Dyantrac free spin / Carli Ball Joint Install

[ENafziger]

Per the request of Clark, I snapped a few pictures this weekend of the install. I'll let the pics do most of the talking...

The plan: install Carli upper ball joints, Carli lower ball joints, Dynatrac free spin hub conversion kit, and Dynaloc manual hubs.

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For reference, here's how the front wheel/hub looked before starting:

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Thought I had all the tools layed out for the job... boy was I wrong!

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Here's a look at the parts to be installed:

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Hub with ABS ring:

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35-spline outer axles:

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... to be continued

--Eric

 

[ENafziger]

... continued

U-joint and clips: #ad


Backside of spindle... notice the bearing and seal that came installed:
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The front side... notice the mounting for the ABS sensor:
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Here goes with the install. As a note, this is not meant to be an inclusive "how to" on every step needed to do this... rather, it's a random assortment of pics and tid-bits that may be of interest to someone wanting to do the same. Some small details are omitted, but I've tried to include everything major. Some pics of the manual hub installation are missing simply because I had noone to take pictures for me, and I wasn't going to go wash grease off my hands between every little step

Pulled cotter pin out of spindle nut:
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Removed wheel:
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Removed brake calipers:
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... to be continued

--Eric

 

[ENafziger]

continued...

Removed rotor:
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Removed spindle castle nut... takes an 1 11/16" socket, and a big impact:
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Removed tie-rod:
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Removed allen screw from ABS sensor:
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Sensor removed:
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Taking 4 bolts off per side to remove hub bearing assembly... 18 mm socket:
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After these 4 bolts were removed came 45 minutes of beating with a 2 lb sledge hammer and spraying with PB Bolt Buster. Here's the hub starting to separate from the knuckle:
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... to be continued

--Eric

 

[ENafziger]

continued...

A quick overall view at this point while I was catching my breath:
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Stubborn hub bearing assembly removed:
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Here it is:
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Axles removed... note: you may want to drain the front differential fluid first, because you'll likely get a little gear oil dripping out the end of the axle housing for the remainder of the project if you don't.
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Short side axle shafts:
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Loosened (but didn't remove) nuts for the upper and lower ball joints:
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Knuckle dropped down:
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... to be continued

--Eric

 

[ENafziger]

continued...

Knuckle removed:
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Taking snap ring off from lower ball joint:
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I had to cut the stud off of the lower ball joint to be able to use the ball joint press I rented from AutoZone:
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Various pictures of the different setups needed for pressing in/out the ball joints. You have to get creative here if you don't have a wide range of adapters:
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Upper comparison... old vs new:
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Lower:
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... to be continued

--Eric

 

[ENafziger]

continued...

Axle cleaned up, light coat of grease on ball joint bores:
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Knuckle cleaned up and ready:
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Pressing in upper ball joint... I'll not bore you with all the pics of these steps:
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New Carli uppers and lowers installed:
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Up to this point, everything went reasonably well. However, things were about to change drastically. I have changed MANY u-joints in my life, recently including the OEM joints on my brother's 1999 Dodge 2500 Cummins. His rusted u-joints were a piece of cake compared to these. I think if I had taken these somewhere to get done, that they would have insisted I buy new axles because the u-joints were too hard to get out.

I removed the retaining C-clips (which broke in pieces as they came out due to corrosion, etc). My first attempt included trying to persuade the u-joints loose with a 2-lb sledge hammer, to no avail. For the second attempt, I clamped the ball joint press in a big vice, and used the impact gun to try to press the joint out... to no avail. After MUCH bolt penetrant, MUCH hammering with the impact gun, and putting a 24" pipe wrench on the impact socket while hammering, we finally got one of the joints to begin to move. It sounded like a shot-gun going off when it jumped!

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We managed to get the long side inner/outer axle separated. However, in the process, the yoke actually deformed significantly on the inner axle.

... to be continued

--Eric

 

[ENafziger]

continued...

After doing damage to one of the axles, I decided to leave that alone for the time being, and move on to something else.

This ball joint press is really coming in handy! Using it here to press the new lug studs into the Dynatrac hubs:
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Okay, so a new day, and a fresh attitude. I went to a shop that I got access to for a little. It took a 25-ton hydraulic press to remove the other u-joint, and the yoke on that inner axle got deformed as well in the process

The first step in fixing the deformed yokes was to fix the "egging" of the previously round holes. After this, we used a porta-power to spread the ears of the yoke that got bent in.

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I used a cylinder dingle ball hone to clean up the u-joint bores:
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After fixing the inner axles, we were ready to install the new u-joints and new 35 spline outer axles included with the Dynatrac kit.

