david85
Full Access Member
As for the Dana60 axle itself, there are still a few odds and ends that are needed.
After looking at the double cardan drive shaft that came with the donor truck, I realized it needed a complete set of new U-joints and of course the center bearing was also shot. After wasting a couple of days trying to convince myself that I could save it (and save a little money in doing so), I broke down and ordered another shaft from Rockauto. The stub shaft that goes into the center bearing was already galled and pitted so even if I did rebuild everything, it wouldn't last very long. The only other way would have been to cut the old cardan style yoke off and weld a new assembly in. Which I may still do one day, just not today.
I also have some new front stabilizer bar links that can go in, but this isn't critical. Again, trying to fix the old ones was a waste of time.
As for the rear stabilizer bar, it seems the F350 had a different style of mount on the frame compared to the F250s (due to so much lift). It took me a little while on google image search to find the info I needed but it looks similar to the SD series trucks. Who knows, maybe the frame brackets from a superduty pickup will work? Otherwise I could make some out of angle iron (there I go again...).
And lastly, the truck's face is back on. I'm still not sure if it's happy to see me, but it did start up on the first try (with only one battery), and I was able to put the transmission through most of the gears (overdrive would be too fast to safely attempt on blocks). As for the yellow snot that's been sprayed all over the freshly restored rad-support, that's roughly one whole can of Fluidfilm to prevent rust from ever coming back. It's a coating that has to be maintained annually, but it friggin works.
The rear driveshaft angle is very noticeable now, so it remains to be seen if this causes me any vibration problems. I remember swapping a ford ranger to a single piece setup years ago and I would consider doing that here too. For now, I'll leave it as is and see what happens.
Oh, and I still have to do a front end alignment...
EDIT: Steering stabilizer is also on order...
After looking at the double cardan drive shaft that came with the donor truck, I realized it needed a complete set of new U-joints and of course the center bearing was also shot. After wasting a couple of days trying to convince myself that I could save it (and save a little money in doing so), I broke down and ordered another shaft from Rockauto. The stub shaft that goes into the center bearing was already galled and pitted so even if I did rebuild everything, it wouldn't last very long. The only other way would have been to cut the old cardan style yoke off and weld a new assembly in. Which I may still do one day, just not today.
I also have some new front stabilizer bar links that can go in, but this isn't critical. Again, trying to fix the old ones was a waste of time.
As for the rear stabilizer bar, it seems the F350 had a different style of mount on the frame compared to the F250s (due to so much lift). It took me a little while on google image search to find the info I needed but it looks similar to the SD series trucks. Who knows, maybe the frame brackets from a superduty pickup will work? Otherwise I could make some out of angle iron (there I go again...).
And lastly, the truck's face is back on. I'm still not sure if it's happy to see me, but it did start up on the first try (with only one battery), and I was able to put the transmission through most of the gears (overdrive would be too fast to safely attempt on blocks). As for the yellow snot that's been sprayed all over the freshly restored rad-support, that's roughly one whole can of Fluidfilm to prevent rust from ever coming back. It's a coating that has to be maintained annually, but it friggin works.
The rear driveshaft angle is very noticeable now, so it remains to be seen if this causes me any vibration problems. I remember swapping a ford ranger to a single piece setup years ago and I would consider doing that here too. For now, I'll leave it as is and see what happens.
Oh, and I still have to do a front end alignment...
EDIT: Steering stabilizer is also on order...
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