Every time this discussion starts, the first thing guys start harping on, is the fact that a Ford will cost "twice" as much and that is simply NOT true. They will always conveniently compare prices of a junkyard Dana to a Mark Williams Ford or some such nonsense. The bottom line, is that done correctly, the Ford should cost you MAYBE a couple hundred bucks more.
So brakes, axles, spools, lockers, gears, bearings, etc are a wash. They all cost the same, regardless of the rear you choose. So that leaves any price difference in the housing and center section itself. If you are junkyard scrounging, a truck Dana will likely cost you a little more than a cheapo 9" housing. You will need then both narrowed, a back brace on the Ford and new ends for the Dana. Probably a wash in the end. If you DID find a pass car Dana, you would likely pay high..............So lets move to the aftermarket. If you get an S-60 or something similar, that bare housing WILL cost you more than a backbraced Ford housing from Moser, Currie, etc. Then on the center itself, guys look up a complete center from Mark Williams and see it can cost over two grand. Yep, it sure can, but that is not what you NEED. You can buy a nodular iron center for around $300 if you shop around. A decent pinion support for about a $100. So you have approx. $400 in the Ford center with no internals. We look back at the S-60 housing, that cost a couple hundred more than the Currie(or whatever) housing and there is your couple hundred bucks more to build the Ford. HARDLY double as many claim.
Brad has brakes and wants to use them.........not a problem. Mopar ends on the Ford or two new caliper brackets. Problem solved.
As already pointed out, even fairly low powered cars can bend housings, so if you go the Dana route you are going to have try and do something to brace up the housing = added cost. Everybody already knows that back bracing a Ford is a must, which is true, but they look at the Dana......it's big, it's beefy, which is all true, but mistakenly think it's bullet proof because it's big. But that is the CENTER, NOT the tubes. I don't care if it is a truck rear with .250 wall tubes. If the car in question NEEDS a backbraced Ford housing. that SAME car WILL bend a Dana.......period.
