VEHICLES, CAMPERS, and BOATS > Powerplant, Driveline, and Braking

Dana 60 issues

(1/6) > >>

husker77c:
Ok so since I've been driving the F350 for the past few days I've started hearing noises.  Getting a pretty noticeable clunk in the front end mostly when turning.  I pulled over and did some checking. Mostly just grabbing parts and giving it a good shake to see if I could find the culprit.  Everything seems tight but then I grab the u joint. I can jiggle it up and down and side to side. probably around 1/8".  Also can pull it out and push it in about the same. Is that normal?  All things I know would say it isn't but I've never had a truck this old to work on and never had to deal with these issues. 

Also how does a man go about checking tie rod ends and ball joints?   The truck is prett darn smooth on the highway hardly any wobbling or anything although to look at the tie rod ends they do look pretty ragged. But all in the steering seems tight.

Flyin6:
Not normal at all

Make sure the big nut on the yoke didn't back off. It happened to me once. I used an air impact on it and just like that I was G-T-G.

Tie rid check: Jack the affected tire off the ground. While observing the tie rods, manually shove the tire in and out as in steer right, steer left. Look for movement at the tie rod itself, There should be none to very little

Ball joint: Jack up the front and place it on jacks with the front end hanging.
Place a bar or 2X4 under the tire and lift up and down. Observe for up/down movement in the ball joint socket. If you see some, buy new ball joints.

husker77c:
So if the nut is tight I take that to mean I need new u joints in the front end?   Anything I should be looking at upgrading or preventative maintenance while I'm in there?

EL TATE:
what Don said on the pinion nut at the differential is true. Universal joints are a pretty darn tight tolerance so any movement is bad movement. I've got some spicer heavy duty joints at a discount through the RMTW site if you want to contact me directly.

For the tie rods and steering linkage, I like to leave it on the ground and have a buddy loosely turn the wheel left and right, looking for excessive movement in the linkage before the tires start to move. anything more than a little bit translates into lots of turn in the wheel before you get good response, turning it into a "two lane truck".

Do you get more noise when you are reversing and turning full lock? spider gears inside the diff could be a contributor to the noise, but I'm betting it's your loose axle universal joints binding up the inner shaft and outer stub.

husker77c:
Would be glad to buy the u joints from the store.  I'll need one for each side and one spare.  If you could kindly point me in the direction I need to go to give someone money I would appreciate it.  I'm thinking I'm going to get all the bearings and seals that I will come in contact with doing this repair and replace those.  It will be a good time to clean the axles up and paint them as well I think.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page