Welcome, children. Today you will be schooled on the end-all steering axle you can bolt under your 4x4. And don't even think about letting images of Dana 60 axles pop in your heads. Though the Dana 60 axles have proved time and again that they can stand up to almost any abuse even a 44-inch tire can dish out, like anything within the physical world they have their limits. And since the industry has decided to up the ante with 46-inch Baja Claws, 49-inch Iroks, and 52-inch Michelin special implement tires, a few people have found the limits of Dana 60 axles. We can make them with 1.71-inch 40-spline axleshafts, beef up the housings for less gear deflection, put bigger knuckles on and giant U-joints in the axles, but we can't change that ring-and-pinion size. The next logical step would be a Dana 70 housing with a 10 1/2-inch ring gear, but you're still stuck with a 1.25-inch-diameter pinion shaft (the same as a Dana 60), so forget that idea.
So who you gonna call when you're a '60 axlebuster? Dynatrac, that's who. We're pleased to help introduce Dynatrac's new one-up in front axle beef; the Pro Series 80. Check it out. It might be just what your 4xpharmacy prescribes.
Dana 80s have been around for quite a while. There are already lockers available, and they even came as factory equipment underneath some trucks. But stock Dana 80s came with either 35-spline or 37-spline axleshafts. To get the required 40-spline axles in, Dynatrac worked with Eaton (which now owns Detroit Locker) to get a specially broached 40-spline Detroit Locker. Other than the side gears having an enlarged inner shaft diameter, the Detroit Locker is unchanged from its original Dana 80 form.
A 40-spline axleshaft (right) has a 1.71-inch diameter. A 35-spline axleshaft (left) has a 1.50-inch diameter. Stock Dana 60s come with either a 30-spline 1.31-inch axle or a 35-spline axle. Stock Dana 70s come with a 35-spline axle. Stock Dana 80s come with a 35- or 37-spline 1.60-inch axle. But Dynatrac's Pro Series 80 comes with a 40-spline axleshaft that makes it larger than almost anything else on the market.