Which one do you think is better and why? I going to order one or the other in the next week, but can't decide. Eric

The S-60's tallest gear is 3.54:1, while the 9" has ratios down to 2.47:1. The 9" allows you to change ratios in just a couple of hours. a 3:1 gear for long distance cruising, then 4:1 for the weekend at the track. Both can go 40-spline. The 9" is lighter, and can be lightened even more with available aluminum centersections. More brakes choices for the 9". S-60 has less parasitic drag, but Strange offers an aluminum center to use 12-bolt chevy gears in the 9" housing, so gears down to 3.08:1. I know of one guy with 999 rwhp and just over 1000 rwtq, full street weight TransAm, manual trans, drag radials, not running an S-60 or a 9", but a 12-bolt, and he keeps killing transmissions but not the axle. 9" allows a rear brace, unlike the S-60, because of the 60's cover. Less unsprung weight helps handling. 9" offers choice of wheel bearings, road race style or drag race style. Both can be converted to full-floater. Currie even offers an aluminum housing to make the 9" even lighter.

Oh, and by the way, easy gear changes means that 3:1 highway gear can be on a limited slip while the 4:1 track gear can be on a spool.

Ive had this argument in my head for years. Heres my .02.

If you plan on racing for points or a trophy, and there is a remote chance you will have to run on a 1/4mile and 1/8mile track, 9" all the way. If you want to run a myriad of challenges, like 1/4 mile, texas mile, salt flats, and ralley, 9". The changability is just too much to overlook.

Otherwise, S-60. I called strange, and they say the S-60 is just as strong an a 9". And it keeps the smug Ford guys from saying your chevy cant go fast without Ford parts.

When I buy a rearend, itll be the S-60, unless I hear some damning information about it between now and then.

If you're setting up your own gears, the Dana 60 is a real pain to do.

I like my 9". I did a gear swap and installed a Moser bolt through aluminum center section this winter which took off a lot of weight. Not that a narrowed diff is very heavy to begin with. Also put in the larger bearing, aluminum Daytona pinion support and also used an aluminum spool. If I find the gears are not correct, I can simply swap back in the old set in an afternoon or overnight if I raced on a Saturday and wanted to change back for Sunday. Having the gears installed in another complete center section makes the swap take 1 to 1-1/2 hours. 2 hours if you're lazy.

The 9" also has the ability of only needing one series carrier. You invest in a good posi and everything from 2.xx to 6.xx or deeper gears will fit the same posi.

Wow thank you all for the info, now I'm 70-30 going with the 9 inch. Still like to more opinions.

Thanks,
Eric

I have a 9 inch in my Camaro. A 9 inch is like a belly button. It seems like everybody has one. I'd like to be different and put a 60 in mine, but money won't allow it.

Many times everyone wants an overkill. A Dana 60, properly built up like the aftermarket ones, can easily handle 800hp. Putting one into a car that puts 400 to the wheels is a huge waste of money. The larger ring gear and axles can actually decrease performance but some people just want the bragging rights of having a diff strong enough for a 1 ton pickup in an underpowered car.

If you were building a high HP, twin turbo type car, I'd suggest a Dana 60. The average person only needs a 9" or a 12 bolt. Since you never stated what you intend to use the car for, asking which is better is difficult to make a decision.

For all out brute strength, a Dana 60 is hard to beat but then you also don't need 5/8" wheel studs on a 4 cylinder car making less than 100 hp. Just because they're better doesn't mean that's what you need.

Everyone has a 9" because they're easy and cheap to build with lots of aftermarket choices for upgrades.

A few mis-construed facts in this thread. First off, since any aftermarket housing that utilizes bearing retained axles(not c-clip) will have big bearing 9" style ends, either can use the same bolt-on braking systems. I can change gears in a dyna inside of an hour(inside of 30 min if you have previously set the gear set up and have left the pinion shimmed and have a note with the proper carrier shim specs), but a 9" can be done inside of 20 minutes if you have an extra center section already set-up. Either way you look at that, very few people will ever change gears in either unless they change something else in their drivetrain combination and need to change to make the new package work correctly. - IMO, it's easier to set-up a gear in a dana or 12-bolt than a 9". The BS pinion depth shimming of a 9" is not very easy, practically impossible w/o a pinion depth tool. There are gears available for a 60 at least down to 3.0, never looked for any lower myself.

A 12-bolt takes less power to pull than a dana, which takes less power to pull than a 9".

x1000 - very accurate. Personally, I'll take a 12-bolt in a street car and a 60 in a race car. I have no desire to loose the extra power a 9" takes to pull, for the reason of "easier" gear changes when it is very unlikley anyone will change w/o changing thier power combo. We're not talking pro-stock cars where the difference between a 3.89 and a 3.96 gear could be a win or a loss.

I'm not planning on changes gears, planning on going with a 3.70 or 3.73, I still want to be able drive on the highway. As for the brake setup. I'm either going with Baer 6 setup or Wilwoods rear brakes. As for engine, right now I have a 383 stroker with about 80,000 miles on it and am planning to rebuild or replace in the near future. I've decide to do a complete drivetrain upgrade first. I have a thread showing my new Spohn front suspension which, I'm hoping to install it this weekend (depending on if the wife comes up with something I need to do). So next is the rear.

So thank you everyone for the info.

Eric

http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles...wap/index.html

I have an 9" thats all done up that came with my 91 Z28. 4.56 gears, spool, aluminum center section, 35 spline....blah blah blah setup for PBR brakes. That being said I wish the previous owner bought an S60. The one thing nobody mentioned here is that a 9" with a torque arm has a tendancy to knock a hole in the rear pan by the rear seats. This isn't an issue for me since i'm not using rear seats and I'm definetly not going to change rear, but if I was going to go out and buy something new it would be an S60 from strange or an M9 from moser. On a downside I believe I read a thread a while ago about people saying they got bad gear sets from strange the had rediculously excessive while to the point where it was unbearable and strange basically told them tough luck.