Hi guys,

I'm trying to pick away at some of the problems my '93 D250 has, and I've been trying to price front end parts and rear brake parts, and when looking at some of these parts online, I'm getting really confused as to which ones to get...

Some parts are listed as fitting a Dana 60 or Dana 70... I think my truck has the D70, but there is no number stamped on the diff flange, so I'm not sure...
Some other rear axle parts are listed as fitting "5,500 or 5,800 lb" axles, but I don't know which axle my truck has. The door tag lists the rear GAWR as 5,450 lbs, so does that mean it has the 5,500 axle?

Fort the front-end parts, some parts are listed for "3,000 or 3,300 lb axle, 149.0 inch wheelbase". My truck has a 149.0" wheelbase, but the door tag says 4,000 lb GAWR for the front axle, so I'm confused as to what I need to buy. If all the parts had specs – for example, ID and OD and length on a control arm bearing, then I could just measure what's on the truck, and go from there... but lots of the stuff online doesn't have specs, or doesn't have full specs...

Can anyone here give me some guidance?

Thanks,
-N.

 

N.

The reason you've had so many views, and no responses, is because the questions you ased, are repeatedly asked over and over again. Not that you shouldn't ask questions, as that's what this place is about, but since it's questions that are easily found in the reference "Sticky" at the top of the 1st generation section.

All dodge diesel trucks came with the D70 rear axle, and the 4000 # front end. There is a section in the sticky where it shows you a diagram of the axle, and where the notation may be. It's usually a small # 70 on the lower strengthening flange near the center differential.

The correct way to order "parts" is to pull the diff cover off and take the alpha numeric number off the ring gear to specify which particular run of axle it is, or get the production number off the passenger side tube of the diff itself. Again, it's location is in the sticky. This is the best way to order R&G parts or lockers and such.

If you're in need of outer bearings / hubs, drums, shoes or the outer section of the axle parts, it's best to open it up and determine what you have. The D70 axle has a full floater hub and it can either have the 12x3 or 12 x 2.5" brakes, and the wheel cylinder most likely would be either 1" or 1 1/8", but either way, it's been advised to upgrade to the bigger sizes anyway. They both fit the same axle. Wheel bearings can be difficult, as they changed a bit from year to year. Buy the sets and replace the entire bearing (including the races) as manufacturing differences can wreak havoc if you mix old races and new bearings. You will find out that they made different seals as well, and although they may be close, if you put the wrong seal on there, it will definitely leak. I found all this out the hard way, as the P.O. of my truck put in the wrong parts, and if I had just replaced them with what was in there, I would have duplicated his mistakes.

Here's a good start to what I mean about brakes, with my own personal issues I've gone through.

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...t=bearing+mind

IF you need to change your drums for new, you have to measure the drum height (back edge to front flange), or simply look at the photos of the two different drums, and pick the one that looks the same as yours. The two sizes are easily distinguishable between each other, as one is a bit taller than the other. All drums will have 12" brakes in them, and just ignore the notations for 11" drums, as they were for the gasser trucks. You should order a new outer flange seal as well, as the old one will be wiped out during removal, although most guys use FIPG to replace those gaskets. Personally, I bought a dozen gaskets for stock, so I can just replace them each time I open up my drum for inspection.

All of this information is based on the premise you have the original axle to the truck. My axle was replaced somewhere in the past with one from another truck, so I had to use the codes to find my differential parts.

Spend a few hours reading through the sticky. You'll gain a tremendous amount of knowledge, and be a better mechanic of your ride. Once you've done that, if there are further issues / questions you have, that don't spell themselves out clearly in the knowledge base we call the "sticky", then it would be good to post questions here as the guys who peruse this site are the best there is for answering the more technical stuff.

Welcome to dodgeland, and the world of the rust and Cummins..... and whatever you do.... don't spell it CUMMINGS, as it will just send folks off the deep end....

 

Hi T, thanks for your reply, and your patience...

