tubs and 15x10 wheels with 3.5" backspace? stock framerails? thats quite a bit less, just curious
Posted By: mshred

Re: Minitubbed a-body Dana 60 length- whats yours? - 03/18/11 03:51 AM

Quote:

I run 15*10s with a 3.5" backspace wheel... I'll post up tomorrow what my housing flange to flange is! I run disc brakes.... I'm thinking 49" sounds familiar but you just put your wheels in there with no rear and measure up...




when i saw the 49 on the measuring tape, it sounded familiar to me too, but i thought it would be safe to ask...even though its obviously going to be different for every car, i don't think it hurts to see what others ended up with.

Please do get back to me about the length, it would be very much appreciated

thanks all so far!
Posted By: bigtimeauto

Re: Minitubbed a-body Dana 60 length- whats yours? - 03/18/11 04:11 AM

Mine is 46.750 to the axle faces. 12 wheel 3" backspace. frame to quarter its tight!

aerospace brakes, and a 18th spacer to get it perfectly centered.
Posted By: toddd

Re: Minitubbed a-body Dana 60 length- whats yours? - 03/18/11 05:22 AM

Yes to everything Matt.
Posted By: mshred

Re: Minitubbed a-body Dana 60 length- whats yours? - 03/19/11 04:26 AM

Im just curious to know guys, are the measurements you guys giving from axle mounting flange to axle mounting flange? Does my spec sound too long/short?

I know every car is different, i just want to be sure before i cut this thing right. Also, the way I have measure is with the tires as high up in the wheel wells as possible, since i want that a low stance and figured id measure taking into account if the car goes over a bump/suspension travel to be on the safe side.

One other question i have for everyone- it seems that there is a ridge inside the tub which sticks out on the quarter panel side of the tubs (if that makes sense)...did you guys bang that lip away, or are you using after market tubs that eliminated that problem totally?

thanks for the help everyone!
Posted By: moparniac

Re: Minitubbed a-body Dana 60 length- whats yours? - 03/19/11 11:43 AM

Im gonna say since we have 71 abody they would be the same and we are running the same dimension wheel also...but what may matter for you is what type brake your gonna run out back.... for example you running a 10*2"wide drum brake or 11*3"wide drum brake? which some call mounting flange to flange... I am running discs! also the lip you are refering to yes I cut that in half and beat it over and tacked it up across the cut seam and I spread some epoxy across the cause I lowered my car and didnt want and rubs which I dont have any issues with that! my lips are also rolled and the trim is rolled also and I like the trim ... I run a 315/60/15 and it fits good!

let me go out now and get some measuremnets for you! I actually forgot cause I had a busy day yesterday helping a buddy put and engine in a falcon.... man was that tight and needed some mods


Posted By: moparniac

Re: Minitubbed a-body Dana 60 length- whats yours? - 03/19/11 12:51 PM

my HOUSING FLANGE TO FLANGE IS 44"
my AXEL FLANGE TO FLANGE IS 49.25"
add my disc rotors and OVERALL wheel mounting is 50"(some people call this drum to drum when using drum brakes)

My centering in the wheel housing is nice WITH THE BIG 315/60 RADIAL!



however id just put your wheels in there centered up in the wheel housing and measure from the inside of the wheel where it mounts to the same point on the other wheel and this will give your your total width needed and mathmattically figure it out to be sure
Posted By: mshred

Re: Minitubbed a-body Dana 60 length- whats yours? - 03/19/11 03:18 PM

Quote:

Im gonna say since we have 71 abody they would be the same and we are running the same dimension wheel also...but what may matter for you is what type brake your gonna run out back.... for example you running a 10*2"wide drum brake or 11*3"wide drum brake? which some call mounting flange to flange... I am running discs! also the lip you are refering to yes I cut that in half and beat it over and tacked it up across the cut seam and I spread some epoxy across the cause I lowered my car and didnt want and rubs which I dont have any issues with that! my lips are also rolled and the trim is rolled also and I like the trim ... I run a 315/60/15 and it fits good!

let me go out now and get some measuremnets for you! I actually forgot cause I had a busy day yesterday helping a buddy put and engine in a falcon.... man was that tight and needed some mods







Hey Sledge, thank you for all this info! I understand that the actual housing length will differ between setups. Im running the 11x3 drums, so my housing will probably be shorter from end to end. I was just curious to see how well I had my wheels centered in the wells measuring from the back to back of the rims where i had them

I really appreciate the measurements by the way Im going to call up Cass very soon to get my axles ordered so i can start narrowing this thing.

