Narrowed Dana 60 for '79 CJ-5

I'm playing musical jeeps with a bunch of parts I have. I have a '79 CJ-5 with the stock AMC 20 rear axle and 3.54 gears. I also have a drum brake 30 i am going to put 5.38 in with a TruTrac for my M38A1 which leaves me a set of 3.73 for a Dana 30. I have a Dana 60 from a '70 Chevrolet C20 with 3.73 in it and a brand new TracLok. I plan on narrowing the 60 (I have the Mark Williams jig from some other projects, so not much cost over just buying the AMC 20 one piece axle kit) and using the TracLok on the 3.73. This will give me 5% more gear in my CJ-5, a rear limited slip, and one piece axles, really just for the price of the axles and some labor.

The hold up is housing ends. With the 3" tube, I need to find a set of aftermarket housing ends with the Jeep backing plate pattern or a set of 5 on 5 1/2" drums that will work with the Dana 60 backing plates which would be $100 cheaper based on housing end costs. My question is, any idea what the bolt pattern is on the housing ends for the backing plates? Is it the same as a Mopar 8 3/4" or one piece axle 60? Maybe the same as the Torino or the small or big Chevy patterns? I have another flanged 44 from a junk '74 CJ-5 that I could use backing plates and drums from instead of the Model 20, but not sure if they are the same pattern as the 60 or not, that would be the cheapest and easiest if that were the case. An hour searching the internets turned up no obvious answer.

I need to gather all my parts in one place and hit it with the tape measure I guess is the answer, but any help is much appreciated.

 

The AMC 20 backing plate is unique unto itself. Not just the bolt pattern, but the "offset" of the backing plate as well.
The path of least resistance since you have the jig would be some Ford 9" 11" backing plates and the Torino large bearing housing ends. This would allow for a 35 spline axle as well if you were so inclined....

 

Thanks. I pondered that as well, but all of the complete Ford brake setups I looked at were $450 or so. I can get the guts for 35 splining my TracLok for $175 and 35 vs 30 spline axles about the same cost. I need to pull the 60 from the truck and measure the drums. They are much smaller than the newer 3/4 ton trucks, but not sure if that means 11" or 12", but I know they aren't 13".

Part of the fun of this project will be doing it on the cheap so I'd still like to go junkyard. May wind up buying a 9" if it comes to that for it's ends and brakes. Otherwise, the big bearing Ford end with discs, 40 spline axles and a Detroit would be the way to go, but then I have a $2000 axle instead of a $400 one.

Another option seems to be a FSJ rear axle for it's ends and backing plates.

 

So Nick, I was looking at my intermediate CJ-5 Dana 44, and the housing ends taper dramatically. Looks like there is plenty of metal to adapt them to a 3" housing Dana 60. Any idea if the bolt pattern for the backing plate/retaining plate matches any of the common setups that are narrowed? IE the big ford pattern, small ford pattern, 50's Olds setup, Chrysler 8 3/4 or passenger car 60 setup?

The 44 is not at the house, nor is the 60 for that matter. I know this project is going to require me having all of the housings and brake parts together so I can put a tape measure to it, but I'm trying to line as many ducks up ahead of time as I can.

 

There was a 5 on 5 1/2 Ford Dana 60 used in 3/4 or 1 ton vans years ago. If you could find one it would probably be cheap as its undesirable.

 

That would be cool since it would already have brakes and just need axles. GM used a 6 lug 60 under some late 60's trucks as well, but it doesn't do anything for brakes so the Ford would be a good score for sure.

 

some of the IH Travelalls, probably pickups also, had 5 on 5-1/2 dana 60s.

 

Some of the questions I have is will they allow me to use my housing jig? I have pucks for Mopar 8 3/4", big and small car GM, Ford 9" and Mustang. It would be nice if the IH or Jeep ends matched my jig. If not, that makes the ford setup look more appealing. I know I can get ends for $100 for the Ford brakes. I don't want to spend the $500 a complete new drum setup costs. That leaves me with used axles which may need all of those brake parts needing replacement anyhow.

As I learn more about brake pattern setups I may ponder different avenues. I have a 69 J3000 with Dana 44 in both ends and 4.27 gears. If it has 3" axle tubes, maybe I'll do Dana 44's for both ends and have a lot more gear than the 3.73.

Keep the ideas coming!