Just bought my first diesel truck-

I worked on my rear end today- was just going to check the fluid level- turns out it was DRY. No fluid whatsoever. Pinion seal had a little fresh oil on it- had been dry for a long time. I was told it was a farm truck when I bought it- personally have put about 300 miles on it.

I removed the rear cover and drained what little fluid was still in there. Removed the driveshaft/yoke and replaced pinion seal. There does not seem to be an excessive amount of play between the pinion and the ring gear, however, there seems to be too much play between the ring gear and the tires- i.e. ring gear will move 1/4" as measured at the outer edge of the ring. I have done my research on this forum, and my guess is that my clutch packs are bad allowing my gears to come apart giving me the excessive play? There were a few metal shavings stuck to the magnet, and the magnet looked like it was covered in black glue which was rather difficult to remove. From other posts on this forum I suspect that was material from the clutch packs. I have no idea where the actual metal shavings were from- I did not see anything obviously wrong when I was in there. Did not use a pry bar to check and see if carrier bearings were loose, however.

Please let me know if I am headed in the right direction, and what I should do next?

I am also wondering if there is supposed to be a grease fitting on the driveshaft slip right behind the transfer case? I have a small hole but no grease fitting.

My front axle is in even sorrier shape- U-joints on both sides will move approx. 1/8" and the input shaft will move the same. I think that will need a full rebuild soon- am I right, or is this "normal" for this axle? They are both Dana/Spicer 60s with 3.54 gears.

Like I said this is an former farm truck with a nice repaint... spent 5250 on it and not happy about all the worn out stuff... it shows 72k miles with a broke odo but looks like drive line has 250k, guy thought it had 100k!!! It does have a newer injection pump on it but not convinced that the lift pump is any good- doesn't seem to have the power and get-go that it should. Am going through the drive line piece by piece.

 

Congrats on the truck!! when i got mine i thought it was lacking power as well.. i got a denny T pin and gave me a little bite! only cost 100 bucks or so!
lol i would replace all the ujoints in that thing!

Got a pic of your pic up? post please!

 

Can anybody answer my question about the looseness in the rear end? Are my clutches shot and is that why there's so much play between the ring gear and the tires?

Thanks

 

I would say yes the clutchs are bad. 300 miles is alot with no oil. your rear end is a Dana 70 and the front end is a Dana 60. And i would check the wheel bearings, they get lubed from the diff. The bearing nut is a 2 9/16. As for the front, if there is that much play in the u joints replace them. It is a pain in the rear, but better to do it now before you need the 4x4 someday and they come apart on you.

Welcom to the best site for info on these old birds

 

Thanks for the information. Like I said, I have no idea how many miles its been run with no oil... will have to replace all the bearings most likely. Just cleaned out the vent tube which was totally plugged so hopefully I can run it for awhile yet without it leaking.. will have to plan on putting all new clutches and bearings into it one of these days- and the front end will get redone before winter.

Thanks again for the information and I appreciate your military service!

 

no problem. Is there any oil around the backside of the drum?

 

Nope, didn't see any oil on the backside of the drums... that's what I'm going to do this afternoon, take the tire and the drums off the truck and see what the brakes look like!

 

good deal, well if the brake shoes have any oil on them you found your leak. but i would replace the inner wheel seal just in case. who nows when they where replaced.