One other question I have for you is about cutting that inside lip to get tire clearance...did you do it before or after the car was painted? My car is already painted and my dad keeps saying let's beat that lip in (though we have tried and its quite stubborn) but i keep saying no for fear of damaging the panel and paint. Im assuming you used a cutoff wheel, bent it how you wanted, and then welded it up?

Id like to be able to fit a 28x13.5 et street in there (currently have the 28x 12.5) so im seriously considering modifying this lip if it won't ruin my paint and body

thanks for taking the time to measure for me
Posted By: HardcoreB

Re: Minitubbed a-body Dana 60 length- whats yours? - 03/19/11 03:59 PM

Because you are trying to fit for a maximum width tire...as has been mentioned, you must consider the entire assembly of components you're using. Obviously different rims, rotors or drums will stack-up differently. Also, the width rim you're using will alter the sidewall. And the sidewall is what you'll need to engineer clearence for. I would suggest error on the narrow side because, you may add spacers and/or you may upgrade to a alloy hat in the future. Sidebar-Sledge made me a good deal on these! TY

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Posted By: mshred

Re: Minitubbed a-body Dana 60 length- whats yours? - 03/19/11 04:33 PM

Quote:

Because you are trying to fit for a maximum width tire...as has been mentioned, you must consider the entire assembly of components you're using. Obviously different rims, rotors or drums will stack-up differently. Also, the width rim you're using will alter the sidewall. And the sidewall is what you'll need to engineer clearence for. I would suggest error on the narrow side because, you may add spacers and/or you may upgrade to a alloy hat in the future. Sidebar-Sledge made me a good deal on these! TY




thats exactly what I was thinking! I have the tires centered with the car slammed...with it at the rid height I want there will actually be more of a gap from the tire to outer lip than than the tire to frame gap. I figured I would do it this way so that if not happy I can always use spacers. I also figured when i go to weld the perches in i'll have a little bit of leeway as well to fine tune the adjustments

The measurement that I measured though is just from rim to rim. obviously the housing itself will be less with my huge brakes as well as axle stickout from the housing ends. I figure when I talk to Cass he will be able to help me with that stuff in calculating...is there anything that im leaving out?

thanks for the suggestions!
Posted By: clovis

Re: Minitubbed a-body Dana 60 length- whats yours? - 03/20/11 01:12 AM

Doing the same right now, only I am not mini-tubbed. I am using 10"/3.5 backspace rims. Total assembly width (mounting surface to mounting surface) was 54" and gave me about 1/2" to the springs. If I need more I will use spacers. You will need to know what brake package you are going to run as Cass will need that for the final axle length calculation. Some of the disk brake rotors are a little thicker than a drum.

The basic calulation for housing width is final width minus 2.4" per side (axle flange past the housing end), minus the rotors/drum thickness (+/-.250) per side, minus the backing plates/disc mounting brackets (+/- .125) side. The center section is about 17.5", so substract that from your number from the first set of calculations and divide by two, that is is your tube lengths. That's if you want equal length. A dana has I believe an 1 3/8 pinion offset.

As far as cutting the lip, stay inside the spot welds and mark your line with a piece of painters tape that you have stuck to something already to get as much tack off of it as you can. Use a body saw. You can get them at harbor freight for $10-12. Get a fine tooth (32) hack saw blade and cut off a portion the same length as the included blades, make sure you have the points of the blade facing the saw, so that it is cutting as it moves back to the saw. It took me about 6 minutes a side doing it like this. After that I hit it with a sanding wheel on a drill just to knock off the sharp edges.

Remember also that the Dana is an 1" longer than an 8 3/4.

If your thinking about disc brakes, I should be getting some prototype brackets and rotors from Cass next week. The brackets are bolt on and will allow the use of the GM metric brakes. So far it looks like the whole set-up (calipers/rotors/brackets/stainless steel flex lines) will be about $220 to my door.
Posted By: mshred

Re: Minitubbed a-body Dana 60 length- whats yours? - 03/20/11 01:34 AM

Quote:

Doing the same right now, only I am not mini-tubbed. I am using 10"/3.5 backspace rims. Total assembly width (mounting surface to mounting surface) was 54" and gave me about 1/2" to the springs. If I need more I will use spacers. You will need to know what brake package you are going to run as Cass will need that for the final axle length calculation. Some of the disk brake rotors are a little thicker than a drum.

The basic calulation for housing width is final width minus 2.4" per side (axle flange past the housing end), minus the rotors/drum thickness (+/-.250) per side, minus the backing plates/disc mounting brackets (+/- .125) side. The center section is about 17.5", so substract that from your number from the first set of calculations and divide by two, that is is your tube lengths. That's if you want equal length. A dana has I believe an 1 3/8 pinion offset.

