thook

Have fun....

dntsdad

update!!!

Ok so i took off the rear driveline and backed it into the street in 4L. When i went to go into first to pull back into the garage it wont move. The driveline is spinning and the 4x4 light is on but it wont move. All the while its banging like hell. I leave it in gear, pull the ebrake and crawl under and it seems the banging is coming from the diff. I am on to pulling the cover off now and see what kind of goodies fall out of there i guess.

Interesting this though....with rear driveline out, truck in 4L and in first gear the truck wont move and everything spins relatively quietly. As I go up in gears the trans or transfer case gets louder, not really knocking but clattery. Like i said a bit loud as i go from 1st to 5th.

Gotta go.....truck in middle of street as I am typing. Gotta reinstall rear driveline out there i guess to get it back into garage

dntsdad

Well i started to go pull the diff cover off and pulled oil drain bolt and out pour a bunch of metal. After the oil drained i poked my pinkie finger inside and there is probably 1/2 of metal shaving on the bottom of the housing so safe to say i found the problem. Obviously something inside there grenaded. What??... I don't know if i even care.

I am thinking that these diffs are probably a dime a dozen with a lot of people doing front swaps to straight axle. I guess i should just try to find a donor and buy that .

My question is how do i know what to look for. Are there markings on the truck anywhere or in the VIN that wlll tell me ratio so i dont have to open this thing up for really no good reason now that i know its trash.

Also, anything on the truck that would cause this to be damaged like this that i should look into fixing?

dntsdad

what would be a fair price to pay for a complete differential less the axles as I start to look around?

leebee

check in the for sale section for front pumpkins. your vin will give you a code for your gear ratio, www.4crawler.com has a chart to help decode.

lee

thook

Crap. I was hoping the problem wasn't there. Pffft! Someone must've really abused that machine. Probably drove it on the pavement in 4wd. <<<speculating.

I hope you don't have any issues in the t-case.

dntsdad

Hi leebee

Ya i been looking around. I just left that site and figured out i have 4.56 gears in it and then confirmed that in the rear using the driveline spin method.

So i am looking for a 4.56 carrier now.

thook

Another option might be to contact ZUK. He may have something you could use.

dntsdad

who is ZUK?

thook

Oh, sorry. He's a member of Yotatech. He also happens to deal a lot in the way of gears and installation. So, he may have something in spare or know where you could get a replacement. Go to your user control panel, start a new private message, and type in his name. He's usually quite responsive. I suspect he's even psychic.......but, he won't let on.

ZUK

iTrader: (1)

I am getting a vision....a vision of not so good spider gears. Look deep.... deep in the center of the case.

dntsdad

Hi Zuk

I dont have the money nor the expertise to rebuild this unit i dont think. You happen to have a complete carrier, or know someone after a SAS, laying around that will fit my needs that you want to sell?

ZUK

iTrader: (1)

Wish I did...but the only thing I have to fit that IFS front is just the case itself with the spiders still in it. see below.



the spider gear are those 2 smaller gears on the chrome pin....they have been known to bust up.

thook

And, lo......Swami Zukananda materializes...hehe.


Any updates, dnstdad?

zlathim

This thread just blew my mind. I am now a believer in ZUKs psychic powers!!

Jay351

Keep an eye out on craigslist. I see front diffs pop up there every so often. You can get one for under $150

the install is kinda a pain. An extra set of hands really helps.

dntsdad

No, no updates. Still looking around for a front carrier. I did take the rear axle apart today to confirm the 4.56 ratio just to be sure but that's about it.

Now I gotta figure out how to adjust the rear brakes and E-brake on this thing!!

thook

Zuk got charisma.....


The ebrake adjuster levers at the back of the wheels.....they adjust the barrel inside the brake assembly. With the ebrake disengaged/not pulled out.....just pull the levers by hand until they stop clicking. Try to count the amount of clicks so they adjust evenly. Doesn't have to be spot on. Pulling the ebrake in the cab after this "initial" adjustment will even them out more. This adjusts the shoes.

For the ebrake itself, in front your gas tank is a lever and you'll see the adjuster there. Crank the adjuster nut before the lever to tightened the cable. The nut after the lever locks it. Of course, you'll have to loosen that before you can tighten up the adjuster nut.

Oh, and make sure the equalizer on top of the rear axle is operating smoothly, or you'll never get the ebrake to work right. It's a little swinging arm near the diff that the cables run to/through.

dntsdad

Well what happened is to take the rear 3rd out, and change the gasket that was leaking while i was there, I think that I set the rear brakes back together too tight on the star wheel adjuster. I was thinking i am going to go out and back them off a bit.

Everything was fine before i took apart the brakes. sound right or should i leave it and just adjust the ebrake cable?

Do the rear brakes automatically adjust themselves? I thought that I remember old GM drum adjust themselves after driving in reverse or something like that.

thook

What makes you think you set them too tight?

The rear brakes adjust only with the ebrake. The ebrake won't loosen them should they be too tight, though. That you will have to do by backing the star wheel off. Or, what I've done is just pop the drum off again (using bolts in the two holes on the face of the drum) and loosen the barrel adjuster that way. Then put the drum back on and retighten at the levers......or bellcranks, as the manual calls them. I guess technically, the "levers" are inside the drum and part of the assembly. Anyway, I just personally hate, hate, hate trying to operate that star wheel through the backing plate. So, I do it that way.

Yeah, I remember that about GM's. Years ago, I had an old '70 Chevy 1/2 ton with drums all around and no power assist. You had to back up and keep hitting the brakes to get them to adjust. I felt like Fred Flinstone driving that monster. No power steering, either.