(Buying) Which Dana 60 spring plates to buy?

[GM Man]

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So I'm looking at different spring plates to bolt in my Dana 60 and heres the two that I'm thinking about buying.

The DIY 4X spring plate is 1/4" thick and allows you the option of being able to locate the axle forward or (if you wanted) backwards. The only thing thats holding me back is the fact that the way its built, it acts like a bowl and would hold crap in the spring plate. Should I even care about this? Heres there link DIY4X: Catering to those who enjoy doing it themselves.

The other spring plate I'm thinking about is the Ruff Stuff plate. Its 1/2" thick, but doesnt allow you to move the axle forward. This is the link to their plate GM D60 Ubolt Plates (Front) [0692140] - $42.50

Let me know what you think.

Thanks

[mikey_d05]

I have used GLO plates, RuffStuff plates, and finally DIY4X plates. The GLO and RuffStuff plates were both 1/2" and both sets bent. The DIY4X plates did not. I had Kert cut a half moon in the sides of mine so they would let water and mud out more readily.

[GM Man]

Originally Posted by mikey_d05

I have used GLO plates, RuffStuff plates, and finally DIY4X plates. The GLO and RuffStuff plates were both 1/2" and both sets bent. The DIY4X plates did not. I had Kert cut a half moon in the sides of mine so they would let water and mud out more readily.

Wow thats good info, thanks! I think I'll be going with the DIY plates. How did you bend the GLO and RuffStuff plates? Over torque the u bolts? Just curious.

Thanks a ton for your opinion!!

[mikey_d05]

Nope, torqued to spec. They were fine when first installed, just ended up bowed after a trip or two, which was the next time I checked them. When I say bent, I don't mean totally screwed, they were just noticably bowed.

In all fairness, the GLO and RuffStuff plates were both under my K5, the DIY4X plates were under my 4Runner, but the axles and tires from the K5 got put under the 4Runner, so the torque specs and unsprung weight are exactly the same.

[bggrnchvy]

I would go with bent lip 1/4" spring plates before 1/2" straight plates any day. I had both under my rig (until I got rid of leafs up front) and the bent plate units out back I never had a problem with but the front 1/2 plates did crown a bit and made me worry about the torque spec being accurate.

[5280k5]

I like my DIY plates. They do hold a lot of crap in them but wash out easy enough.
I'm pretty easy going on my truck so I doubt I'll ever have to worry about hurting them
Just a side note, I had issues with getting the right length u bolts because the normal lift kit u-bolts are too long for a thin leaf pack and the decreased thickness of the spring plates. Also the kit came with studs for the pass short bolts and those didn't work either, just found some big grade eights and stuck 'em in there.