The Lone Ranger – Front SAS – HP Dana 60 Swap

I’d said more than once that I would rock the 44 until it gave me too many problems. After replacing ball joints, and killing the high steer, I’d finally had enough. So in came the ‘78 Dana 60:

I started tearing into it, and it quickly became apparent that I was in for a full rebuild of this axle. At least the gears/bearings were good in the carrier:

Broken bolts were the name of the game on this rusty dude:

Continued cleaning it up:

And then spent more money than I wanted too to get this thing going. Fun fact, there’s more money in this picture than what I tend to pay for my Daily Drivers:

Slapped the Spartan in:

Casper made up a diff cover for me:

Buttoned up:

And now, for another time when leaf springs shine. It took all of 2 hours to swap front ends out, and that was with me goofing off most of the time.
Out with the 44:

And in with the 60:

Hopefully, this will eliminate any future issues with the front end, as with the D60, I gained another 1,000 lbs of load capacity (4,500 vs 3,500 for the D44). Plus, no more Ball joints to worry about!