im planning on buying a 97 2500 rolling chassis this coming weekend with a dana80 rear end. what is this talk about a hybrid dana 80. im wanting to upgrade my d70 and dont want to waste my time and money

is there a strength difference between the 2
was a true dana 80 ever put on these trucks
what is the difference between these hybrids and the real things
and what is the best axle to get.

thanks

 

To my knowledge, all the D80's put in the Dodges (at least 2nd gens) were hybrids. The only difference that I have actually heard about is the axle splines. The Dodge D80s use 35 spline axles, while some higher GVWR trucks (class 4's) were 37.

 

Im not 100% sure but I belive that a true Danna 80 is a multi piece like a ford 9" (third member thingy) and the Danna 70 is a one peice housing (or vica versa) thus they are a lil cheaper to produce or something along those lines again not 100% on that.

 

just got the dana 80 stuffed into the truck. very straight forward swap. u-bolts were the same other than the 70's were .5 inch shorter. im gonna have to buy longerer than stock ubolts to run my ladder bars. the pumpkin is about 1 and 7/8 inch longer than the d70. and the top ubolt serperator plate, which rides on top of the spring pack is about 1/2 inch shorter on the d70 other than that went right in. hope to have the drive shaft back this week to try the new 4.10's out...