Hi I'm in the process of rebuilding a 97 12v basically from the ground up and need advice for the drive line. I will be running a 3 inch Carli lift and most likely 37 inch tires. I need to know how to build my differentials to handle the horsepower and torque this truck will be throwing at it. I have calculated the numbers a few times and am pretty sure it will pushing 600 hundred plus to the wheels. I am a complete nube when it comes to the drive line other than knowing it has a Dana 60 upfront and a 70 in the rear. I have read it's possible to put lock in life come out hubs from a ford on the front axle but will that handle the power levels, and what kind of u joints do I need to withstand the torque. Thanks in advance for any input.

 

My first question is are you going to use this truck for sled pulling, drag racing, four wheeling or just to pull ford's and chevy's out of the mud?

My old friend in Missouri owned a driveline shop he did custom shafts, fixed broken shafts ect.
The biggest failure was U joints and yoke ends. Aside from the occasional dump truck that rolled back and dumped the clutch which twisted the shafts like candy canes.
Spicer, Neapco is a great brand and if you want strength don't buy the greasable kind because they are weaker. Just the solid pre greased if you can find them.
Keep pinion angles correct and you shouldn't have a problem with 600 hP.

 

I'm planning on it as a dd and toy just play around with on the weekends nothing major but it will see some off road time again and maybe try sled pulling just to try. Is the rest of the driveline strong enough then? Will normal Detroit or eaton lockers handle that load?

 

I can't really answer that one, but if you call these guys they are very knowledgeable.
Moser Engineering - Moser Engineering - Home
I would say the weak link would be the trans by far. I see you have a trans gauge so I am assuming automatic. Billet shafts, HP TQ converter, and i think there is some Valve body work to get done, would be advised.

 

Ok thanks for the advice and giving me a direction to look at. The trans was built up with a rev max converter and valve body but will need more, I'm going to need to the input shaft for sure. When I started the build I thought I was going to be building the truck to about 450 horse but with the injectors I bought it will definitely do about 600. Which means the tc I bought is also no good

 

There's always the for sale section in here that you might use to sell your good used parts. I would imagine the converter would work for someone.
Can't wait to see how your build turns out take some pics if you have time.

 

Yeah I'm planning on doing a full write up on the project with pictures. As it was a cab off resto and cab change to a 01 quad cab. The old 97 cab was rusted through pretty bad.