Front Axle Swap/Repair/Mod

[Jeff Joyce]

JG has inspired me to get moving on my front axle. I've paid my $20 to the BB to re-enable easy pic posting. As soon as it goes through, I'm going to kick this off "proper" with some eye candy.

In the mean time. Here's the scoop ...

The problem(s):
When I bought this scout in '03, the pass front axle seal was leaking. I then paid for some help to gut, inspect, and reassemble it with new seals and bearings, but didn't touch the ball joints. During inspection I noticed the bent axle, as it was pretty obvious looking directly through the center of the empty housing. It appears the housing is slightly bent where the tube enters the driver's side of the differential, concentrically off maybe 1/4" or so. I also noticed the shafts and gears were heavily pitted, hence my leaky seals. In '03 this was my DD, so I buttoned it up and kept on driving. Since, the driver's side seal leaks bad whenever I'm parked on a grade or off-road. Drives me nuts!

The brakes cause a vibration that shakes the front of the truck mildly when stopping from ~45+ mph . Vibration starts around 25-30 mph and dies around 10-15 mph or so. I think it's the front (probably unbalanced rotors), because I checked this phenomenon with e-brake only braking a few times and had no vibes.

The axle also has 2 deg aluminum shims, which are installed backward (fat part in the rear, and I'm SUA)! Suprisingly, I don't have death wobble and it drives pretty good. I'm also missing the "lean corrector" thanks to the P.O. who installed the rancho 2.5" lift. So I have an obvious lean towards the drivers side (front and rear).

This scout also sits a little lower in the front than rear due to no hard top and the winch and bumper.

Recap ...
- Bent Front Axle Tube
- Pitted Gears/Shafts
- Leaky Axle Seals
- Braking Vibes
- Scout "Lean"
- Would like to level and raise the front of the scout ~1"
- Aluminum shims (installed in the wrong direction)
- 3.54 gears
- Scout is not my current DD, and it's going under the knife

The Plan:
To remidy these problems, I picked up two complete spare axles (both with 3.54 gears) and a few other parts: 4 deg steel shims, 5" shackles (currently have 3.25"), 1/2" blocks for "lean" correction. My plan was to swap in one of these housings, add new shims, the "lean" corrector, longer shackles, and swap on my current rotors/calipers. I'd like to avoid an axle rebuild, if possible to make this easier.

Here are some details of the two spare axles ...

Axle 1
- Scout D44 from unknown year
- Fugly home brew spring over perches with no castor correction
- Also still has the original spring under perches
- Pinion yoke is chipped
- Draglink and tie-rod ok
- Brakes in decent shape with surface rust
- Rotates freely
- IH auto-locking hubs engage/disengage easily
- No ball joint play
- Opened diff cover and found the typical smelly pristine green lube oil
- Slight pitting on R&P, otherwise nice inside

Axle 2
- Scout D44 from a '79
- No mods to housing/perches
- Pinion yoke is perfect
- Entire axle was caked with mud when purchased
- Driver's rotor is severely gouged/groved
- Draglink is bent and removed, tie-rod ok
- Rotates freely
- IH auto-locking hubs engage/disengage easily
- Slight (1/16") ball joint play (driver's bottom & passenger's top)
- Opened diff cover and found nasty gray thick sludge and water
- Cleaned it up and found no pitting on R&P

Which axle should I start with and what do you think of my plan? I'm looking for advice on which housing to use and what parts to swap and to where? Should I bite the bullet and rebuild the ball joints and do seals/bearings anyway since it's out of the truck? If so, I'll also be making a trip to Habor Freight for some more tools.

I'm also open to suggestions on whether I'm doing the right thing overall. I'm running 33's, have a 2" body lift, an auburn LSD in the rear, will possibly install a selectable rear locker at some point and swap the auburn to the front. This truck is for mild wheeling, trail riding, camping, fishing, and fair weather weekend cruising. Probably never go bigger than 33's. I'd also like to be able to tow a small trailer or boat short distances, if I had to.

Talk to me Goose!

-Jeff

[kelly groenhof]

http://completeoffroad.com/wsm/i-392...s_dana_44.html

Do the ball joints, you'll be glad you did. The link is for spicer balljoints at a great price.

Randy

[SCscoutguy]

Originally Posted by kelly groenhof

http://completeoffroad.com/wsm/i-392...s_dana_44.html

Do the ball joints, you'll be glad you did. The link is for spicer balljoints at a great price.

Randy

I agree you will be glad you went ahead and did the ball joints while you have the axle out. Randy that is a pretty good price. It is even cheaper than partsmike. If you go to www.rockauto.com you can get the Dana/Spicer ball joints even cheaper from them. I am just wondering if they are different than the ones offered by completeoffroad and partsmike?

[Jeff Joyce]

Thanks for the link. Doing the ball joints will probably push me towards axle 2, since I'd have to dissassemble the entire axle anyway and I wouldn't have to remove any "fancy" SOA perches.

Any comments on the shims/shackles/spacer? I figure I'll have ~3 deg castor and probably will be ok with the stock drive shaft.

-Jeff

[kelly groenhof]

As far as I know dana/spicer only makes one dana 44 ball joint, excluding any weird alignment ball joints or ttb axles. As for the shims and shackles, Your math sounds good, you may end up with a little less castor. I don't reuse the spacer with lift springs so I'm no help to you there.

[jhnyct]

Originally Posted by kelly groenhof

http://completeoffroad.com/wsm/i-392...s_dana_44.html

Do the ball joints, you'll be glad you did. The link is for spicer balljoints at a great price.

Randy

x2 I agree with replacing the ball joints and I have used these guys twice. They specialize in Broncos, but fortunately they share front axle parts. Very good prices on Spicer stuff.

[SCscoutguy]

Well at www.rockauto.com they want $41 for a entire set of Dana/Spicer ball joints. That is enough to do both sides top and bottom and that is even including shipping. I think I am going to order a set and compare them to the Moog ones I already have and see. I can always return the Moog ones and save a good bit of money and put it somewhere else in the truck.

[kelly groenhof]

Wow that's cheap.

[Jeff Joyce]

What about using the MOOG upper for the "convenient" zerk fitting and spicer lowers? That combo would total ~$80 for a full set (rockauto). Is there anything special about the MOOG lowers?

[Jeff Joyce]

Eye candy as promised.

Wrapping up the kitchen project (See pic 1)

Embarking on the Scout project (See pic 2)