Subliminal
06-24-2011, 10:35 AM
Hey guys,
Just figured I'd chronicle my foray into the Kingpinned Dana 60 Front end rebuild.
First, I'd like to say that the 1st gen truck is built like a friggin tank. Not very many parts, really, and they're pretty dang heavy duty!
Well, I had several issues in the front end that made me want to tear into it. And since I didn't want to get stuck with Autozone parts (or more than likely no parts at all), I basically just ordered everything ahead of time and changed it whether it was bad or not:
King Pin Rebuild Kits (4wdfactory.com)
Drag Link (Local auto parts store)
Front U Joints (4wdfactory.com)
Tie Rod Ends (Local auto parts store)
I also repacked all the bearings and gave the brakes a good going over...and cleaned and repacked the manual locking hubs.
The issues I was having were that the steering wheel wasn't straight, the truck pulled to the pass. side whether driving or braking, and I had a clunk that sounded like a ball joint in the driver's side front.
So, I tore into it. The rotors and hubs are all one big unit, the manual locking hubs (I think Warn was factory) came out in about 15 pieces, the spindle had to come off to pull the axles out, and a few hours later she's all torn apart.
There was some panic when I opened the box from 4wdfactory and found that they didn't include the giant allen wrench I needed, but it ended up showing up the next day, so...whew!
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-IjkkznZvGwk/TeuiDDIafgI/AAAAAAAAJxw/JlcQUaFzPDQ/s800/IMAG0023.jpg
Funny thing was that my clunk was actually the driver's side kingpin (that's supposed to be torqued to ~800 ft. lbs) wasn't even hand tight. It was still screwed down all the way, but came out with no wrench at all.
Clunk Solved
So, I got it all back together and the truck still pulled, steering wheel wasn't even close, and well, it needed to be aligned.
BUT, I'm a cheap --- and I refuse to spend $120 to align my truck. Castor/Camber are set by the kingpins and without special parts are non-changable. So basically all they need to do is loosen the two pinch collars on the tie rod ends and twist the tie rod with a pipe wrench...and I'll be damned if Ima gunna pay that.
So, I spent about a week and a half tweaking it myself. I would loosen the pinch collars, give a half turn on the tie rod and then tighten the collars. The one end has reversed threads.
Anyway, finally this afternoon the steering wheel ended up straight again, and the truck will go down (a very flat road) with no hands on the wheel...in a straight line. Woot!
Somewhere in there I also rotated the tires...Hadn't done that in a year.
And of course I had to do it all in 90 degree weather, but an old hand-me-down bimini top really helped:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-fPlxbSqB9f0/TeogKzVwasI/AAAAAAAAJxE/VJdVnexkqiM/s800/IMAG0018.jpg
Just figured I'd chronicle my foray into the Kingpinned Dana 60 Front end rebuild.
First, I'd like to say that the 1st gen truck is built like a friggin tank. Not very many parts, really, and they're pretty dang heavy duty!
Well, I had several issues in the front end that made me want to tear into it. And since I didn't want to get stuck with Autozone parts (or more than likely no parts at all), I basically just ordered everything ahead of time and changed it whether it was bad or not:
King Pin Rebuild Kits (4wdfactory.com)
Drag Link (Local auto parts store)
Front U Joints (4wdfactory.com)
Tie Rod Ends (Local auto parts store)
I also repacked all the bearings and gave the brakes a good going over...and cleaned and repacked the manual locking hubs.
The issues I was having were that the steering wheel wasn't straight, the truck pulled to the pass. side whether driving or braking, and I had a clunk that sounded like a ball joint in the driver's side front.
So, I tore into it. The rotors and hubs are all one big unit, the manual locking hubs (I think Warn was factory) came out in about 15 pieces, the spindle had to come off to pull the axles out, and a few hours later she's all torn apart.
There was some panic when I opened the box from 4wdfactory and found that they didn't include the giant allen wrench I needed, but it ended up showing up the next day, so...whew!
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-IjkkznZvGwk/TeuiDDIafgI/AAAAAAAAJxw/JlcQUaFzPDQ/s800/IMAG0023.jpg
Funny thing was that my clunk was actually the driver's side kingpin (that's supposed to be torqued to ~800 ft. lbs) wasn't even hand tight. It was still screwed down all the way, but came out with no wrench at all.
Clunk Solved
So, I got it all back together and the truck still pulled, steering wheel wasn't even close, and well, it needed to be aligned.
BUT, I'm a cheap --- and I refuse to spend $120 to align my truck. Castor/Camber are set by the kingpins and without special parts are non-changable. So basically all they need to do is loosen the two pinch collars on the tie rod ends and twist the tie rod with a pipe wrench...and I'll be damned if Ima gunna pay that.
So, I spent about a week and a half tweaking it myself. I would loosen the pinch collars, give a half turn on the tie rod and then tighten the collars. The one end has reversed threads.
Anyway, finally this afternoon the steering wheel ended up straight again, and the truck will go down (a very flat road) with no hands on the wheel...in a straight line. Woot!
Somewhere in there I also rotated the tires...Hadn't done that in a year.
And of course I had to do it all in 90 degree weather, but an old hand-me-down bimini top really helped:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-fPlxbSqB9f0/TeogKzVwasI/AAAAAAAAJxE/VJdVnexkqiM/s800/IMAG0018.jpg