I have read through a bit of the sticky, but have not read it all... with a ~50 hr/wk job and a toddler and lots of projects, I tend to only have time to read this stuff at midnight when I'm cross-eyed tired... my apologies that I missed some of this stuff...

I had read somewhere (perhaps in the sticky) that all the D250 diesels had D70 axles, but then I saw some contradictory info somewhere else. I did look on my truck's rear axle, and did not see any stamp on the lower right side flange, to indicate whether it was a D60 or D70...



I had not read anything about the 4,000 lb front axles being on all the diesels... thank you. My confusion is still that the parts I see listed for 4,000 lb axles are also listed as 165" wheelbase, and my truck has a 149" wheel base... here's an example:



Also, most of the parts listed for 149" wheel base are listed as having 3,000 lb, 3,300 lb, or 3,600 lb axles... hence my confusion... but if you say all the 2WD diesels have 4,000 lb axles, I'm going with that!!

Thanks for all the notes on the axle and parts. My truck needs drums, shoes, wheel cylinders, and while I'm at it, I figured I'd do new hardware and adjuster kits, and axle seals. Good note on the outer flange seal, thanks. I've heard people go both ways on the axle nuts - some say replace every time you remove the nut, others say just reuse the same nuts... how do you feel about that?

Thanks for the notes on the bearings and seals, I was hoping to buy all the stuff ahead of time and then take it apart, but I guess I'll just have to take it apart first and see what I've got... but good to know I could also have the wrong thing in there, as in your thread...

Here's a pic of the victim...




Thanks,
-Norm.

 

What Rockauto is saying, is that part is for vehicles with those condition, 165 inch wheel base and 4000# axle and by my interpretation would not fit your vehicle. All these first gens have d70's, with the exception of one with 305 (I think) gears is a d71. I believe this info is in the sticky, or just search d71 to find this info. You can also call Rockauto, they seem to be pretty knowledgeable and are very helpful. They also have some errors in what some parts are applicable to, so call them...Mark

 

I just checked Rockauto for your truck. When there is an exception, they put the qualifiers like w/ac, etc. If there are no qualifiers, the part is for the base vehicle...Mark

 

In your pictures there is a tag on the diff cover if you can clean it it should have the dana bom number which can help in ordering parts. This number should match the one on the axel tube. The dana website has all the numbers and what they came in.

 

Thanks guys, for the replies. I will clean the tag and get the number off of this axle, and check out the parts listed again... thanks...

-Norm.

 

Your door tag said it has the 4000 lb axle (see pic below)

I can tell you from experience that you can order the 12x3" shoes, 1 1/8" wheel cylinders, the bigger drums hardware kit with no issue. The drum should look like the one in the link below. You should put in new wheel studs since you have to press the old ones out. I bought my locally, so I don't have the numbers handy, but they're easy to find.

Here's a list of things that will work, based upon my experiences.







For the Nylock nuts that hold the axle hub on, since they're only designed to be used once and thrown out, you can upgrade to these which are reusable. (you'll need one per side)


Here is the replacement washer if you ever need to remove and reuse the nuts Rock auto has them for $ 1.61 each, so don't buy them from Amazon.


or you can go with original, but the keepers are sold separately. Personally I'll never go back to the nylocks, but it's up to you.



The inner seals are a little more difficult, as there are two that are almost identical, but the inner seal part of it is smaller on one, vs the other. I originally installed the "smaller" seal, but it failed. When I replaced it with the other seal, it hasn't leaked since. The smaller seal is too small for the spindle, and tears itself apart. Most likely your seal is Timken 417158, but you really need to match it up.

The outer flange gasket is



Have fun...

 

Thanks NJT,

That post helped a lot! I went to my local parts store and ordered a bunch of parts today... $400 worth... I should have them all tomorrow... then the fun begins...

I'm waiting to order the front end parts until I shop around a little more, the prices on bushings and such seem to vary wildly...

Thanks,
-Norm.

 

Cool.....

Now you can "pay it forwards"....