1992 W350 Diesel Rear Axle

[starryder]

Good afternoon all,
I have an 1992 W50 with a 3.54 Gear ratio, I had split my spindle on the rear axle. Long story short I have found and axle from a 1992 Dodge 250 with a Gear Ratio of 4.09. Both are Dana 70 I need to change the gear on the axle I just got to 3.54. My question is how difficult is this I have never done it before?

 

[jclark5810]

I've never done it, but I seriously looked into it. After the cost of the necessary tools and the trial and error, I figured it would be cheaper to just have it done. It might be different in your case. I paid about 2hrs in labor and to me it was well worth it. Is the truck currently all stock? I went up in tire size a bit and was thankful for the taller gears. Depending on your use I would contemplate swapping the front out and leaving the new 4.09.

 

[RWherley]

The worst part is getting the back lash right other then that its not hard. I would not change to 4.09 gears, my truck had 4.10's in it and with the getrag 5 speed and 235-85-R16 tires top speed was 70 at 2500rpm now with 3.54 gears it runs 70 at 2000rpms

 

[NIsaacs]

My question is how difficult is this I have never done it before?

I recommend you take it to a gear shop, Dana axles are very complex/difficult to work on.

Nick

 

[starryder]

Thanks all. The only reason I have this 4.09 is because I split my spindle on my 3.54 dually axle, i found a shop here that can fix it it will be a little expensive so until I save the money to get it fix I got this single one. I was just told that I can use the 4.09 and not change the gears in it to 3.54 as long as I do not put the truck in 4 wheel drive my front gears will not engage, it will be like having a two wheel drive only and the gears won't have to match. Is that true?

 

[NIsaacs]

Is that true?

Yes, that will be fine, just don't forget or let someone drive it that don't know about it.

Nick

 

[DVolk]

Its really not all that bad to do and you can do the job with out special tools just use grease to cheack for a nice full meash on the gears

 

[NIsaacs]

I recommend you take it to a gear shop, Dana axles are very complex/difficult to work on.

Nick

I stand on what I posted. The OP has never done one before. At the very minimum he will need a bearing separator/puller and a magnetic dial indicator. Since the gears are used they will need to be set up identical to the old/current pattern. Then you have the possibility of the infamous Dana 70 loose carrier bearing on the ring gear side which can even sometimes damage the axle housing. Rebuilding a rear axle takes an experienced understanding of bearing pre-load (how to get it and keep it) pinion depth/pattern and gear back lash.

Nick

 

[JDancoe]

If I were going to drive a 4WD truck with mis-matched ratios I would recommend at least remove the upper transfer case lever to prevent an "Aw, Shucks!" moment. In fact, I would probably remove the front driveshaft.
If you have the tools, Dial indicator, Inch/Lb torque wrench, Bearing pullers, (and a case spreader is nice) and a FSM you could probably do the job yourself. But if you have to buy the tools to do the job, the cost might be as much as having the work done at a shop.
Jack Dancoe