nate_88

I've been looking at rebuilds for my Dana 70 for a few weeks now and decided to do it when I got home from Salt Lake City. My buddy and I have been here since the last week of June, working for an industrial painting contractor and were finally ready to leave for home on Friday, September 4th. We went to work that day, got home, packed up the truck, and headed out for a 15 hour drive back to my home in Washington. About 45 miles out of SLC on North I-15, a motorcycle pulls up alongside of us, pointing down at the rear of the truck. I thought that we might have a flat tire (since I bought the tires used just to get home), so we pulled over and everything looked fine. We get back out into traffic and about a few miles down the road, traffic starts to back up due to the end of rush hour, I'm sure. A car then pulls up next to us and says, "Hey, it looks like you're leaking rear differential fluid!" So we pull over again, I get under the truck and sure enough, there's gear oil everywhere! At first I thought that I blew the rear seal out, but after looking at it a bit more I saw dents from the inside out and a hole blown through the cover! There was much cussing involved after I saw that... I wanted to pull the cover, but I had to have it towed somewhere first, and the tow truck driver offered to take it back to his yard where I could do so. I pulled the cover, and sure enough, found 2 sheared off ring/carrier bolts and a bunch of metal shavings stuck to the cover magnet. After further investigation, I found that ALL but 4 of the ring/carrier bolts were completely sheared off except for 4, and I could spin those 4 off with my fingers (keep in mind, these are supposed to be torqued to 125-150 lb ft, and one sheared off as I was pulling it with my fingers). Now I need a new carrier, bolt set, and exciter ring, since the teeth were completely torn up, but luckily I was able to save the ring gear. Being Labor Day weekend, everyone was closed on Saturday, except for the typical Napa, Checker (Schucks), Auto Zone, etc., but they either couldn't get the parts, or wouldn't get them in until later this week; however, I found a place with an emergency line that could get me the parts that very day with a $50 emergency fee. I decided to do this until I later found that I had a crack in the differential housing at the very top. Now I need another rear end assembly! I could JB weld it together, get the parts, and limp it home, or do it right the first time and replace the rear end while I'm here. Luckily, the tow truck driver has a buddy who had a Dana 70 out of a '95. They both said it looked very clean, so I decided to buy it off of him for $600. Unfortunately, it doesn't have shock mounts, or something like that (I haven't been able to see it yet), so they will need to be cut off of my housing and welded onto the 95. I don't have the tools to do this, and the driver is going to be gone racing all weekend and not at his shop, so he can't do it until Tuesday. Looking back, I guess I shouldn't be too mad, since it happened at almost the best time possible: not too far from where we were living, only a couple miles from the tow truck drivers yard, the driver has been a LIFE saver and a big help to me, and the family that we were living with came and picked us up so we could stay another few days. I'm just glad it didn't happen in the middle of Bumf*** nowhere, at night, with hitchhikers and axe murderers walking around ! I can't upload pictures of everything yet, but I will take more tomorrow of all the broken parts and upload them once I get home. I guess you could say that this has been a blessing in disguise.

DodgeRamdiese01

Dude that blows alot If i were nearby i'd give you a hand i am a pretty good welder, good luck

pokapotato

Well that sucks, not mention you are stuck in Utah right? If you need parts you may want to try these guys. This is where I have gotten all my differential stuff in the past.

Six States Distributing
Salt Lake City
247 West 1700 South
Salt Lake City,
84115
(801) 488-4666
Toll free ( only): (800) 662-3712
Toll free: (800) 453-5703
FAX: (801) 488-4676
8:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. Monday through Friday
8:00 A.M. to Noon Saturday
Closed Sunday

nate_88

Thanks guys. Scott, if you were near by I'd take you up on that offer! (it is Scott, right?)

Thanks poka, I actually tried those guys on Saturday and they were closed. Must have been because of the holiday weekend, but they were the ones with the emergency line and they were very willing to help me out. I'd recommend them to anyone as well.

I just hope everything goes smoothly tomorrow morning so I can get back out on the road.

DodgeRamdiese01

Yes it is Scott why aren't there any mounts on the axle?

TB1

That really sucks. I just spent $2000 on mine new ring and pinion,bearings clutches and spyder gears plus the labour, Not what I was looking for. But on the bright side I have had a vibration at certain speeds for just about the last 3 years which I could not figure out, was only really noticeable at highway speeds I drive mainly rural roads well it's finally gone

nate_88

That's what I thought, but wasn't sure . I'm not sure exactly what's not there, but it has something to do with the shocks. I don't know why they aren't there, but I'll find out more tomorrow. How's the Adrenaline situation?

TB1, that sounds like it sucks! It's actually not hard to pull apart and do yourself. It seems like it would be a tough process, but once you get in there it's not too bad. When I blew out my rear diff, I didn't notice a thing. The truck kept driving perfectly, and the only way I knew there was something wrong was because of the people who brought it to my attention. It could have been worse I guess.

DodgeRamdiese01

I got the Adrenaline to sort of work, certainly doesn't set the world on fire, now I have about 1000 lbs of tools/box ladder rack on my truck but I would think I would notice and added 160h.p. 460 ft lbs it feels like maybe 100 ft lbs. anyways I will keep trying and hopefully i wont toast my rear end like you did. see if you r adrenaline worked like mine does the rear dif would probably still be together good luck

nate_88

At least you're getting it to somewhat work, that's a first step! What did you do?

I think mine's been going out for a long time though. My ABS hasn't worked ever since I bought my truck, and the exciter ring is one thing that makes your rear ABS work. I'm hoping that will start working once this new rear end is in.

DodgeRamdiese01

here when I bought this thing i did n't really have user instructions. I had the power level at 0 not knowing that you use the 2nd button to turn it up. I downloaded the new update. as I said it seems to work, but I expected to have like tire smoking power and that I do not have feels like about half of the max advertised power level. maybe i need a better fuel pump, although i was told I didn't

nate_88

Try downloading the COMP tune out of the BETA section. That should do it!

TB1

I would have done it myself,but time was not on my side when it happened. I could have saved probably $900 with the price mark up on parts and the labour.

nate_88

Yeah they'll kill you there!

So here's an update: It was the shock perches that needed to be cut off and welded to this other axle. Pulled mine completely out, then found out that the studs on the new axle were smaller, so I had to swap out the hubs. Come to find out that the new axle hubs are fixed and mine are removable, so they don't work together!!! Spent another couple hours trying to find another rear end assembly and found one out of a 99 with 120K on it, WITH a LSD, so it's an upgraded version of mine. Once it's put in- hopefully tomorrow by noon- I'm going to open the cover, clean it out entirely, then throw some synthetic in there. I'm thinking I'll make out on this deal too, because I have a crack in one of my brake shoes and my ABS doesn't work. With that said, I won't have to replace the rear brakes (hopefully), and my ABS might be fixed if it's the sensor at the rear diff that was bad.

Bsplyr500

You're lucky... when mine went, it took out the ring gear, spider gears and everything else, except for the clutches