HO52 to Dana 60 swap

[Sinister]

I was thinking that maybe in the far flung future I might want to swap my Eaton HO52 to a Dana 60. I have coils. Has anybody done this? Are they the same width? What about where the drive shaft connects to the pinion? I seem to remember the drive shaft on my '72 C-20 with a Dana connecting differently.

[Green Machine]

We are starting this swap right now on our 71 C20. Thought it would be a bolt in, but not exactly. Donor rear is from a 1972 Suburban, Big block, 3.54 posi.

You will need the track bar from the Dana, it has an angle on the end bushing to fit the Dana, try to get it with the rear. Eaton bar is too long anyway. A good welder could shorten and fix the bushing angle on the old bar if needed.

You will need a new brake hose with a tee, had to special order one from inline tube, I was not able to find stock one that fits. Mine will be 22 inches long.

You will need to check which brake cables to use. Dana is longer Eaton is shorter. I now think the ones on the Dana will work, but we haven't assembled that far yet.

And last but not least, you will need to have the driveshaft shortened about 1 inch approx, I'll take that measurement when it is all bolted up.

And (off topic) did anyone ever notice the the track bar mount on the frame of the C20 is made different and sits at a more straight angle than the C10 ?

There is no FAQ that I know of on this, had to figure this one out myself. Hope that helps. (blatant call for rep points !!!)

[Sinister]

Very informative, thanks.

[uncle]

Green Machine,I measured the trailing arms (same) and the e-brake bracket location on both the Dana and the Eaton today. They are the same on the 2 I have. I couldn't do the other measurements,because the Dana was out of the truck. Could it be that you have 1/2 trailing arms?

[Green Machine]

Uncle, thanks for the measurements and for the parts !!!

The parking brake cable thing I still am really not sure of. I measured the trailing arm on one of our C10s and the clip location is the same as the C20.

I thought I needed the shorter cables from the Eaton, because when I laid the cables from the Dana on the still assembled Eaton, they seemed to long. The Eaton cables do not tuck into the arms at the back very far. After thinking about this, I measured between the backing plates on the two rear ends and the Dana is about 1 1/2 inches wider between the backing plate, and if the cables tuck into the arms a little farther at the back, then it looks like I will need the longer cables that came with the Dana instead of the shorter Eaton ones.

I need to order new cables anyway, but looks like we will have to assemble before I can safely order new cables. I almost ordered shorter ones today, but I will wait. Thanks for the info, I hate ordering and returning wrong parts and doing things over.

I'll edit previous post to reflect the fact that I don't know which to use yet.

[Green Machine]

Update - Pic 1 - Had to make my own track bar from the Eaton shown at the bottom, bar from a Dana on top is laid directly over the newly made on. Maybe you can see the Dana bar has an angle at both ends that won't work. You can force it in but it twists the Sh** out of the bushings.

Now I looked at both of our half ton trucks and the frame bracket on them sits a little farther back and at an angle, that might have fit.

The old Eaton bar was straight welded on both ends but too long. So we had the springs out and lowered frame to ride height and centered the rear in the frame. Mounted old bar in the frame and marked angle and length. Sawed it off with a hacksaw, (nailed the angle !!) and a little fine tuning on the grinder it lined up perfect. Had it tack welded, trial fit was perfect, went back to welder and had it final welded.


Pic two - Here are the bars side by side, bottom is our newly made one, top is original Dana that was supposed to fit. You can see one the new one that the frame angle is straight, and the rear end angle is increased. No bushing binding at all with this one. Not noticeable is that the rear end bushing besides being more angled now, is that it is ever so slightly tipped up on the side that touchs the rear end to get all angles right. Also the new bar ended up just a little longer to center rear end.

Pic 3 - more problems - ordered new brake cables same length as came on the Dana, length is ok, but the two halves bolt together and there is no way that is going to happen. I will remove the metal cap and see if it gets more flexible.

Pic 4 - The old Dana brake line exited to the back - wrong direction for this deal. We will have to cut the tab off of the bracket and shorten it some and drill and tap a new hole for the rear line - line custom ordered from inline tube.

Pic 5 - Have to measue drive shaft for shortening - got some new parts to go in, 2 -280 high strength joints and a 232 plus the really cool (spendy) hanger bearing !!! Also shown is the custom brake line, and not shown is the new prop valve for the brakes, the old one was toast. This stuff is getting expensive fast !!!

[special-K]

Nice work.And either you`re patient or you have a few less hairs in your head.This is serious FAQs material here.Your R&D should be a benefit to all.
I have 3.54s in my`72 K2500 and it`s a decent hiway gear for a 3/4t.I`m wondering if combining with o/d would work out with oversize tires,like 35".I`m thinking no.It would be nice with closer to stock size,I believe.
What are you running tire and tranny wise?235/85 & TH350?

[Green Machine]

Right now we have 245/75/16 about 29-30 tall. My calcs say you should be running about 2100 @60, a .73 overdrive would drop that to 1500, plenty low imho. Our combo should be around 2400 @ 60 with TH350.

BTW - got the parking brake cables and brakes put on today. Had to use a grinder to remove the metal ferule from end then trim about 1 1/4 of the plastic cover to get them to work, seems ok now, can't complain to much, they were only $20 each, originals would cost much more.