dana 60 swap pics

[c00nhunterjoe]

Finished up my dana swap this past thursday. Maiden voyage was met with alot of childish laughter from me...lol. im very pleased. Still need new tires though. Going to swap my 275/60 drag radials for a pair of 29.5/9's.

The basic overview:  truck dana housing cut down. I narrowed approx 3/4" per side from factory width. Strange 35 spline spool, strange axles, 5/8 studs and 4.88 gears.  For the time being i also made a set of traction bars out of 1/8" thick 1 1/2 box. They work extremely well, although the drag radials still wont hold my car.

[charger1972]

That`s sweet ! You drive it on the street with a spool ? Must be fun around corners . 

[c00nhunterjoe]

That`s sweet ! You drive it on the street with a spool ? Must be fun around corners . 

Spools get a bad reputation. The car drives fine on the street. Its not a daily driver and i dont drive in rain (on purpose) and definatly not snow. she steers with no problem and i can take tight corners at slow speeds like anyone else. Tight turns it will audibly drag the inner tire on the turn but thats it. My belvedere had a spool as well with standard street tires and it was the same way although tight turns were very audible with loud chirps. But driveability was not compromised.

[charger1972]

Interesting , everyone is telling me my 8 3/4 isn't gonna live long when I switch to sticky tires . Was thinking of doing the same thing you did with a truck dana , so this is good info .

[charge69]

Looks like a job-well-done here but, 4.88 gears?  That sounds like a gear someone would use that runs 1/8th mile drags !!  You gotta be turning some serious RPM's at the "big-end" of a 1/4 mile track !

[c00nhunterjoe]

Interesting , everyone is telling me my 8 3/4 isn't gonna live long when I switch to sticky tires . Was thinking of doing the same thing you did with a truck dana , so this is good info .

Im putting a solid 380-400 flywheel hp down, and i destroyed axle shafts.... even the 30% stronger aftermarkets didnt hold up to sticky tires.

[c00nhunterjoe]

Looks like a job-well-done here but, 4.88 gears?  That sounds like a gear someone would use that runs 1/8th mile drags !!  You gotta be turning some serious RPM's at the "big-end" of a 1/4 mile track !

I had 4.30's before. With the 28" tire and 4.88's, my typical trap speed of 105 mph puts me at about 6200 rpm. My engine pulls hard to 6500 so im fine as it sits but i do want to switch to a 29.5" tire.

[charger1972]

Interesting , everyone is telling me my 8 3/4 isn't gonna live long when I switch to sticky tires . Was thinking of doing the same thing you did with a truck dana , so this is good info .

Im putting a solid 380-400 flywheel hp down, and i destroyed axle shafts.... even the 30% stronger aftermarkets didnt hold up to sticky tires.

Oh man , I definitely better upgrade .

[c00nhunterjoe]

Take note of the destroyed traction bars on the car too....lol

[charger1972]

Didn't notice before but , yeah , nice job . 

[Ghoste]

I don't know that I've ever seen a set bent like that.

[c00nhunterjoe]

I don't know that I've ever seen a set bent like that.

sticky track + sticky tires+  = bent and broken parts....lol. i didnt notice anything out of the ordinary on the street. i could tell after the 1st pass at the track that something bent. the drag radials wont hold the car on the road from a launch at any rpm that puts my cam into its powerband. even on the track they didnt hold, it spun them audibly on every shift. it was extremely well prepped, the big boys were in town so they were not skimping on the prep work. im getting a pair of bias tires to try as experiences have shown that radials dont like stick cars and bias stickies tend to hold better.

[charger1972]

I don't know that I've ever seen a set bent like that.

sticky track + sticky tires+  = bent and broken parts....lol. i didnt notice anything out of the ordinary on the street. i could tell after the 1st pass at the track that something bent. the drag radials wont hold the car on the road from a launch at any rpm that puts my cam into its powerband. even on the track they didnt hold, it spun them audibly on every shift. it was extremely well prepped, the big boys were in town so they were not skimping on the prep work. im getting a pair of bias tires to try as experiences have shown that radials dont like stick cars and bias stickies tend to hold better.

Someone else told me the same thing about the drag radials . Mine is a stick to , but don't really want to run a bias ply . Maybe a separate set of tires for the track ?   

[Ghoste]

Is that because of the stiff sidewall?

[c00nhunterjoe]

not so much the sidewall as the overall construction. you dont want a "loose" sidewall on our cars because they are so heavy. if the sidewalls wrinkle too much, then you will cut poor lights due to the wasted energy and motion spent into the tires instead of moving the car forward. drag radials and radial slicks dont seem to like stick cars and ladder bar cars because of that initial "hit" on the launch. i only ran the drag radials because i got a killer deal on them and figured i would give them a shot. they are way better then my standard bfg radial ta's were, but in no way hook like other bias tires i have ran in the past. for anyone interested in giving them a try on their cars, i found 22 psi gave me the best launches.

[charger1972]

not so much the sidewall as the overall construction. you dont want a "loose" sidewall on our cars because they are so heavy. if the sidewalls wrinkle too much, then you will cut poor lights due to the wasted energy and motion spent into the tires instead of moving the car forward. drag radials and radial slicks dont seem to like stick cars and ladder bar cars because of that initial "hit" on the launch. i only ran the drag radials because i got a killer deal on them and figured i would give them a shot. they are way better then my standard bfg radial ta's were, but in no way hook like other bias tires i have ran in the past. for anyone interested in giving them a try on their cars, i found 22 psi gave me the best launches.

Again , this is good info . The person that told me not to wast my time with drag radials didn't explain why . I have never been to the track but .... next year i`m planning to go .  And it`s an 1/8 mile track .

[c00nhunterjoe]

not so much the sidewall as the overall construction. you dont want a "loose" sidewall on our cars because they are so heavy. if the sidewalls wrinkle too much, then you will cut poor lights due to the wasted energy and motion spent into the tires instead of moving the car forward. drag radials and radial slicks dont seem to like stick cars and ladder bar cars because of that initial "hit" on the launch. i only ran the drag radials because i got a killer deal on them and figured i would give them a shot. they are way better then my standard bfg radial ta's were, but in no way hook like other bias tires i have ran in the past. for anyone interested in giving them a try on their cars, i found 22 psi gave me the best launches.

Again , this is good info . The person that told me not to wast my time with drag radials didn't explain why . I have never been to the track but .... next year i`m planning to go .  And it`s an 1/8 mile track .

To further elaborate on a previous post, just because the tire is dot approved, doesnt mean its good to go on the road. Dont be fooled by the ads. The drag radials are a race tire and if you read the fine print on their websites, you will find that most say the manufactures do not approve on road use. So buying a set of drag radials for the street, and a set of slicks for the track, is kindof a waste. If you have a stick car that you want to abuse, then upgrade the rear and driveshaft, then put a set of  mickey thompson et streets or hoosier quick times on it.

[charger1972]

Mickey Thompson`s were what i have been looking at . Like a 295 60 15 , have 295 50 15 right now and are a little to short .

[firefighter3931]

Nice work Joe ! 

Yep, the drag radials prefer a softer launch (automatic) vs a violent stick. Once the radial goes into wheel spin it won't stop....unlike a bias ply which can recover. 


Ron

[c00nhunterjoe]

Thanks, im looking forward to abusing it at the track some more. Not sure if i will make it this season or not. Should be picking up tires this week though.