Rear end:
Next up is getting the rear end sorted out. I had two things that needed tending to:
1 – Dually seals
2 – Axle alignment
When I did the truck many years ago, I used VW bug fender seals as my budget didn’t allow me to use Dodge dually seals. Issue was, that left a gap between the fender and the dually fender as the bead was actually too small. A few years ago I became a bit agitated about this gap and started looking into new Dodge seals. Figures, no longer available. But a TDR friend had a set that he sold me out of his private stash (Thank you, you know who you are!!), so it ended up in my hands and it was now time to put it in. So we removed both fenders and changed the seals. The fit is much better.
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Then for alignment, this turned into a huge issue. Due to the 4 link system I have, I have 4 trailing bars that need to be adjusted to align both the pinion angle, as well as the left to right yaw angle, as well as centering to the wheel well. Issue is, the bars were about 1.5” too long to get the axle centered in the wheel wells! As Kelderman did their best to make a 2nd gen system, fit a first gen body, then on a 1980 frame, they weren’t far off their guestimate. But they were a bit long so they had to be removed and shortened.
These are the rear trailing bars:
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And this is it getting a haircut in the lathe as well as then needing to be rethreaded now deeper as the threat section of the bar was now too short to thread into the couplings:
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Then the challenge was to pre adjust the axle before putting the rods back in to save time. As the axle was out by a good 2” to the rear, we used a ratchet strap around the axle and the trans cross member to pull the axle forward so the body wouldn’t slide with it.
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Then to final threading adjustments:
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And then back in with a good alignment. This now sits center to the wheel well and pinion angle is set. The only thing that has to be adjusted now is axle track and that will have to be set once I do my front end alignment on a 4 wheel alignment rack.
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This picture is just for shits and giggles. I wondered what this truck would look like lowered. With the bars removed, you can sure see the general idea the back end gets. Lol
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Also while playing in the back end, we added the in bed 7 pin connector so I don’t have to rub paint on the tailgate when towing the gooseneck.
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A little trimming with the hole saw…
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And voila!
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Front hubs
First task was tending to the front hubs. The factory wheel studs are actually too short for 19.5 aluminum wheels. The only way many get around this is to use tapered nuts and that is why you don’t often see real semi truck style caps used and most times it’s the long skinny nuts. But I am not a fan of that look so I will make some changes…
First off was to remove the hub to see what I was dealing with:
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While off, I was sure to note my original Chrysler disk brake and hub part numbers. These are often referenced when getting aftermarket brake components and they are for your part numbers:
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Remove bearings… thankfully, they were greased over their life and left my spindle in good condition:
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So that left me with some bare hubs once the disks were removed. Now the fun could begin:
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Random picture award goes to….
The rear axle bars were out at this point too, so with no front hubs, and no rear axle bars, here is my low rider. 😀
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So I pressed out a stud and spent some extensive time seeing what was available on the aftermarket. The big issue is the knurl size that allows the stud to stay stuck in the hub and not turn when you torque your wheel nuts or worse, when loosening them. So my challenge was to find a .712” knurl like the factory has. After several days of no luck, I looked into custom bolts. That also turned unfruitful mostly due to the cost involved. So my next best option was to see what was close. And although Dodge size doesn’t have much offerings, the nearest cousin was a Chevy stud. It was 3” long giving me the length I needed, but it was only a .686 knurl. I can put it in the hole and it is semi snug. That wont work for what I need to do. So it was time to get the welder out again for this one.
Here you can see the differences of the stud length.
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Out came the studs…minus 3…left in a triangular pattern for alignment purposes.
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The spare tire being steel, was then used for the template to ensure the bots would line up. I left those three studs in so when I did lay it on this wheel, it would automatically align the hub. That allowed the tacking to take place, and then they could be pressed out, and the other 5 would hold shape while the last 3 were tacked.
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Once welded, all was double checked back on the wheel again to make sure they were where they needed to be.
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Somehow I don’t think these studs will move now… 😉
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And the final test fit on the aluminum wheel showing how much thread we actually have to work with now.
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Front End – Passengers Side
Next up was the front Dana 60. Although it was a low mileage unit with 60,000 miles that I got 10 years ago from an Oregon scrap yard, I felt it was best to do a front end rebuild so as to avoid any potential issues. Never know what abuse the axle went through prior to being installed into my truck.
This was also the time of my last hurrah at ordering parts for this truck as I made the commitment to get this truck done this year. So I started ordering everything I needed to finish the truck. So within a few days, I had a bit pile of parts in the garage and a very empty bank account:
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You may also recognize a few parts I have already shown you. Gives you and idea of where in the timeline this was. The unique part of being able to watch via my posts, is I try to ground each subject together so you can see a chronological progression even though for me, 10 jobs are normally happening at once all in different stages of completion. That is also why sometimes I don’t post updates here for a bit. Without start to finish progression, it doesn’t really always make sense.
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So with all the parts needed, and the front hubs still off, I tackled the front end. The first thing I noticed while removing the calipers was the remains of someone’s old house. Maybe this axle did sit in the yard for a while….
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So I started by removing the spindle and axle…
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New bearings went into the spindle. These are often the most neglected bearings on the truck as you have to remove the spindle to re grease them. Did you know these are to actually be greased every 12,000 miles or yearly? I bet most never see that….
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The axle was then tended to with new U joints.
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The hub was also cleaned out….
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Parts were painted….
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And then the lower ball joint/kingpin bearing was pressed out. I am glad I did go through this exercise in the end as what I found was the lower bearing had actually been taking on water and was not in the best looking condition. This would have been a future failure for sure.
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Now this is again where I hate to admit some things but I do to help others learn off my hard way learnt experiences. The axle tube. Now that I have a great clean new U jointed axle, I will have to slide it down this sand and grit filled axle tube. That is just stupid! So me in my brilliance, decided I would take the shop vac, and suck that crap out!!! Great in theory. Bad in actuality.
So I get the shop vac out, still the nozzle in there, and then I got a lesson in physics. A show vac is going to create a vacuum suction. That is how the dirt will be sucked up. BUT, if you don’t have a way for air to replace the air that is in there, it will do nothing. So in my brilliant wisdom, I left a gap at the top of the axle tube thus not sealing the axle tube and allowing me to suck air!! WRONG CHOICE!!!! The air did blow past the nozzle as it sucked into the diff to replace the air being sucked out, BUT, it took with it the sand and dirt I was trying to suck out and deposited it into the center of the diff carrier and into the ring gear!!! Son of a colorful; &%$#)(^ and stupid %&$# effing (*&%…. Yup. I may as well have put the air nozzle from the compressor there and blown it all in as that is exactly what happened. So much for keeping things clean….
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Into the diff now…
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Clean up….
Ready to go again…
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So I went back to working on the kingpin, I pressed in a new water seal and sealed it with RTV to keep the water out this time, and then in went the bearing and dust and water seal:
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Then assembly began…
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With all new seals, the spindle was remounted:
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New bearings went into the hubs:
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New slotted rotors went on…
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Then the hub went onto the truck…and new Warn locking hub caps went on.
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New calipers and EBC yellow pads went onto the truck for better stopping power….
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And that gave me a nice and clean fully rebuilt passenger front end. While quick in photos that is a multi hour job to do it right.
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Next went the wheel and the custom adapter I made to cover the tiny holes that were machined into the wheels by American Force for the use of their hubcaps, finishing off that side fully. The pictures make the cover look awkward but they do look much better in person.
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