SparkandFire
We're drinking beer
Should've ditched the D50 loooong ago. Now every bushing, ball joint, tie rod, U-joint, etc is new under this truck. The pivot bushings were the Coup de Grace. Four straight days of hell.
I used Energy Suspension kit:
Part Number: 4.3133
This is the one with the replacement metal bushing (which I needed since the rubber in the factory bushings left the truck sometime around the end of the Clinton era, and the metal on metal contact destroyed the old bushing)
Learned a couple things that might help someone else wishing to abuse themselves like I did -
1) ALWAYS have the entire front of the truck up in the air on jack stands. I made the idiot mistake of trying to do one side at a time. Won't work. You've got to have the diff hanging free and the drivers side pivot bolt out BEFORE doing the passenger side, or the inner driveshaft hangs up and will not let the bushing drop all the way out of the pivot bracket.
2) I got the loaner balljoint press from O'reilly, would only work on the passenger side bushing. The drivers side doesn't have enough room behind the bushing for the press to fit (it hits the inner driveshaft) So a 3/4x10 12" bolt with a nut and a stack of washers and a sledge hammer became my bushing installation tool for the drivers side bushing.
3) You really need at least TWO small bottle jacks. I tried it using one 2ton unit, fought in vain for many hours before giving up and going back to O'reilly for another small bottle jack. When you go to put it all back together, the preload on the leaf springs will try and deflect the bushing so much that there is no amount of prying that will get the bolt hole to line up. The second bottle jack between the engine crossmember and the leaf spring perch forced things into place. A portapower set would have been nice...
4) I'm not sure if all D44/D50 trucks have the drivers side pivot bolt installed with the head facing the REAR of the truck, but mine did... I very much believe I got a Friday assembly truck based on some of my observations. When the drivers side pivot bolt is installed this way, there is almost no way possible to get it out, as the inner drive shaft is less than an inch away from this bolt. I finally gave up and pulled the four bolts holding the pivot bracket in place, spun the pivot bracket around, pushed the whole thing up as high as I could, and pried the bolt out. This part of the job had me on the verge of either burning this truck to the ground or calling the junkyard to come haul it away. My wife spent a good fifteen minutes calming me down.
Hindsight being what it is, I would make the statement that anyone who has a truck of this vintage, whether it be OBS, Bricknose, Slantnose, etc... Think LONG and HARD about how much effort you really want to put into rebirthing the TTB axle. If I had it all to do over again, I would have hands-down gone with a D60. I struggled to find an acceptable one, and needed my truck on the road so I replaced everything on my D50. If you do go this route, be smart about it, do EVERY single bushing,tie rod, U-joint, ball joint, etc ALL AT ONCE. This way you can pull the four spring bushing bolts, drop the whole axle on the ground, roll it out from under the truck, and repair at your leisure.
On a side note, it's great to be home!!!
I used Energy Suspension kit:
Part Number: 4.3133
This is the one with the replacement metal bushing (which I needed since the rubber in the factory bushings left the truck sometime around the end of the Clinton era, and the metal on metal contact destroyed the old bushing)
Learned a couple things that might help someone else wishing to abuse themselves like I did -
1) ALWAYS have the entire front of the truck up in the air on jack stands. I made the idiot mistake of trying to do one side at a time. Won't work. You've got to have the diff hanging free and the drivers side pivot bolt out BEFORE doing the passenger side, or the inner driveshaft hangs up and will not let the bushing drop all the way out of the pivot bracket.
2) I got the loaner balljoint press from O'reilly, would only work on the passenger side bushing. The drivers side doesn't have enough room behind the bushing for the press to fit (it hits the inner driveshaft) So a 3/4x10 12" bolt with a nut and a stack of washers and a sledge hammer became my bushing installation tool for the drivers side bushing.
3) You really need at least TWO small bottle jacks. I tried it using one 2ton unit, fought in vain for many hours before giving up and going back to O'reilly for another small bottle jack. When you go to put it all back together, the preload on the leaf springs will try and deflect the bushing so much that there is no amount of prying that will get the bolt hole to line up. The second bottle jack between the engine crossmember and the leaf spring perch forced things into place. A portapower set would have been nice...
4) I'm not sure if all D44/D50 trucks have the drivers side pivot bolt installed with the head facing the REAR of the truck, but mine did... I very much believe I got a Friday assembly truck based on some of my observations. When the drivers side pivot bolt is installed this way, there is almost no way possible to get it out, as the inner drive shaft is less than an inch away from this bolt. I finally gave up and pulled the four bolts holding the pivot bracket in place, spun the pivot bracket around, pushed the whole thing up as high as I could, and pried the bolt out. This part of the job had me on the verge of either burning this truck to the ground or calling the junkyard to come haul it away. My wife spent a good fifteen minutes calming me down.
Hindsight being what it is, I would make the statement that anyone who has a truck of this vintage, whether it be OBS, Bricknose, Slantnose, etc... Think LONG and HARD about how much effort you really want to put into rebirthing the TTB axle. If I had it all to do over again, I would have hands-down gone with a D60. I struggled to find an acceptable one, and needed my truck on the road so I replaced everything on my D50. If you do go this route, be smart about it, do EVERY single bushing,tie rod, U-joint, ball joint, etc ALL AT ONCE. This way you can pull the four spring bushing bolts, drop the whole axle on the ground, roll it out from under the truck, and repair at your leisure.
On a side note, it's great to be home!!!
