Dana 70 Yoke? ...or have mercy on me and help!

[Wwalden]

Does anyone know if you can buy a new Dana 70 Yoke for a '90 D250?

Here's why... I was replacing all three U-joints this weekend. . simple enough right? Well getting it all back together and I ran into some resistance putting the last two cap bolts in the yoke. Well, better take them out and run a tap through it right? I cleaned out the first hole, very good... Got to the LAST HOLE, halfway through and SNAP... the high strength carbide 5/16-24 tap BROKE OFF in the yoke. I wasn't even putting much pressure on it, brand new tap... going nice and easy and it snapped off. I cried.

I tried a bit extractor, but of course the drill bit wouldn't even make a indent in the high strength carbide tap. . of course not! I figure my only choice now is to remove the yoke and work on it off the truck, or replace with a new yoke even better. Can anyone help here? Any advice? I need my truck back!

Thanks,

Moron. errr. . i mean. . Wes

 

[Cummins Cowboy]

ok this may sound risky and stupid. But a mechanic friend told me that he used to melt broken exhaust manifold bolts out of cylinder heads when they broke off. The reason being that the cast iron that the head is made out of has a lot higher melting point than the bolt has and he could carefully just melt out the bolt with a torch. I don't know if the yoke is cast iron and the tap has a lower melting point just a thought.

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93 D250 5sp 3. 54 gears sans muffler, ISSPRO tach, K&N filter, needs to be bombed BAD
I would rather be cummin than stroken

 

[Paul Herioux]

Back when I had my gunsmith shop I used carbide taps for a very specific reason-they are very britle. If you you take a small center punch and hammer and tap on the tap it will shatter into dust. Just keep alternating between tapping and blowing out the chips and you should be able to save the yoke.
P. S. PLEASE wear safety glasses as errant chips do occasionaly fly out.
Hope this helps.

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89 w250, 47rh trans, cleaned up exhaust, Dynomax bullet muffer, 3" lift

 

[CBratten]

Bad Hemi, It is not as bad as one may think.
There is a tool made just for this purpose,to remove broken thread taps. Now I have told you proper way to remove it,now I will tell you cheap and not recommended method. First,put on a face shield,then a punch and heavy hammer,give the tap a few hard raps. The tap is very hard,but brittle. The edges will break and the tap can be removed. Boss

 

[Case500D]

BadHemi,

I worked at an ag repair shop for about 5 years while I was in high school and starting college. If any tool could be broken or abused we could do it. There were numerous times when a tap, EZ-out, or grade 8 bolt got broken off. My boss would heat the broken piece up with the torch until the metal was red and flowing. Then instead of cutting it out with the torch, he would use a air blow gun to blow out the molten metal. There are lots of sparks, but it does a good job. Be sure to wear a face shield and I promise you sparks will get in your cloths in ways you never expected. Good Luck!!

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Jeremy Sweeten 1992 Dodge W-250 4x4 Cummins Diesel, Intercooled,LE Package, 166K, AT, Warner Hubs, Dana 60HD 4,060 lb. front axle and Dana 70 6,084 lb. limited slip rear axle with 3. 54 gears, NPG 205 transfer case, 3. 5" Banks exhaust with straight pipe and 4" tip, K&N air filter. Tekonsha Voyager XP electric brake controller.
http://home.earthlink.net/~sweeten1/index.htm

 

[Jones]

Hey Bad Hemi, If you're still fighting the tap, see if you can locate a "broken tap extractor". They'll be sold to work on specific size taps and they do their job with little steel fingers that slide down between the tap flutes and lock in place with a sliding collar. Just make sure you've hosed out as much of the chips as you can so you're not fighting chips trying to get this thing out. Also, those yokes aren't hardened so much as toughened. I've always had pretty good luck cleaning up with a good high speed steel tap and those are a lot more forgiving as to side thrust which carbide ain't.
Best wishes for success, Jones

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Jones
'84 Ramcharger w/CTD, non-gated 12, torqflite, NP205, Dana 60 and 70 w/ 3. 07s. Looks more or less stock.

 

[fastmark]

I just bought a new yoke for mine at the local drive shaft shop. It is the better yoke with the u-blots to hold on the u-joints. It was not too $$. Less than $75 I think.

 

[Wwalden]

Well I tried hitting it with a centerpunch, chipped out a tiny bit but didn't quite shatter. I hit it with a small ball peen, maybe 100 times or so. . don't want to damage anything in the differential. I tried heating it up, but my torch can't get it hot enough to melt it.

I'm going to try and just replace the yoke, I need my truck back ASAP. The only thing that I'm not sure of is getting the yoke BACK ON with everything under the truck, specifically properly torquing the nut back down to, I assume 150-200 lb/ft?? My impact wrench I have now with full power can barely handle taking off 150 lb/ft torqued nuts...

Thanks for your help guys, but I'm still stuck here!

 

[Jones]

Hey Hemi,
Thought I had it somewhere. Here's the people who make the tap extractors; www.waltontool.com phone #8605235231.
As for replacing the yoke, Check your manual on whether or not Dodge is still using the "crushable sleeve" as the means for setting up proper lash. They can be a real pain. If not, the only trick is holding the yoke while you're torquing it. The manuals show a kind of box wrench with a rectangular opening that goes over the yoke. Beats trying to hold it most other ways.
Good luck, Jones

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Jones
'84 Ramcharger w/CTD, non-gated 12, torqflite, NP205, Dana 60 and 70 w/ 3. 07s. Looks more or less stock.

 

[unclebilly]

I did a similar thing with one of the spindles on my 4runner. I burned it out with a cutting torch - you have to be very careful, but it can easily be done. I'd guess my part was equally critical as it was one of the bolt holes that holds the caliper in place.

If you know of someone with a plasma cutter, that would be a much cleaner way to get it out with less chance of damaging the yoke - you would probably have to yank out the yoke for this tho. I figure $20 should cover a shop to do this.

Good Luck!

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91. 5 CTD 4X4, 5" Stacks, Tweaked Pump, 33" Boots (in the summer), Unlimited Slip,
<P><B><A Big, Bad Dodge

 

[moparguy]

Someone (illflem) suggested on another post to use a stick welder, touch a 3/16th rod to the broken tap with the amperage cranked up. The tap will get red hot instantely, and shatter.

I havent't tried, but will when necessary.

Good luck