I have a 91.5 w-250, It has stock axles all around, is anybody out there making upgrades for these axle housings? Are they worth upgrading vs new units (dynatrac are my favs) As far as upgrades go, new stronger ring and pinion, full lockers front and rear, rebuilt bearings and hubs ( do the spindles or bearing races wear out?) , change gearing if so desired??

any advice??

 

what ratio are you running now, and what do you plan to do to the truck. Anything is possible

 

conferr axle truss

 

Upgrade eh?

Front: Your Dana 60 is pretty durable as it stands. 35 spline stub axles and matching lockouts would add considerable strength. A front traction aiding differential could be in the plan and will increase strength if it's on the order of a Detroit,4 pinion Power-Lock etc.....I upgraded mine to Chevy Brakes and 9/16 wheel studs...but I believe the later trucks already have that stuff (someone else will have to help you there) Not really the axle but cross over steering is nice.

Rear: Again a Detroit or some form of traction aiding differential would be nice if you have a use for it...Disk brakes are a handy upgrade (in theory) A 1410 rear pinion yoke and supporting driveshaft hardware would be a upgrade...the stock axle shafts and such should prove to be rather durable. O a Dana 70 with the built in weakness of having carrier bearing issues I might be tempted to use a "girdle" to help deflection issues. Other than that I am out of ideas....I put a 14 Bolt in the back of mine...I find them much less troublesome in my application.

 

Well my sticker says 3.5 gears, I assume that it means 3.54, but that is all it says, it hasn't worn off and it isn't missing it was never printed. So your guess is as good as mine. I want a good all around truck, A jack of all master of none sort of theme. I want a good capable off road rig for exploring goat trails, and long range, and mud/snow/water, but not for crawling some truck sized boulder laced canyon that the crawlers seek, good towing economy and power for whatever I need to tow (toy haulers, campers, goosenecks with vehicles, livestock, firewood etc...) Good highway handling and economy, good power and race-ability for the occasional ricer or Ferd that throws down.


I know I want lockers front and rear, I have limited slip right now. I just want to make sure that it will handle loads in the rough and launches on the street without spraying splines and diff parts all over the place, or leave me stranded when I am on "safari" Is this even achievable? I don't plan on trying to break the thing, my off-roading is slow and deliberate, just want to be as prepared as possible.

 

Munks right, The front 60 needs 35 spline Chromo inner and outer replacements, along with Deadenbear HD knuckles to support heavy side loads. Cross-over steering is a geat addition with a Redneck Ram hyd assist. (Keeps the frame happy) Preimum Spicer 806 u-joints are worth the $50ea
Check your D70, it may be a 32 spliner. Mine was. You can correct this by selecting the Detroit or Powr-Loc in the 35 spline and replacing the axle shafts with Chromo 35spl. units.
Unless you go rockcrawling, or plan to have a tire or two in the air, the Powr-Loc is great front and rear. The Detroit is no hassle, never wears out and is just a little more expensive. I've got trucks with both, front and rear and am happy with either. Might break less axles with the 'Loc, but the Detroit never gives up. .02spent

 

By "cross-over", do you mean the drag-link connects to the tie-rod over on the right side, instead of at the left-side knuckle ??


What is the advantage of this ??


My 78 Chevy has plain old steering and a better driving truck never hit the road.

Just curious.

Thanks.

 

Yes thats the set up I suggested. The advantage is it virtually eliminates bump steer and allows a sharper turning radius. I also lessens the impact or leverage on the frame/steering box. As for the Chevy....if you have stock springs with very little or any upward travel it gains little in driving improvement....but with a positive arch spring and some upwards movement, it starts to really improve the tracking.

 

Bearing races do in fact wear out. Check the bottom of the spindles too, the inner race can spin and slowly wear the bottom of the spindle slightly. My high mileage truck needs attention in that area.

9/16" wheel studs did not get used till the new body style in 1994. Are the chevy brakes a dual piston caliper?

1410's are standard in the diesels, anything smaller is just silly or for fords. I recently had issues with one of our 70's with a power loc, wound up with a rebuild and a rebearing with just under 200k miles.

Very good chance they are 32 spline, if you keep the limited, which is a Powr-Loc, you can rebuild it with 35 spline parts and add axles and that would take care of that.

 

If one is already turning lock to lock, to gain this added radius, would one need shorten the steering-radius limiting pins after installing cross-over steering ??




Six-inch positive-arch leaf-springs on all four corners.

Stock steering-arm replaced with the higher version.


Thanks.

 

It's not "Redneck Ram"; but, my old 1972 F-250 Hi-Boy came factory-original with a hydraulic-ram steering assist between the axle and tie-rod.

I think this was the case on all 70s and earlier Ford 4x4s.


I have read articles where people have robbed this system off of the Fords and used it on other trucks.


If you don't also get the HUGE Ford power-steering pump/reservoir, you have to braze in a couple extra fluid-lines in the existing system.


If my Dodges had a steering-fluid reservoir as big as the one on the 72 Ford, they could drip for weeks, before having to add fluid.

 

Mike.... The wheel stud answer is good to know thank you. And no the Chevy brakes I used are not dual piston calipers. I had a spare CUCV (Chevy) front 60 laying around so I stole the hubs/brakes off it to eliminate my 1985's Dodges problem prone external lockouts, and to get simple 35 spline stub axles to fit. As a side bonus I got the 9/16 wheel studs and beefier rotors to match my rear 14 Bolts stuff. I have never warped a rotor or had any issues since.

As for the U-joint size... this has me rather curious now. I have a 1992 D350 in my shed that I replaced the U-joints in about 6mo ago and I used the 1350 Joints I had as spares for my 1985..so......now did somebody change the driveshaft, yokes and all?....this has me wondering, not that it matters greatly.