Heard a rather loud bang and then that sound like you hear when you hit the driveshaft with a hammer.

Got home and got under the truck and looked at the rear end.
Must have a broken tooth inside.
There is a rather large dent in the cover from the inside out.
There is also gear oil leaking from the dent.

Tomorrow after I get back from work i'll pull the cover and see what kind of damage there is inside.

So at the very least, I need a rear end cover for a Dana 70.
If anyone has one they would like to part with, please let me know.

Thanks in advance,
Rich

 

Man sorry for your trouble sounds like a major and costly repair . You might get lucky and find a cover in a junkyard.

 

good excuse for a Mag-Hytech cover.

 

you can get covers here. http://www.dieselperformanceparts.com/

 

Crawled under last night and took off cover.
Lots of tiny metal pieces, broken teeth, broken ABS ring
Currently looking for a used Dana 80.
If not, I hate to say it, but i'm gonna take the 70 out of an
89 F350 I have in the yard.
It already has the long studs too!
I can see this turning into a dually before all is said and done

Rich

 

OK, after weighing the options here, I decided to rebuild my rear axle.
Ordered a new ring, pinion, bearings, seals, shims, crush collar, ABS rectifier,
ABS sensor, and a new cover.
Should have all the parts by the weekend.
Should only take a couple of hours to put together.
Really am sick of driving the GMC 3500 gasser as an everyday ride.
Man, does that thing drink fuel!
8 MPG Empty
Don't even want to think about when it's loaded.

Rich

 

Man, that sucks. What were you doing, pulling/hauling?

 

Yep, everyday it pulls a 7000lb skidsteer or a 12000lb excavator.
That's what I bought it for.
Rich

ta3834bbl, I sent you a pm

 

It's finally back on the road !!
After waiting for parts, trying to put it together, found that one of the pinion bearings was wrong, got another one, put it together.
1st time, clearance was about .012, close but not enough.
Pulled it apart, re-shimmed it and got it to .007 perfect!
Filled it with lube, went for a ride, and re-checked, it was, .005 sweet!
Refilled it again and now it's good to go!
Used it all day, no noise, no vibration, so far, so good.

I missed my truck.

Rich

 

Congrats Richard, always nice to hear of a good ending.

 

Good job Richard. It's always nice to see/hear competence at work.

 

Guys,

Please clarify for me, in my 1998 service manual, it shows shims and no crush sleve for the pinion, Richard you said you ordered a crush sleve?

 

Mcmopar, you are correct, there are only shims in this rear end.
Just used to ordering a whole kit for other diffs that usually come with one.
I do like the shim style better, so if your tolerances are not right, you can pull it apart and re-shim.
Once you use a crush sleeve, it cannot be re-used.
Hope this clears things up.

Rich

 

Thanks a lot!!