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You finally got that prized Dana 60 axle for
the front of your rig! You already have crossover steering
and you want to keep it. Will any of your current parts
work? What do you need to keep the setup you have?
Follow along as I convert project
RocKready from the 1/2 ton Dana 44 to the 1 ton
Dana 60 and keep the crossover steering. Please
Note: This is on a King Pin G.M. Dana 60 front
axle. There are ball joint Dana 60's
(Ford, or Dodge, Chevrolet never used ball joint Dana
60's) out there and this article DOES NOT deal
with the ball joint type Dana 60's.
If you
have already converted your current axle to crossover, this is not
going to be a major change for you, the Dana 60 is (in my opinion)
easier to swap to crossover than the Dana 44 or the G.M. 10
bolt. As far as the parts you can keep and use when swapping,
they are the drag link (it may need to be shortened, mine
did), the steering box, and your pitman arm (depending on which arm
you are currently using).
There are two
parts you will have to replace, with your drag link a possible
third. One is the steering arm on the axle (the Dana 60 one
has four studs to mount it and you don't have to have the knuckle
machined to put them on). The other is the tie rod (the Dana
60 tie rod assembly is shorter). If you have an aftermarket
tie rod setup, you may be able to shorten yours and have it
re-threaded. 
Passenger Dana 44 knuckle
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Passenger Dana 44 steering arm
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Passenger Dana 60 knuckle
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Dana 60 Studs and Nuts
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Dana 60 studs in and kingpin spring ready for
steering arm
Click for full size image |  Offroad Designs Dana 60 arm sitting on
passenger knuckle
Click for full size image |  Offroad Designs Dana 60 steering arm
installed
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Dana 60 steering arm installed with drag link and
grease fitting
Click for full size image |
Once the axle is swapped in, you have to get and
mount a new steering arm. There are quite a few out there to
choose from. I chose the Offroad
Designs D60 Crossover Steering arm. I chose this
particular Crossover Steering Arm for several reasons. It is
extremely thick and beefy. It comes with the King Pin Cap
welded on, eliminating the need for spacers. It's
tapered for the large G.M. tie rod end, where the drag link
attaches it has a 10 degree angle to compensate for the knuckles
slope where the arm attaches. Finally, it attaches using
the stock set of studs and nuts. It does not use bolts (this
was a big plus for me). The stock steering arm is attached to
the drivers side knuckle with studs and tapered nuts. This is
the best (in my humble opinion), not to mention strongest way to
mount the arm to the knuckle.
As for the studs and nuts, you have a couple of
options. You can remove the stock studs and reuse them on the
passenger knuckle. In the process swap the passenger side
king pin spring cap over to the drivers side and use its mounting
hardware. The other option (the one I choose) is to get a new
set of studs and nuts from G.M. I could not find a
replacement stud option, but the nuts are just lug nuts, so I got
four from a local auto parts store.
Once
the arm is mounted to the axle, it's time to address the drag link
and the tie rod assembly. On my drag link, from the Dana 44
Crossover that I had already done, I shortened and re-threaded
it for the Dana 60 crossover. It worked just fine. On
the tie rod assembly, the stock Dana 60 I had was toast, so I
placed a call to Rockstomper and got one of their
RockRods. These are super
beefy and add a substantially noticeable amount of strength and
durability to this part. They start out as a 1.25" .219 DOM
steel tubing, then fully sleeved with 1.5" .120 wall steel tube and
finally fully mig welded at both ends. (if you need a
new drag link, or possibly a custom bent one to help clear your
engine crossmember, both Rockstomper and Offroad
Designs can provide these)
On my
K5, I had originally used a pitman arm off of a Jeep Wrangler that
I had re-tapered for the large G.M. tie rod
ends
(**Note** I DO NOT Recommend
this)
. The Dana 60 crossover
steering arm is longer than the Dana 44 crossover steering arm,
therefore the pitman arm was too short to give me lock to lock
steering. I had to get a new pitman arm that was
longer. I got a Superlift pitman arm that was
originally intended for a Full size Ford solid axle
4x4. 
Pitman arm on the Dana 44 crossover that I originally
used
Click for full size image |  Superlift 1104 pitman arm I switched to
on the Dana 60 crossover
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Left side of unpainted RockstomperRockRod
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Right side of unpainted RockstomperRockRod
Click for full size image |  RockRod painted and installed on the
front of my K-5
Click for full size image |  RockRod after a nasty wheeling
trip. Only damage is some paint scrapes
Click for full size image |
That's about it. Not hard at all, as a
matter of fact, I think the Dana 60 Crossover is much easier to
deal with than the original conversion I did on the Dana 44.
Below is a list of part numbers and suppliers that I used for this
project. 1104 (Superlift does
not sell to the public, you will have to go through a reputable 4x4
shop, both Offroad Designs and
Rockstomper carry these arms)
U9001 Tie Rod-Rockstomper (call for applications)
1/2"x20 lug nuts)
00462855 |
Any questions or comments regarding this
article, please feel free to contact me
Glenn
depdog@off-road.com |