The Dana 60 axle was introduced in in heavy duty trucks in the 1950s. The Dana 60 was a more heavy-duty axle than the existing Dana 44 model.
The Dana 60 was made in a full-floating and semi-floating configuration. The Dana 60 usually has a 30-spline axle shaft. The Dana 60 has a 9.75 inch diameter ring gear. The Dana 60 was available in gear ratios ranging from 3.31:1 to 7.17:1. The Dana 60 was produced with high and low pinion placement.
The Dana 60 was used by all American automobile manufacturers at some time. Chrysler was the only U.S. automobile manufacturer to use a Dana 60 in passenger cars using them in muscle cars in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
The Dana 60 can be identified by the bill of material (BOM) numbers stamped on the axle housing. The date of production is the first set of numbers stamped to the right of the differential. The next set of numbers to the right contain the BOM information. At the bottom left of the differential is a tag that indicates the axle gear ratio. The number stamped on the bottom right of the differential is the model number.
