standardbyker88

okay, so something just broke on my truck. i was pulled over and then i went to go up the street kinda quick, tires spun a bit and then as im slowing down i hear a bunch of rattles and noises coming from the back near the axle. its a 92 2wd short bed, standard cab pickup. 22re, 5 speed. had 195/70/14s on aluminums, put on a set of 205/60/16 steelies for like 2 days due to snow. still had those on.

one thing that leads me to believe the axle is the issue is, the sound comes from there. and that ive had to add about half a gallon of fluid to it about 2 months ago, and the same about 3-4 before that. i know that isnt normal. its all over the housing and gas tank. everything else is dry. it also had a whine at freeway speeds. i took the rear wheels off, checked the brakes and axle play. didnt seem like too much. just a hair. but the front of the diff has quite of bit of rotational play and up/down/side-to-side.

so, should i try and fix this one or just get another and roll this out? i live in everett washington, and would be willing to pick one up asap since i dont want to borrow a car unless i have to. its in my complex lot, so thats not an issue.

please let me know, its important. thank you.

ps, i just checked craigslist and couldnt find any 2wd axles within 100 miles. ill check the junkyard tomorrow.

-MUDSLINGER-

from the sounds of it you blew the third member out, that play on the yoke (the goldish looking thing that hooks your drive shaft to the pinion gear) well thats not good. the nut that holds the pinion in place comes loose and it causes a lot of slop in the pinion and ring gear and starts chipping teeth off the ring and pinion gears. i had this happen a couple times, but mine i had to drive like 30 miles home and did not make it. there was actually chunks shooting out the housing, not good. jack up the rear get the tires off the ground, disconnect the e brake from both sides the brake lines (put vice grip on the rubber brake hose that drops down from the bias to the rear end) helps keep fluid in the lines. next take all four nuts off both sides and pull the axles out, next pull all the nuts that hold the third member to the housing and the four drive line bolts, pull the third member out and get a new one, make sure to get all the metal out of the housing.

standardbyker88

what would make it leak like that? axle bearing seals? it might be easier to just get a whole new assembly right?

-MUDSLINGER-

when the nut comes loose the the pinion gear slide in and out and side to side will cause a gap between the seal that keeps oil in the housing, Is the oil coming from that or out the oil seals on either side of the housing where the axles go in to it? By the way those rear ends should only take 2 to 3 quarts to fill.

notanymore

yeah you want a new 3rd member, should be a 7.5 inch

fork

whatever may be the case, removing the third member and getting it inspected/repaited is in your near future. here is some reading material http://personal.utulsa.edu/~nathan-b...35differen.pdf

i'm going to take a stab and guess that your bearings didn't get lubed and gave up. you'll need to get it inspected and probably repaired, and while it's out, that would be a good time to look for and fix that oil leak. some tools you will need to remove the rear diff are, off the top of my head, are a jack, jack stands, wheel chocks up front, 10mm for the brake line nuts, 14mm for the axle shaft to tube nuts and flange bolts, 12mm for the differential nuts, a tire iron.

someone correct me if i missed anything

also, now would also be a good time to replace the inner seals.

standardbyker88

sounds like it will be a fun job. alot of parts too. what would be the warning signs of a parts truck axle being bad? im assuming it being all wet and having play like mine. and the ends seem totally dry. no sign of leaks. but the 3rd member is soaked all around. so is the tank and some of the other stuff in the area. im assuming its leaking from the pinion stub or from the housing to the 3rd. either way, sounds like ill be tearing that turd apart tomorrow and missing yet another day of work this week. im 0 for 3 so far. sick, then xmas, then taking care of family sick. haha...whatever. thanks people.

im tossing around finding a 3rd, or getting a whole rolling setup. were there any ration changes from the years of 2wd? would i need a 4 banger unit, or does a v6 work? 85-95 2wds? thanks.

standardbyker88

i watched all of this on extreme 4x4 one day. seems fun. anybody have that video? is it free on their site or youtube anywhere?

-MUDSLINGER-

i just took my 3rd member out and welded the spider gears and put it back in about 3 hours, so my guess is you'll be running in no time. God 90 wt stinks!!!

tc

Sounds to me like the pinion seal went and then some play crushed the crushsleeve a little bit, lost the pinion preload and kaboom.

Happened to me too ... but at least I had 4WD so I could drive off the front axle!

tc

Oh - and solid spacers are the solution to this problem IMHO

http://www.marlincrawler.com/htm/dif...diff.htm#parts

04 Rocko Taco

Thinking of those myself tc...

seafarinman

The 7.5" front thirds are the same inside as the rears, right? If they are, I have an IFS front differential that you can have for free. Let me know. I am in Arlington. PM me if interested.

standardbyker88

ive heard people say they are the same as the rears. im going to pull a part to see if the 86, 88 or 93 they have got good axles. ill just get the entire assembly and keep mine as a rebuildable unit. put 410s or something in it for the track. i dunno. ive got the ramcharger, but its off insurance, has no coil, dead battery and the auto only has 1st and 3rd since it broke. gotta borrow my ex's/roommates truck for the day. balls dude, balls.

and ill have to look into a few of those marlin parts. hell, this all makes me really want to go to a new rebuilt axle with a 4 link and coilovers. it would get the rest of that drop i need out back.

standardbyker88

well, went and pulled a full rear end from a 22re 2wd 93 at lynnwood pull a part today. in the damn snow. that kinda sucked. but atleast it wasnt hard to figure out. ebrake was a bit to figure without dismantling the brakes. didnt keep the drums because it was missing one. as far as i know the ratio is the same. by that i mean, i dont know either of them. front pinion seems really tight and it wasnt covered in oil. so it should be good. now i have an extra rear end.

fun part was pulling it alone. without dropping the springs. then lugging the thing up to the front, and into the truck. take not, im 5'8 145lbs. im a little dude. haha. how much do these weigh anyways?

should be swapping it on satuday if i can get a floor jack and some jackstands. i dont think a bottle jack will be enough. thanks for the help people. ill let everybody know how it went. i might tear into the old one just too see how bad it was.

seafarinman

I have solid spacers in my front and rear V6 third members. I had them installed with the 5.29's and lockers at the same time.

standardbyker88

well, got the new axle in. works great. no more humming at freeway speeds. no noises at all. had the brakes all apart on both sides, got them all tuned in nice. didnt want to tear them apart, but i couldnt get the ebrake cables on without doing so. later realized i had left the ebrake set, which explained alot. whatever. shifts a hair firmer now, since there isnt a ton of axle slop. was able to bark 2nd real nice on the highway. hadnt been able to do that on a dry day in a while. thanks for the help everybody.