Front Axle Confusion

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BumblebeeTuna

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Ram Year
1999
Engine
5.9 Cummins
I have a 99 Ram 2500 and the previous owner put 2” wheel spacers on it. I wanted to remove the spacers to eliminate the excess strain. I was unable to, due to the back side of my front wheels hitting the knuckles before I could even get the lug nuts started. I talked to the mechanic I deal with and he said that it appears to him that the front axle is still Dana, but it’s swapped from a Ford.

Not sure if anyone has any experience with this sort of thing, but I wanted to see if there was a way I can confirm this. If this is even a possibility and how I can solve my issue with the spacers. I want to get a new rim and tire package for the truck, but now that this has happened, I’m worried what I get for wheels will just have the same issue.

Thanks in advance for any help or advice anyone can offer!

Tim
 

Fast69Mopar

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I have a 99 Ram 2500 and the previous owner put 2” wheel spacers on it. I wanted to remove the spacers to eliminate the excess strain. I was unable to, due to the back side of my front wheels hitting the knuckles before I could even get the lug nuts started. I talked to the mechanic I deal with and he said that it appears to him that the front axle is still Dana, but it’s swapped from a Ford.

Not sure if anyone has any experience with this sort of thing, but I wanted to see if there was a way I can confirm this. If this is even a possibility and how I can solve my issue with the spacers. I want to get a new rim and tire package for the truck, but now that this has happened, I’m worried what I get for wheels will just have the same issue.

Thanks in advance for any help or advice anyone can offer!

Tim
Can you post some pics of the front axle and maybe the casting numbers from the housing?
 
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BumblebeeTuna

BumblebeeTuna

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32E7E8F2-DD64-420C-AAA4-E186536727C3.jpeg 9E44710B-0337-4186-AF76-8B87C187FAC9.jpeg 5FE47DA9-41B0-465B-A360-C64E98CC6542.jpeg B2BF8B05-DE53-448F-98A3-DFB44F3B3041.jpeg 5CF661C1-B72D-486D-B09C-0AF5BEA8E4BC.jpeg Not sure if any of these are helpful. I don’t know why I didn’t think to upload these in the first place. Let me know if you need any other views. The bottom left corner of the case has the number “44980” and the bottom right corner of the case has the number “60F”. Wanted to add that in case it was hard to see in the pictures.
 

dapepper9

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Sounds like the wheel spacers are only there to fit the wheels the guy put on. Let me guess, 15 inch?
 
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BumblebeeTuna

BumblebeeTuna

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Yeah, 15 inch wheels. I was trying to determine if they were factory wheels. What was factory on these trucks?
 
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BumblebeeTuna

BumblebeeTuna

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Now I’m confused a little more. Just to verify, I double checked my wheel diameter and they are 16”. So must just be those wheels then?
 

Fast69Mopar

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That is definitely the stock front Dana 60. Ive been through your issue before with a couple of my customers trucks. They had to use the spacers to install a 15" wheel because of clearance issues.
 

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