Red_Angus

my mechanic comes to me and says that noise in your front end is not good, your dana 60 is on her last legs, she might last a year.

oh ok, great umm, now what. is it worth it to fix the 97, or trash it and get another pickup, there is a lot of little stuff wrong with it, 290 000 km, no park brake, rust on all the fenders, needs new tires, new windshield, sort out fuel gauge once and for all, pipe exhaust system properly (right now it ends at the axle), bumpers, window seals, etc.

he tells me the motor is still strong and would be worth saving, maybe its time to move that Cummins into a truck that doesnt have quite so many important factory defects.

to summarize: how do u fix a dana 60? can you? what is its aftermarket replacement? what is that approximate cost of said replacement?

Clayten

Put a Ford high pinion in it

Tate

Did he actually say what was wrong with it? There isn't much to a diff. A set of gears, and bearings. Unless the housing is bent and everything is worn out, I wouldn't consider trashing a truck because of it. But, if you happen to decide to get rid of it, let me know how much.

gorms

I'm with tate on this, open diff on the front is pretty simple. In my nature I don't trust anything a mechanic tells me. You sure you don't have a bad wheel bearing? Stuck CAD actuator? Things to check I'd say.

d-rod

my front axle seals have leaked for four years, not bad, but enough that i fill diff when i change engine oil. should it be fixed yes, is it dying no. i wouldn't scrap truck over axle problem.

IanM

buy a 2002 dually and do an engine swap You could probably part the 97 out for some decent $$

cj360trider

Sounds to me like the 97 needs some TLC all the way around. an axle overhaul of new bearings and fluid is well worth the cost.id take a good look at the steering u joints, ball joints, wheel bearings, and steering linkage while i was in there too

green95

I agree,dont be silly fix er up

Red_Angus

i have asked him repeatedly what parts are worn out and he just kept saying everything, the whole component is worn out. he stated that it came from runnin the 4x4 over 80km/h, though i know ive never made a habit if that.
ive had other mechanics look at the front end because i was chasing a steering problem, they wanted to do ball joints and track bars and steering arms. im sure i could do the steering box too. though i dont think it would keep my steerin from being so loose.

normally id be wary of mechanics too. though this guy isnt a shop downtown mechanic hes more a buddy who used to be a mechanic. hell he drove out to my house and spent the 12hrs it took to drop the transmission outa the 99. after i foolishly started takin it out myself. then walked me through puttin a new one back in.

if i was goin to get ford parts id probably take all of the ford and get rid of the rest of the dodge, keepin the parts that are worth saving and ditching the rest. some of chryslers ideas make a guy wanna go postal.

though to be honest i dont think he even took the cover off too look at her insides. though i cant blame him, chev man through and though, hell im gettin tired of goin to fix something and finding 10 more things to fix or tweak or break. i know there are guys here that would say thats the price of owning a dodge and readily accept that it just comes with the brand and maybe thats the problem, i grew up on fords, i bought the dodge because it had most of what i wanted, inline 6, manual tranny and transfer case,and the things i bought the truck for have been good to me, but she was a farm truck and i dont think they really looked after her, or maybe its just that her time is up. i dont have the money to put her back together, though i dont have the money to replace her either.

Red_Angus

sorry guys,
ive had nothin with trouble with my trucks, the 99 has gotten its second tranny in less then a year. its been stressful.
anyways, what does it cost for the whole front end on a truck like this.
what is a ford hi pinion?
what is the difference?
is there a better steering design?
how much trouble would it be to strip it back to the frame and do it with aftermarket offroad parts?

Andy505

Well you said that truck being a farm truck, it may have some issues because of that. Just because the nature of what it is.

I dont think running your truck at 80 kmh would tear up your front axle unless there was something else wrong with it. Its built no different than any other dana 60. It may have reverse cut gears because it spins the opposite direction but its a normal dana 60. If anything driving that fast would tear up your transfer case (your owners manual says you can shift into 4x4 up to 55 mph) and I dont think it puts a limit on how fast you can drive. And IMHO if your machanic cant tell you specifically what is wrong with your front axle then you may want to get a 2nd opinion.

I've got 186000+ miles on my truck, which isnt very many miles my these truck standards and I have almost no issues other than routine maintenance. I am a maintenance freak when it comes to taking care of my vehicles, but I also make sure they are durable because I do not baby them, I am very hard on them. And IMO if you follow the maintenance schedule you shouldn't have very many problems unless you get a bad vehicle from the factory.

Also all that aside. When you do get higher in miles you will have to start replacing some items on your truck, things do get worn out and everything that came with it from the factory isnt going to last as long as the engine will. Most trucks dont even make it this many miles.

Don T

I have 268000 km on my 95 and I do run it in 4x4 on the high way when the roads are snow covered at 65 mph and never thought that I was hurting the truck doing that. This is something new for me to hear that I should not use 4x4 above 50 mph ??? What could I hurt doing that ?? I think more damage can be done if the roads are not snow covered, I can understand that as a problem. I will put my truck into 4x4 in the summer and run it slow for a few klm on a dirt road just to keep thing from getting frozen up for no use. I have a heat issue with my truck and now believe that they can`t produce heat like a gas engine. I never had a problem starting my truck and I usually use the park brake and put the ato in drive and let the truck idle for 10 minutes. This will get my truck and tranny up to temp faster than driving it I have found. The trans has never been tuched and I will keep up what I`am doing. Unless some can tell me that I`am doing something all wrong . I do look after it and do all the maintenance as stated in the manual.Most of the problems on here seem to be a lack of maintenance. my .02

Purplezr2

I paid like 400 for a used axle, just something to think about look for a whole axle, you can swap the axle your self more then likely and then just get it aligned.

torquefan

Good post. My 96 has 264000 km on it and most parts are still original. It gets used, but I always believe in maintenance and looking after its best interests. I really don't believe that a Dodge is a less durable truck than any others either. They all break at times, and this truck has been far more reliable than my last truck, a GM.

Tate

Reverse cut gears are only in high pinion diffs. The dodge low pinion front is the same housing and gears as any d60 rear end.