Dana 60 Question

[kystroker7.3]

Looking into doing a dana 60 swap and want to know which is better king pin style or ball joint? Thanks Lance

 

[Bobby@cp]

That depends on you ask......

 

[kystroker7.3]

??? I didn't know if one was better than the other

 

[Bobby@cp]

What Im saying is that some people will say balljoint axles are better, others will say that kingpin are better. Both are better than the ttb axle so you cant go wrong with either one.

 

[Bugman]

It is all personal opinion. Some like king pin and some like the ball joint.

But usually determining which one you use is in which one you can find. Either one should be rebuilt before you put it into your truck.

 

[kystroker7.3]

Ok thanks for the input I have access to both and do plan on doing a rebuild beforehand Thanks

 

[Addicted4]

Ball joints wear out where the kinp pins dont as often. Ball joints looking at every couple years depending on tire size and truck use.

King pins have wheel bearings that have to be setup but dont go bad often usually can just grease and go.

Ball joints have unit bearings which are expensive but bolt on and go, sealed so no grease to deal with.

Look at price differene would be the factor for myself, but i like ball joints and unit bearings. Easy to find, cheaper, and unit bearings bolt on they dont have to be setup

 

[PsRumors]

Ball joints wear out where the kinp pins dont as often. Ball joints looking at every couple years depending on tire size and truck use.

King pins have wheel bearings that have to be setup but dont go bad often usually can just grease and go.

Ball joints have unit bearings which are expensive but bolt on and go, sealed so no grease to deal with.

Look at price differene would be the factor for myself, but i like ball joints and unit bearings. Easy to find, cheaper, and unit bearings bolt on they dont have to be setup

Huh?

For the OBS trucks the D60 ball joint or king pin both have conventional wheel bearings. It wasn't until 99 did the D60 get sealed bearings.

As for the BJ wearing out every two years, ain't true either. The BJs last quite sometime, its all in how you treat them but you should gear years of service.

The same goes for king pins, as long as they are treated right should give years of service but if you beat on 'em they too can wear out.

I bet for 90% of the people out their and the way they use their trucks a rebuilt d60 with good parts will last 100k miles regardless if it is a BJ or KP axle.

 

[Addicted4]

thats my mistake i was thinking superduty not obs thanks for the correction

 

[old man dave]

If you use the ball joint D-60 then you can reuse your D-60 rotors and stuff.

 

[kadeninabnitt]

If you use the ball joint D-60 then you can reuse your D-60 rotors and stuff.

dont you mean reuse d-50 stuff? the rotors will swap to a kingpin as well as far as i know d60 kp and bj use the same hub and spindle. ive had both under my truck. as for the op i would go with the ball joint easier to work on imo and unless your gonna go big on the lift and need a high steer setup it should be just fine. not saying you cant go high steer with ball joint just alot cheaper with kp.

 

[1ofakind79]

95-97 balljoint dana 60s use a bigger rotor than the early balljoint axles. The early balljoint axle rotor is the same size as a kingpin rotor. If the axle has the bolt on style caliper brackets it uses the bigger style rotor and caliper. This also applys for the d50 from 95-97.

 

[Lamont_24]

People say king pins are stronger, a lot of offroad people like them. They also usually cost more to purchase unless you find someone that doesn't know what they have. Like at the junkyard I bought a king pin for 250 bucks with good steering and everything but sold it to a friend who had a need for it. So I would go with what one you can get cheaper. I've also heard king pins are a pain to service

 

[woodduck97]

I plan to do a 60 swap in mine but the truck I am getting the stuff off of I dont want to use his springs cause they ride so bad. Also does others notice one tire stick out farther then another?

 

[JCart]

I have had both and I like the kingpin bearing design set up, only had to grease it on my 90 and 91 F350s never changed them out just greased em. I however HATED the slide pin style brake callipers because as they wore the calliper would clunk...clunk...clunk on every bump in the road (finally made some shims) and that was a fix sorta.

The balljoints will wear out even if you grease em..... the bolt type calliper is much nicer I think. From my perspective a bit of a trade off... would be nice to have the best of both Kingpin with bolt type callipers....

jrc

 

[JoeDaddy]

That depends on you ask......

Yep, some are under the impression that a wobbly ball and socket are superior to the solid KP. LOL

 

[m j]

KP has a nice solid tapered bearing on the bottom...not so solid plastic cone with a weak spring on the top. KP will flop around more then the BJ
I have both styles here, for this application the BJ is the way to go IMO

 

[Whitefarmtractor]

Kingpin: advantage is the ability to Hi-steer, much more aftermarket support, more potential for advancement/improvement. You can shim the top tapered bushing rather than depend on the stock spring, and more field serviceable IMO. (hard to put a popped Ball joint back together)

Balljoint: Better factory brakes


Keep in mind, any 60 can run just about any brake (reasonably), if you use a caliper mounted with a plate from the spindle bolts. many Mfg's make them.

 

[mandkole]

Also does others notice one tire stick out farther then another?

Do you mean the D50 or D60? I've wondered the same thing on the D50. The pass side on mine seems to stick out a tad further.