Look up the GVR for a few trucks with the Dana 80, how different is that from your truck?
I used a Dana 70HD which is pretty much a Dana 80 as far as tubes, spindles, bearings and hubs go but mostly Dana 70 innards. Trucks with it are rated not much less than my 6400 model at 16,000lb. I don't intend to continually overload it like the old farm truck probably was, so i am OK with that slightly reduced capacity.
If you know the limits of your new axle would you also be OK with it?
As far as beefing up the housing of an axle I wouldn't bother, it's the size of the internal components and bearings that will be over taxed first, not a bent housing in my estimation.
Some people reuse the spindles, hubs, and brakes from their old truck axle and weld in an entire new center housing with modern innards. I don't really like this because you've then gone to a lot of work to keep old more or less obsolete brakes instead of easily upgrading and saving a lot of fabrication work by just swapping a whole new axle. Sometimes it might make sense if the truck has distinctive Dayton wheel hubs and that's the best way to keep them, but otherwise a whole axle swap is the thing to do.
Also consider Rockwell Meritor axles. I swapped a small one rated I think 15,000 lb from a 2005 Freightliner into a F350, that was a nice axle and nice swap. Pictures in my album below.
I've also done a 6 lug Budd Dana 80 into an AD GMC, pictures in the album too.
The 6 lug Budd axles can be found ew enough to have modern (fast) gear ratios and brakes, yet the bolt pattern has been around from the 50's if not earlier, so it looks pretty appropriate on old trucks even if that model might not have used it factory. Also 22.5" wheels are available and pretty cheap used, a big plus. Again check out those 53 GMC pictures in my album.
Grigg