The yoke spacing on the new outer axles measure almost exactly 3"... well, more like 3. 0015" to be exact!
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This is standard width for Dana 60 parts... however, it is NOT standard width for these newer AAM axles!!! The yoke distance on our AAM inner axles is about 2. 913"... or about 0. 090" less than the outer axles.

I measured the u-joints supplied with kit, and they were designed for a 3. 000" yoke separation.

The instructions sent from Dynatrac indicated that the supplied u-joint spacers may be necessary. They measure 0. 045" each, so using the pair allows for 0. 090", which is the exact difference between the supplied outer axles, and the AAM yoke spacing on the inner axles.

Here's what things look like with the spacers installed... spacing here measures approximately 2. 912"
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Well, since I needed to get the truck together, and these u-joints were obviously larger, I decided to open up the AAM yoke spacing by about 0. 103". The other option would be to buy the smaller u-joints for the AAM axles and run the u-joint spacers on the new outer axles. However, by opening up the inner axle spacing slightly, I can run the outer joint, and can find replacement (dana 60) u-joints practically anywhere should the need arise.

Opening up the yokes slightly... approximately 0. 050" from each ear:
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Just for interest's sake, these shafts are 1. 5" of solid steel!
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... to be continued

--Eric

 

[seafish]

Eric, all I can say right now is that this is an AMAZING write-up with the pics and all, and all done just cuz li'l ole me asked for it. I am both honored and embarrassed!! :-laf

BUT it will likely help MANY others who one day will be doing the exact same work that you are putting so much thought AND effort into.



THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU !!!

 

[Rollin' Heavy]

Nice clean job so far. Really like the attention to detail.

 

[ENafziger]

continued...

Well, finally, the axle shafts are back together. Here's the short side:
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Knuckle installed:
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Lower ball joint with zirc (ha ha just kidding Clark!), err zerk fitting at 45° inboard:
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Axle back in place:
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Guide it carefully when inserting. Keep it centered until you feel it go through the seal. Sometimes it takes a little pressure to get it to pop into the spider gears. Here it is fully inserted:
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... to be continued

--Eric

 

[ENafziger]

continued...

Ok, now there are two important steps at this point, both of which I forgot. I realized one soon enough to correct easily, and one I didn't.

Dynatrac supplies a package with seals in it. They are only in the same bag because they are both seals... but NOT because you use them at the same point in the installation process. That being said, remove the smaller of the two seals (called a dust boot thrust washer or somthing of that nature), and install on the outer axle. You can see it installed in this picture:
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The other thing you need to do at this point (which I didn't realize until I was putting the brake calipers back on) is to install the brake dust shield. This mounts between the knuckle pictured above and the Dynatrac spindle that is being installed in the next picture. I don't think it's detrimental not to have the dust shield, but if you're going to re-install it, do it now!

Here's the spindle ready to be installed. I liberally coated with high temperature copper based anti-sieze. This surface is what corrodes and makes removal of the hub bearings so challenging.
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Installing the spindle... be care not to let the axle splines damage the spindle bearing seal. Coating everything lightly with grease helps!

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Here's the spindle installed. Note the missing brake dust shield! :-laf

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Now the hub is ready to be installed. The lug studs have been pressed in, the bearings packed and the inner bearing installed, and lastly the grease seal is in place.
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Here it is in place:
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Installing this hub can be tricky. It has to be aligned almost perfectly with the spindle to prevent the inner bearing/race from getting cocked on the spindle. One side went super easily for me, and the other side took a few tries.

Once the hub is on, you can slip the outer bearing in place. It's helpful at this point to immediately install one of the spindle locknuts to help keep things somewhat in place. The locknut takes a special spindle locknut tool... there are 4 slot and 6 slot versions of the tool. In our case, we need the 6 slot. You can see the locknut and the 6 slots below:
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Here's the socket in place ready to torque to 50 ft-lbs, and then back off 1/8 to 1/4 turn:
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... to be continued

--Eric

 

[ENafziger]

continued...

Here's hub with both locknuts and lockring installed:
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At this point, the typical Dynatrac installation is complete. Now begins the manual locking hub install. Many people choose to go with Warn, as they have been a trusted name for years. However, I feel (my opinion here only) that Warn's quality is not nearly what it used to be. Although a little more expensive, I opted for Dynatrac's machined hubs, termed Dynalocs.

The Dynaloc hubs are EXTREMELY rugged. Everything is machined from chromoly steel. There are no cast parts at all. If there is a weak link somewhere, this will not be it! As an added benefit, the Dynaloc hubs are much shorter than any competitor... in fact, the manual locking hub extends less than 1/2" beyond the hub body itself.

