Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) rear differential repair

[SRehberg]

I need the help of the membership here, I have a Dana 70 with 4. 10 gears LSD that is going south on me at 50,000 miles. The problem I'm having is the local shops are not to what I feel comfortable with. Can anyone recommend a reputable rear end shop in the Stockton, Sacramento or Southern Calif. areas? I put a call into Gale Banks in Azusa, Cal. and they never got back to me, so I'm shooting in the dark. I'm hoping someone can give me some direction to a quality shop; thanks for any help.

 

[HCanales]

What is it doing? Is it grinding? Because my dana 70 lsd had that problem and I changed the carrier bearings and it solved that problem. I'm going to say 75% chance its you carrier bearings if your grinding.

Good luck HCanales.

 

[Brandon]

contact my 6 eats 8's or csutton7 there is a shop in lower sac that can do it they are a major supplier of rear end parts and one of the fellas is a dodge freak YOU DONT HAVE TO GO FAR... . i just caint remember the name... ... ... ... . oh here it comes west coast differentials... ... ... ..... yup thats it, i caint think of anyone else that would set lash properly for you

 

[SRehberg]

The noise sounds like a bad bearing or something like it; it makes a constant growling/rough sound, as well as gear noise now. It changes sounds when you are either accelerating or coasting, so something is amiss.



Brandon, thanks for the tip, I will contact the company you mentioned.

 

[tgrfan2]

I would not delay fixing it. Mine tore up towing and spun the race. Cost me a housing at $1400. Could not find a used 70 or 80 at the time. Rebuild has gone 55K so I am watching the magnet like a hawk. If it tears up again I am going to a non LSD if I can find one. My 95 has 204K with no problems so far.

 

[SRehberg]

Tgrfan, mine started going south on me while towing our 5th whl. trailer. You menitoned not going LSD this next time, does it add some stress to things that aggravates the situation? I plan on getting the truck in the first of this coming week, as I want to minimize the damage. One rebuilder I spoke to, stated he had a tool that could repair the housing; is this a "bandaid fix" or something legitimate? Only thing I could see the tool doing is knurling the metal to re-expand it.



Will a Dana 80 from a 3500 fit without mods in our 2500 trucks?

 

[tgrfan2]

I have informally polled on this several times and everyone who has responded had LSD. All I know is my 95 pulled my front heavy TT more miles than the 98 had when it tore up. I quit towing with it at 160K and the 98 had 85K on it when it tore up. As for the rebuilder, I am not sure. I checked with Jasper for a swap, but they did not have a Dana 70 at that time. I have "fixed" races myself on slow moving equipment, but I would think it would take some serious machine work to be reliable in a differential. I am no expert, but I think the manual 2500's came with Dana 80's. I don't need LSD and I think there is a weakness in them. I pulled heavier loads at higher speeds more miles with 1970 and 1978 Dodge 100 & 150's without ever servicing the rear end or tearing one up. The 98 was my first LSD. I never got a tongue weight on my TT but it took the same air pressure to level it as it does to level my fiver(50-55psi). I did not use an equalizer hitch. I have 2670# pin wgt now and only 60# goes to the front axle.

 

[SRehberg]

I'm like you, I wonder what kind of "fix" can repair the housing back to as good as original and hold the bearing race in place. Knurling etc. seems like it would not have the surface area for a long term cure. I am really considering swapping a Dana 80 into the truck so I can put this thing behind me. For what it costs to do a complete rebuild and if it needs a new housing, the D80 would be more cost effective. I can see where the D70 could cause issues down the road again from pulling heavy loads. D/C should have made the D80 std. in both the automatics and manuals, weight is weight.