S60 axle in/Out Play

[abbey castro]

My recently purchased S60 (Dana 60) rear end. Installing the axles have about 1/4in end play on both axles after fitting the Camaro backing plates. Anyone using an S60 and if so how much end play did the axles have? I've read some as much as 5/8th. I'm waiting for Strange Engineering to answer my inquiry.

 

[ssn696]

The Strange design uses bearing retainers, I think. I'm not sure you should see any play. Let us know what Strange says.

 

[abbey castro]

Yup bearing retainers hold the outer axle bearing in place. I hated those "C" Clips on the10 bolt! With the rotor and caliper with pads installed there is no in/out movement.

 

[abbey castro]

Got Strange to send me the Installation Instruction, where I discovered that I was supplied the incorrect axle retainers. Got ones for drum brakes not the LS1 Disks. Had to buy the correct retainers. So, after machining out my original backing plates to clear the bearings I now have backing plates that are no good. Went to the Pick n Pull and there was a 2001 Camaro with a V6 with the disk set up. I thought only SS/Z289s came with that setup. Took me less than 30 min to pull the axles, remove backing plates. Now need to have the good backing plates installed by having the bearings removed, backing plates slid in and bearings installed. I've ordered new bearings that come with the seal. I messed around so much trying to figure this out that I don't want to risk a seal leak. Pic to follow.

 

[abbey castro]

Got Strange to send me the Installation Instruction, where I discovered that I was supplied the incorrect axle retainers. Got ones for drum brakes not the LS1 Disks. Had to buy the correct retainers. So, after machining out my original backing plates to clear the bearings I now have backing plates that are no good. Went to the Pick n Pull and there was a 2001 Camaro with a V6 with the disk set up. I thought only SS/Z289s came with that setup. Took me less than 30 min to pull the axles, remove backing plates. Now need to have the good backing plates installed by having the bearings removed, backing plates slid in and bearings installed. I've ordered new bearings that come with the seal. I messed around so much trying to figure this out that I don't want to risk a seal leak. Pic to follow.

Forgot to say: $27.90 for both plates without the e-brake shoe. Not bad. They want $65 for the PBR calipers. I hid those by the fence for next time I'll get them just in case. PBRs in original shape are hard to find.

 

[ssn696]

Thanks for following up with the explanation. I wondered how that happened.

 

[abbey castro]

Word to the wise on Strange S60 with LS1 Brakes: So here is the Original Backing Plate that will hold the bearing seal in place vs the one I messed up and had machined so it would allow the bearing to come thru it. I didn't want to have to remove the bearings to insert the backing plate thru it. That was a costly (sleepless nights of why this wouldn't work) mistake. $40 for machining to mess them up, $27 for the replacement backing plates and $78 for new bearings/seal. And it keeps adding up!

 

[Supercharged111]

What's your endplay now? I had .030" on one side and .040" on the other of my Camaro. Way too much, so 1/4"+ should never see the road. It would knock the brake pads back and cause a long pedal.

 

[abbey castro]

What's your endplay now? I had .030" on one side and .040" on the other of my Camaro. Way too much, so 1/4"+ should never see the road. It would knock the brake pads back and cause a long pedal.

Haven't installed completely yet. Waiting on bearings. Are you running an S60 or Disk setup on your 10 bolt? I had this set up on my 10 bolt and there was about 1/8 of end play from the C Clips.

 

[Supercharged111]

Haven't installed completely yet. Waiting on bearings. Are you running an S60 or Disk setup on your 10 bolt? I had this set up on my 10 bolt and there was about 1/8 of end play from the C Clips.

Nope, all stock on the 10 bolt. I did get some custom c clips that were a bit thicker than stock and also burned a weld into the end of each axle shaft to get the endplay down in the .010" range. I just wanted to point out that 1/4" is very excessive for endplay and how it can affect the driving experience. Much less of an issue on a street car vs a road race car.