Axle tore down ready for a thorough pressure washing. Changing gears from 3.54 to 5.38. All new bearings seals etc.

Never did much inside any axles, but the ones I did were interesting! First one I was in was my buddies New Yorker WAY back in time! Only been in a couple since! ---- guess I just never had a reason to! lol!
What ya puttin this on under??

did you have to use a case spreader to get the diff out? Ive always been able to use a big prybar and a wood block to ease it out

Rebuilding my old f250....well from high school had 38inch tires on it; and got great deal on new 538s. It has been a bout 20 years in gathering parts to to do this project. No... case spreader needed....yet the drive side of carrier bearing was able to be slipped off so new carrier is needed which made the the shims frett and not much pre load was on it

I could machine and sleeve it but new carrier is relatively inexpensive

Heres the frame I had blasted and painted 18 years ago...dana 60 front goes with it too

and you might be just fine with the bearing slop as the front diff is in neutral most of the time..I did a lot of 44's in my time years ago and most of them wound up a little loose but they were in part-time 4x4 trucks so you really never noticed the slop..from what I could remember maybe 30tho backlash but that was 35yrs ago..the GM 14bolt corporate 3/4T+1T rear was my favorite-they had eccentrics that let you set the lash,adjusting the ring gear and carrier L/R right in the axle,no shims required

The 9in ford was similar...I was in a 14 bolt once many years ago but dont remember much

Done. Must of had pinion in and out dozen times setting preload and depth. Got 25 in-lbs on pinion and 45 in-lbs on complete assembly. Had a pinion variation of plus 3 on new...added 2 thou in shims that brought my backlash to 8 thou...which is midway on the 8 to 10 spec. Tighten up carrier by 2 thousandths on the drive side from orginal...got good pattern on drive side...almost looks as if it needs to be deeper but has nice split on coast side that says goo shallower...I'm gonna call it good. The new rebuild shop press worked awesome leeps over a bottle jack

is that a Quik-Locker i see in there?

Yes a a usa gear lunchbox locker...now to dig the front dana 60 out of the shed

That will be left open

Looks great! --- setting that stuff is a real bear ---- thats another reason I done mess with axle internals! lol!!

Sonny, just drain the differential pumpkin oil and then pack it full of horseradish roots-instant Sonnylocker LOL

Never thought of that!! --- might melt the gears together for sure!

Yep done that a time or two....I used q welder tho

"Lincoln-locker" after the welder name..in the old days it was a quick solution..now we have the Quik-Locker and other locking inserts that are so much neater and trouble free..damn cheap too for the money

Was digging for parts found several Lincoln locked carriers from mud trucks...dropped them off in the scrap pile. Lockers really had become a lot more affordable from 15 years ago. I would of loved to put a Eaton e locker but not in the budget. I recently just updated my pickup bought a 5 year old f350...has an rear selectable locker...its pretty nice

Dana 60 numero duece ready for rebuilding...the rear had chassis saver paint on the brake brackets and backer plates bolted back up ready for the blaster

Waiting for new dana cover to arrive also

Getting the kingpin and knuckles broken down had to use the lava wand on the pumpkin side with air hammer it gave in. The rear cover came its about 3 times thicker than the original

Lots of torques used

you gonna do anything like high crossover steering or stay with stock..Ive got a '60 in a Chevy K-30 and want to do high steer but it's damn expensive..but gives so much more clearance

Nothing like that as of now... but thinking and configuring a way to tap the steering gear for hydraulic assist.....

King pin cones and bearings removed...housing cleaned and inner axle seals in. Waiting on parts

Got new knuckle joints In. I put some epoxy on the seal surface to smooth out some pitting and seal groove how long will it last...I don't know...certainly better than a rough surface. The outters are off to the blaster to get cleaned up. Now waiting on king pin cones and bearings and new bearings spindles are on the way. The original had bearing run out just didn't look good.

Heres the gear setup...I made set up bearings because I didn't have the original carrier for that axle..got 45 in lbs total rotational force and 6 thou backlash. The original pinion had a variation of plus 3....nnew was a 0 so 3 thousandths was added to pinion depth and was spot on

Axle seal surface sanded

This axle came from a very abused plow truck..and this side was run loose for some time. I'm gonna make a bushing to fit hole with a 5/8 hole that will fit the spring pin. It will be tig brazed in.

Gotta LOVE watin on parts!! I am always down that rabbit hole! lol! You have more courage than I have on axle settings! ---- now me I would eyeball it and IF it turned---run it! lol! -- Ya, I know thats not the correct way!
Proper restore is the way you are doing it and it looks good!

nice work.

Rear back from the blaster I put chassis paint on back plates and new brakes...hubs and axles installed. On the front new kingpins and bearings in yokes attached new spindles came waiting for spindle nuts. New wheel bearings installed

Something about new colored brake hardware I like

New used spindle nut came this morning....torqued to 50 ft lbs while turning to seat bearings then backed off 1/4 turn for pre load and expansion lock ring installed outside nut torqued to 50#...lots time I see over torque and inner nut pin sheared off

Tig brazedthe new Bushing in...not perfect but certainly better than it was. Just ground a bevel to it then ground flat