Rear axle ID help
 

I just acquired a rear end and flat bed for a "spare parts" crewcab I am piecing together, and I could use some help in identifying it. I think its a Dana 70, but I'm not completely sure.

Bonus points if anyone can tell me what truck it came out of. I was wishfully thinking it would be nice to be able to just swap the whole suspension over as the frame is currently bare on the rear suspension.

As always, thanks everyone for all the help. Your collective knowledge is priceless.

Re: Rear axle ID help
 

GM liked to use Dana 70 axles for dually trucks of this vintage.
It has a Dana-ish look to it. Specifically the case spreader tool recesses and fill plug in the axle cover.

Re: Rear axle ID help
 

How many bolts are holding the diff cover on?
If it is a Dana, look on the casting..what it is will be cast into....like this..

Re: Rear axle ID help
 

Dana rear for sure .

Show us a pic of the axle flange were it bolt to the wheel hub .

What dia are the tubes ?

Can you wire wheel it and see if the stamped in B.O.M. # is still able to be read ? If so that can be searched for ALL its built for info .

And gm used them yes for WIDE drw trucks with a box and fiberglass flares . Cab & chassis got 14ff narrow drw axle .

Re: Rear axle ID help
 

I can't quite get to the whole thing as it sits, there is a fuel tank directly behind the housing. But I was able to get a few more pictures of the markings I can see as it sits. Also, the axle tubes are 3 1/2".

Anybody have any guesses yet on the make of the chassis? I suspect its a Ford, but I'm not positive. Its torch cut just ahead of the flat bed. I suppose judging from where I got it, it could even be bigger than a 1 ton. They had a pretty nice C50 at one point that I narrowly missed out on.

Re: Rear axle ID help
 

Judging by the brake drum flange--not GM pic of the lug nut area or not so close up of the frame area. BUT with the info provided a DANA 70B

Re: Rear axle ID help
 

possible ford frame .

as i asked and now another pics of lugnut / hub / axle area in the center of the rim .

and since its 3.5" dia tube its NOT a dana 70 HD from a gm DRW pickup / box fender flare truck .

Re: Rear axle ID help
 

this is 2 ways to id a dana axle . most are stamped in the tube someplace like the drawing pic .

the other in fords run a tag on the diff cover for years and years now .

once you find this STAMPED in or tag info NOT cast in #'s we can figure it out 99% :smoke:

Re: Rear axle ID help
 

Fresh pics to help you find info .

My dana 70 NON HDdrw from a gm camper late 70's

Bom stamped in tube . Wire brushed and yellow paint in numbers . If to rusty you wont find them .

Re: Rear axle ID help
 

Dana 70 NON HD brake flange gm axle . And same basic shape on 14ff .

Dodge late 90's 3/4 ton truck .

Gm 14ff c&c narrow axle pic to show bolt in pinion design of corporate 14 full float aka 14ff .

Your brake flange pattern reminds me of ford .

Re: Rear axle ID help
 

Thanks all for the help.

Tomorrow I will attempt find and uncover the B.O.M. #.

I did get a break in the rain long enough to get a few more overall pictures.

Re: Rear axle ID help
 

With those last pics, I'd say ford 70B

Re: Rear axle ID help
 

I got some numbers:

Stamped tag - "3.73 D8IA VA" ?
"60 3896-3" ?

Axle tube - "5 29 8C2 60 3896" ?

What about the springs, can I use the same springs and perches for a direct swap? I assume I'd need to get new shock mounts for the lower mounts. And I need hangers for the rear spring mounts, there are different offsets for these I believe? Does anyone have a source? LMC doesn't list anything for 1 tons. What about the DIY4X stuff? It's not really in the budget, but the eventual plan is a 4wd conversion and 6BT swap.

Re: Rear axle ID help
 

The main consideration is the distance between spring perches and whether the brake backers will clear the frame etc and the tires will clear with the current wheel backspacing.

If the spring perches will mate with the leaves in your truck you can likely play around with wheels to make it fit.

As you say the shock mounts are weld on pieces so no beg deal. For that matter you can grind off and weld on spring perches too. That's how they swap Ford 9" axles into anything they want to.

You will have Ford wheels and axle on the back of your GM so the next guy is going to scratch his head.

Re: Rear axle ID help
 

The frame I have does not have any rear-rear leaf spring hangers (or overload pads), what width perches should I be aiming for? The 2wd and 4wd are different? And the cab and chassis are different from either of those?

The ford wheels have a larger hub diameter, correct? If thats the case, can I use a ford wheel on the front, at least for the sake of one spare?

Sorry for all of the questions, I am trying to do this on a really tight budget and when I get started I will need to at least have a roller fairly quickly due to space concerns.

Thanks for all of the help so far.

Re: Rear axle ID help
 

Since you need the springs and hangars and you're on a shoestring budget.... One fairly easy option is to mount the Ford spring hangars on the GM frame.
If you go that route the distance between the inboard edges of the spring hangars is the only measurement that you'll need to worry about. It will need to match the distance across the outside of the frame rails.
You can move the perches inboard or maybe even a little outboard on the axle if needed... while being careful of your tire clearance to the spring pak and any other protruding hardware.

Is that off a school bus or F600 ish chassis?

Re: Rear axle ID help
 

I had considered that, my big concern would be exactly how to locate the rearmost hangers. Would they be placed with or without weight on the springs.
Also, this chassis may be a keeper for a larger project in the future and I don't want to go too crazy or irreversible.

The rear could definitely be from a F600-ish truck, it came from the remnants of a pretty big construction company.

Re: Rear axle ID help
 

The rear most hangers would need to be mounted with the same measurement from the front hangers that is on the donor frame

Re: Rear axle ID help
 

X2 on this info

And being a dana 70 its NOT a f600 rear cut off .

Re: Rear axle ID help
 

1978 F-350 1 Ton Pick-up, Dual Wheel

Re: Rear axle ID help
 

I have very little exposure to the Medium Duty F-series trucks of that vintage... what I had is long long long long ago :lol:
I asked the question because the frame just looks bigger than a full ton frame. Some 70's school buses have a double C-rail frame or what looked like it IIRC. I figured someone might know.