As far as cutting the lip, stay inside the spot welds and mark your line with a piece of painters tape that you have stuck to something already to get as much tack off of it as you can. Use a body saw. You can get them at harbor freight for $10-12. Get a fine tooth (32) hack saw blade and cut off a portion the same length as the included blades, make sure you have the points of the blade facing the saw, so that it is cutting as it moves back to the saw. It took me about 6 minutes a side doing it like this. After that I hit it with a sanding wheel on a drill just to knock off the sharp edges.

Remember also that the Dana is an 1" longer than an 8 3/4.

If your thinking about disc brakes, I should be getting some prototype brackets and rotors from Cass next week. The brackets are bolt on and will allow the use of the GM metric brakes. So far it looks like the whole set-up (calipers/rotors/brackets/stainless steel flex lines) will be about $220 to my door.




Very good info! thank you

my brake package is going to be 11x3" drums, the biggest that came factory i believe

As far as cutting that lip goes, I have a few questions. The saw you listed seems essentially to be a sawzall (which I already have), or is it different? im assuming the sawzall can achieve the same result?

Also, after cutting the lip and grinding the edges smooth, did you have to bend both sides after the cutting up and out of the way? Or am I just picturing this totally wrong? I don't want to sound demanding, but pics seem to help me understand alot better, so if you have some that would be great

As far as the brakes go, right now im going to stay with the drums since I already have them and new brakes just aren't in the budget. It will be good to know though how they turn out for the future
Posted By: moparniac

Re: Minitubbed a-body Dana 60 length- whats yours? - 03/20/11 01:40 AM

considering im 3" from the housing flange to the actual mounting flange your measurements will be real close to mine....
Posted By: mshred

Re: Minitubbed a-body Dana 60 length- whats yours? - 03/20/11 01:43 AM

Quote:

considering im 3" from the housing flange to the actual mounting flange your measurements will be real close to mine....




sledge, did you do that mad to the lip inside the tub as well? was it done before or after paint, and how did you do it?
Posted By: moparniac

Re: Minitubbed a-body Dana 60 length- whats yours? - 03/20/11 01:53 AM

I use to have pics but I cut it in half horizontally the length of the "bulge" and beat it over with a BFH and then tack welded it up and then I spread epoxy across the seam and painted back over it...
Posted By: mshred

Re: Minitubbed a-body Dana 60 length- whats yours? - 03/20/11 01:54 AM

Quote:

I use to have pics but I cut it in half horizontally the length of the "bulge" and beat it over with a BFH and then tack welded it up and then I spread epoxy across the seam and painted back over it...




Im losing my mind, you already told me that before and I asked again lol

one more question lol...was it before or after you had it painted? I need to hear after so that I aint scared to go at mine now lol
Posted By: moparniac

Re: Minitubbed a-body Dana 60 length- whats yours? - 03/20/11 01:58 AM

my car was already painted! there is a gap between wheelhousing and the 1/4 panel! be careful though
Posted By: clovis

Re: Minitubbed a-body Dana 60 length- whats yours? - 03/20/11 02:57 AM

The body saw is much smaller and has a very small stroke so it is very easy to control. Remember also where you are cutting folds back over itself, it is like you are cutting the bottom off a "C". There is probably an inch of space.

Unfortunately, my car is not here. I will be reunited Saturday, so I will take some pictures for you then.

Attached picture 6539004-bodysaw.jpg
Posted By: mshred

Re: Minitubbed a-body Dana 60 length- whats yours? - 03/20/11 03:11 AM

Quote:

The body saw is much smaller and has a very small stroke so it is very easy to control. Remember also where you are cutting folds back over itself, it is like you are cutting the bottom off a "C". There is probably an inch of space.

Unfortunately, my car is not here. I will be reunited Saturday, so I will take some pictures for you then.




pics would be great! I really appreciate this!
Posted By: moparniac

Re: Minitubbed a-body Dana 60 length- whats yours? - 03/20/11 02:32 PM

FWIW I just used a dremel and some cutoff wheels and sliced across there ...
Posted By: Get-X

Re: Minitubbed a-body Dana 60 length- whats yours? - 03/20/11 02:43 PM

Don't try to use a sawz-all!! You'll make a big, expensive mess. Use a die grinder with a cut off disc, way more control.
Posted By: mshred

Re: Minitubbed a-body Dana 60 length- whats yours? - 03/20/11 02:53 PM

thanks for the heads up guys! Dremel with a cutoff disc it is then unless I can get my hands on something similar to that body saw
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