Here's the components of the Dynalocs ready to be installed:
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The next few steps simply involved assembling the manual hub components seen above. Since you get covered in grease during this stage, I don't have many pictures of the individual pieces going together. However, the instructions that come with the hub are wonderful. There are multiple pictures of every step, and well written descriptions of what to do.

Here's a picture at one of the beginning stages of installation:
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And one at the end:
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For what it's worth, the Carli upper and Carli Lower ball joints each come with there own tube of Red Line Synthetic grease. It turns out that the two tubes of this grease are just the right amount for doing the ball joints as well as installing all of the bearings and hub components.

And... here it is!



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Notice how low of a profile the Dynatracs have:
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One thing worth noting here... the lug studs provided with the Dynatrac kit are slightly longer (1/4" - 3/8") than the OEM studs in the unitized hub assembly. If you have factory wheels or open lug nuts, this shouldn't be a problem.

However, I'm running aftermarket wheels with an enclosed lug nut. When I installed my wheel, the lug nuts bottomed on the stud about 1/4" before coming against the wheel. I happened to have a full set of extra length nuts laying around from another project, and they worked perfectly.

I filled the front differential with 4 quarrts of fresh Amsoil 75w - 110 gear lube:
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... to be continued

--Eric

 

[ENafziger]

continued...

Well, here it is... the pictures we've all been waiting for! :-laf

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For perspective, the wheels are 17 x 9 XD Hoss with 6. 1" backspacing (almost stock... I think stock backspacing is around 6. 18 - 6. 2"). The tires are worn out Toyo M/T 37 x 13. 50s.

It's kindof hard to depict in pictures how well these hubs really fit the truck. In my attempt to do so, I snapped a few line-of-sight pictures. The hub is actually inside the tire by 1 1/4" - 1 1/2"! I apologize for the truck being so dirty...

Looking from the front of the truck toward the back:
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... to be continued

--Eric

 

[ENafziger]

one last continued...

Here's a perspective shot from the top looking down on the tire:
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From the back looking forward:
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Well, that's the end folks!

All in all, it was a very straight forward and fun install. The u-joints proved to be much more stubborn than I anticipated, and slowed things down considerably. I'd estimate I worked at a steady pace for 12 hours on both Friday and Saturday, for a combined total of 24 hours for this project. Remember this included getting all the tools out, taking pictures along the way, answering text messages, etc.

The truck drives/steers very differently. I need to get an alignment yet, but the improvement is noticeable. The steering is much quicker... so much so that it took a few miles to get used to driving the truck again!

I'll report back with fuel economy findings, longer term impressions, etc as time goes on.

For those interested, this little project was just one of many in preparation for a 12,000 mile honeymoon adventure to Alaska this coming July. I hope to complete a few more upgrades as time allows before the trip if anyone's interested in seeing pictures.

Plans at this time are a Garrett Ball Bearing twin turbo install (GT3788R over GTX4508), an Air Zenith compressor/tank/air horn system with in cab control for the Carli LT airbags, and making a supplemental 50 gallon fuel tank. Other projects may include a water injection system, dual CP3s, 8" HID driving lights, and 2. 5" hydraulic bump stops. I'll not bore you with the list of other things, but I'll be busy to say the least!

Well, hope you enjoyed...

--Eric

 

[NavyDood]

Shouldn't have messed around with the axle joints. Just torch the center part out and then tap the caps out. When I did mine we had both axles disassembled and re-assembled in about 30 minutes if not less.

 

[Diesel Thunder]

Wow man, great write-up! Thanks for taking the time to document your endeavors. Looking forward to seeing pictures of your future modifications.



Take care.

 

[AlaskanCummins]

Awesome write up! Congratulations on your purchases!



Only thing I saw was that you have the Carli lowers that have the long, incorrect grease zerk in them. They WILL break off the first time you lock the hubs in, turn your wheels to either side and move foward/back.



I'd suggest you DON"T lock them in and get the correct zerks from Carli before they break off.



Other than that, It looks like you did a great job!

 

[bighammer]

Nice write-up and excellent pictures. (many talents there ) I copied this thread into the 3rd FAQ forum.

 

[Lumpy]

Awesome install/write-up! Very good attention to detail (including the dust shield!). I'm planning on doing the same thing on my 05. Well, it's July now. Hope you and your wife are enjoying this beautiful state I call home!

 

[MAshley]

Wondering if we could get an 2 year update...



How is your millage?

how are the ball joints?

how are the manual locking hubs?



Thanks