Hello all. Yesterday I took off out of town and got about 40 miles when I heard a high pitched whine. I slowed down to pull off the highway, and then the clunk clunk clunk started. When I crawled under my truck (1999 Ram 2500 Cummins!!!!!!!!! OH YEAH!!!!!!!) I was sad to see smoke rolling off of the rear dif. I blame only myself. I have been spending so much time dealing with my tranny I neglected to pay attention to the leaking seal. Had I spent 5 minuets to add some friggen gear oil I would not be in this boat. Now that I have admitted my wrongs, I could use some advice.

Step one I need to identify my differential.
Hood sticker: DRE Rear axle Spicer 70
Axle Anti Spin Differe

Tags from Differential cover: 52069469AG
3.54 606148-2

Other tag: USE LIMITED DIFF LUBE ONLY

Other tag that I will add to the gauge cluster: ANY DIFF LUBE IS BETTER THEN AIR!

I got the tags off when I pulled the dif cover. Good news is there was very little metal on the magnetic plug! Bad news is that is because there was no oil to carry it up there. Large pieces of what I assume is teeth, and small thin pieces that look like the pieces of a bearing were pulled from the bottom of the housing.

I install electric motors for irrigation and this truck is my shop on wheels. I need to get it back on the road ASAP. I looked at the service manual. Looks like special tools are required (a housing spreader?) and many parts to do a complete rebuild. Would it be better to try to find a new rear end at a salvage yard or try to rebuild it? If rebuild is the suggestion, rebuild in place or remove rear end from the truck?

Thanks for any help.

Travis.

 

Randy's Ring and Pinion in Everett WA or Yukon Gear can probably guide you in the right direction.

You may find it faster to do while in the truck on a lift...

 

Probably would be cheaper, quicker, and easier to just swap a used one in. D70 is prone to junking the housing (high milers) when the differential bearing races spin and wear into the housing sideways. If you lost all oil then I would expect the worst, a pricey rebuild at best, or a junk housing worst. Check out prices of just bearing kits on quad4x4 and you might see why a decent used unit for 400-700 isn't a bad deal. Then it can be swapped out in your driveway in a day, just get new axle U-bolts and a u-joint strap kit/new ujoint ahead of time.

 

Good advice here. It is one thing to overhaul a differential that has become noisy, but a whole different matter to overhaul one that self destructed due to lack of lubrication. The gearset would have taken the brunt of the damage, but there is also the possibility of bearing races that may have become dry and hot enough to have spun in their bores and damaged the housing. If downtime is a big issue, I would start looking for a complete replacement axle assembly that can be installed in a few hours.

If you are looking at a used assembly, be sure to pry the carrier side-to-side and make sure there is no end play there. As mentioned, It's very common on Dana 70s for the carrier bearings to become loose with wear, and then the races will usually start to spin and chew up the housing.

 

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll try to track one down today.

 

Update:
I have received my axle. I have it in the garage on a roll around work table and am trying to do everything I can to it before putting it on the truck. I picked up all of the parts today to replace the brakes. I have drained all of the fluid (has a light brown color to it. Looks like some water got in). Passenger side is dry, but the driver's side is very oily. Not brake fluid. Smells like gear oil. I have removed the axle shaft and the key.

Does anybody know what size the hub nut is? (1999 2500 4X4). Thanks.

 

I got the nut off with a small chisel and hammer.

I'm going to take it with me on the socket hunt.

Now I have the driver's side down to the axle tube. The new parking brake cables should be here Weds. Once those are here I will rebuild the brakes flat on the workbench!

Question: Once I have the axle broke down to the tube and differential, is it ok to wash it in the solvent tank? Just wondering about the clutch plates in the differential....

Thanks.

 

It won't hurt a thing. Depending on how many miles on the gears it may be a good time to flush the clutch packs out anyhow. They can get gummed up over time from not changing the gear lube frequently enough or from high mileage and they will not "slip" like they should when going around corners. I have used brake cleaner in the past but a parts washer solvent will be fine as long as it is clean Fluid. When your done blow the gear set dry with compressed air, particularly the clutches. Everything will need to be very clean and dry before you reassemble and add oil.

 

Thanks, I haven't made as much progress as I'd like so I have not got to the point of taking the stripped down axle to the solvent tank yet. However, I have completely disassembled the driver's side brake. I cleaned it tonight and have painted it white so I can see things more clearly, and because why not? It's mine. Now I have a big sack of new springs. I took pictures and as I have not located the axle nut socket yet, I have the passenger's side as a reference. I also have the service manual. That said, before I start the reassembly is there any good reference (pictures) of the drum brake assembly?

Thanks.

 

I don't want to steer anyone wrong so I should point out that I noticed that there are contact pads for the brake shoes. I removed the paint on those and put a little anti-seize. I don't know if that was a good idea, but it seemed like it at the time. The axle is now ready to go back on the truck. I replaced the axle hub seals and the pinion seal, rebuilt the brakes and replaced the parking brake cables. As far as the color scheme... my truck is red cab with black CM flatbed.

 

Nice looking job, I always just use a dab of grease on the contact pads, the shoe will rub the paint off for you as well.......

 

I know you do not want to hear this but you said it looked like it got water in it, did you pull the bearings and check them and the races? A LOT easier to do on the bench than later on down the road under the truck.

 

I'm always open to suggestion!
I thought about replacing the hub bearings, but they are so easy to get to I opted out. I may regret that later, but I did inspect them pretty closely. The races felt firm in place and the rollers weren't rusted or pitted. I didn't take the diff gears apart so I am rolling the dice on those bearings, but I didn't see any major signs of wear and the magnet on the cover was pretty clean other then the 8 broken gear teeth.... Just kidding.

Once I have the old one off I am going to attempt to disassemble it and see if it is worth rebuilding. I had a lot of fun getting this one ready to go, and it would be even more fun to do it with no pressure to get back on the road....

Thanks to all that replied to this thread, and by all means if you notice any mistakes or have some tips please add them!

Hopefully by the end of this weekend I can add some pictures of the axle on the truck. Then I can get back to my transmission problems.....

This is a labor of love. I'm sure you guys can relate. After this truck is back on the road I can get back to my crane truck project. Cummins powered!!!!!

Thanks again.

 

looking good..
want to work on my axles next..just kidding..

um. I would suggest a high temp grease like calpier grease for the slide
areas..

how's the ring gear backlash? since you have it apart..check it. what about the wear pattern between the ring and pinion?

-dkenny

 

Thanks.
Could someone please define ring gear backlash? I'd like to check it tonight. I have a wrecker coming in the morning to move the truck to the shop so I can swap the axles.