JMcCoy

Thank you for the information. My Dana 70 is fine but I wanted disk brakes, 4.10 gears ane the added strength of the Dana 80 wouldn't hurt. I do have the the u-joint brackets but I still need the u-bolt. I'm glad to hear you are happy with it. I will be happy when the Dana 80 is out of my garage. Thank you again.

Are you having trouble with the 70 or just wanted the Disc brakes? I swapped to the 80 as was my reason and happened to find a disc brake unit. I'm prepping my truck for sled pulling and heavy towing. So glad I did, those disc brakes work so much better! No longer warping front rotors and burning up pads pulling 18,000lbs loaded forage wagons on the road at 80kph that have no brakes at all.

Part 3,

-if you have a load adjusting valve (not sure of the actual name of this thing) in the rear for the rear brakes, they can be removed as the rear brakes on the discs works so much better than the drums with the valve.

-you will likely need a new rear brake line if you try and seperate the valve as most brake lines are usually rusted out. Then the flex line goes in the brake line where the valve used to be.

Let me know how things work out or if you have questions, I'll give as much advice as I can or if I missed something.

The swap only took a few hours if all the parts are there.

Part 2,

It's a pretty easy swap as a lot of parts interchange.

-You will need a shorter driveshaft as the 80 has a longer snout than the 70. Any drive shafts from dana 80 rear trucks works or shorten the one you have.

-the u-joints are all the same

-Disc brake parking brake cables hook up to the same cable that the drum uses under the cab.

-u-bolt brackets for the dana 80 axle are required and better off buying new u-bolts as well as they get pretty rotted out in the bracket area.


-sensor plug in the 70 and 80 are the same.

Part 1, (message was too big)

Hello Jim, You wanted info on swapping over from drum brake dana 70 to disc brake dana 80?

Nice truck. I will be considering the same thing. Thank you very much for the infomation.

This was 3600lbs (one pallet) of concrete in the bed.
[IMG]

I have also had 300 fence boards (1"x6"x6' con hrt redwood) and 10k trailer with mini-ex behind it. It did sway a little bit but I am running 35" D tires.

Also you can read a lot more detail about the upgrades to my truck and it's suspension here: http://dodgetrucksxtreme.com/forum/index.php?topic=4639.0

Any other questions please ask

I am sorry I did not see this post until just today.

I got my springs from a friend who went with taller springs. They are a 3rd gen Hemi spring rate which seems to work very well in a 2gen. I do know a guy that did not like them but he ran a 400lbs bumper and which all the time. He had to go with a higher spring rate.

Love the shackle flip and did not touch the blocks. I did remove the sway bar and 1 ton over loads. I can still tow 10k, but it squats a little bit. I will be installing a set of Timbrens to solve that problem. Also the bump stops will have to be adjusted as I did bottom a shock while mobbing hard offroad, but not a problem on the street.

I'm taken care of. Don Fitzwater a TDR member here in Fairbanks got my KDP secure. He is fantastic and thank you also for asking.

Sorry I forget to check my PMs. How did it all work out? Hopefully good.

Thank you JMcCoy. I agree with you about the bull part because yes I do have oil residue all over. You say I need to get my engine cleaned and you are correct. I do not so much as have a single drop of oil or anything on my garage floor after running my truck to and from to work 54 miles round trip every day. I currently have 157K miles on it. I am however having my truck go in to have my 4x4 transfer case shfter worked on because that thing rattles to no end and has had all the TSB's performed so my 97 auotomatic Ram baby is going to cost me some coin to get anything done up here. I wish I had the time or the mechaical ingenuity to do the KDP my self but I'm going to take my chances for now, wish me luck.