2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Rebuild Front End?

[JWashburn]

I'm going to have the '97 down to replace ball joints - greasables from Quad4x4. It has 187K on the odometer. Its a ranch work truck which sees a large percentage of offroad and washboard roads. Of course, I'll check the axle U-joints while its apart, and replace as necessary. Should I consider new bearings (either stock or EMS Offroad) now? Or do the unit bearings last longer? Outside of heat and noise of impending faliure is there any way to tell a unit bearing's condition.



I suppose run to failure works until it fails 50 miles from the pavement in a good snowstorm. Appreciate any experience or thoughts.

 

[CumminsPower98]

Before you take it apart check for bearing slop (might not be easy if ball joints are loose). If they are tight then check them for noise once you have them off the truck. I have put 100s of thousands of miles on mine and they are still good. I installed grease zerks some time back to extend their life and avoid worrying about them burning up thousands of miles from home (used to run OTR). See the bottom of my mods page below for info on the zerks.

 

[GCroyle]

CumminsPower98.



Very nice home page and writeup on repairs and mods, nice work.

 

[CumminsPower98]

Thank you!

 

[JWashburn]

CumminsPower98, as I look at the mods I am interested in the steering conversion. I looked at the similar mod built by the company that also builds the unit requiring drill out of the tie rod holes (Thuren I think is the name). Any significant advantages to the Thuren setup?

Kind of a different subject: A fella told me about a steering gear/steering stabilizer/hydraulic assist system he plans to put on his Jeep. The hydraulic ram assist takes the place of the stabilizer. The hydraulic lines hook into the steering gear. I'm interested. Sometimes taking a load of hay across a center pivot track will rip the wheel right out of your hand if not approached precisely. Anybody heard of it?

 

[CumminsPower98]

I haven't looked at the thuren setup. You say it requires you drill the tapers out? If so it probably uses spherical rod ends (heim joints). I think I prefer the standard greaseable ball joint ends for normal use. The others might be better for heavy duty off road. I haven't used heim joints in the tie rods before so maybe someone with more experience can help on that.

PSC Motorsports sells a cylinder assist kit for the Dodges. There may be others but I'm not familiar with them.

 

[Ol'TrailDog]

CumminsPower98 that is a very nice and very informative home page. You have certainly put a lot of very nice work into your truck. Thanks for sharing your mods with, and inspiring, the rest of us. I also appreciate your Jesus saves link. Although we have chosen different faiths, mine being the Apostolic Pentecostal path, I really respect someone who knows what is of real importance.

 

[JWashburn]

The axle U-joints appear to be fine. The hub bearings are not, so two are on order from quad4x4. At $274 per Timken bearing its a bit hard for this cowboy to justify an EMS Offroad setup.

As for the crossover steering: Thuren does use a Heim joint. When the joints fail the Thuren costs about $35 to rebuild whereas the Moog setup will cost significantly more. The Thuren setup has clearance problems with stock diameter wheels with stock offset.