Yea that was always the "downside" I heard too. I guess being a 170k mile late model owner kind of callused me to the lack of nessesity of replacing the parts even under heavy service. I'm sure there are thousands of horror stories as with anything, but for every one bad, there are ten factory hub bearings still on the road. And my work connections make it almost as cheap as doing a good ole bearing and race job anyway, and the work is way easier to do when doing it. Don't even have to get greasy.
personally I'll take a much stronger (be it a little more $ to service) unit bearing axle any day. The whole assembly is so much stronger that's hardly an issue in my eyes. Everyone has there opinion on it, for me, all the additional benefits like vastly improved braking,turning radius,much stronger hard parts, and cheap initial investment cost will always far outweigh a once every 150k mile hub bearing replacement cost, if you beat on your truck. Like I said though i used (not abused) my 05 hard for 170k, with no signs of an issue. And they don't fail in any way a bearing won't either, so nothing strange there.
But for the op, it looks like he is staying with his d50. Respectably so, its a good axle in its own right. And his springs are shot. Where do you live? I would be willing to bet your cheapest option for springs would be a re arch from a local company or a good add a leaf. The latter rides rougher, but is far cheaper.....maybe we can find a shop for you that'll do the job at a fair price
Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
was that just the axle or brackets and everything? the king pin D60s go for a $1000 plus around here and need a full rebuild. the '05 and up stuff is usually pretty close to that, but tend to come in better shape and with more components.
