51 R18 Rebuild

[kpm]

Dave
        what kind of rubber did u use for your gas neck filler(where ur gas cap is)
                                                 kyle

[dpaulson]

Kyle. I used a rubber grommet that is used to hold in the 2"? round clearance lamps.  Grote makes them.  They are hanging anywhere that sell trailer lighting products.

[the old trucker]

    That's right Dave, & there is the 2 1/2" ones also. Might cost $1.50 - 2 bucks each. Grote or Truck Lite. I have some kicking around. Cheaper to buy a couple than me send them by mail to you.

                                                                                            OT.
  PS... Kyle they even have a lip on the edge that will keep them in place. Good idea Dave.

[kpm]

Thanks Dave,,,Claude(ot)...must have being thinking we just had u on here for ur good looks!!!...lol..
 i'll check the local trailor stores,when i'm in the city next week..cause if ot sends them by the time the dog team gets here i'll be done!!..lol..
                                                           kpm

[dpaulson]

I have the dodge 8.75 diff pulled out and located a ford 9".  I chose the ford 9" because it seems that it is a favorite among race car and 4 x 4 rock climbing truck builders. Also the axles are held into place by the outer bearings so if an axle did brake, the sprocket on that side will not work out.  You can get almost any gearing that you want as well as any make of locking or limited slip diff you choose.  This diff came out of a 72 pickup. I cut the mounting brackets off and remove the shocks, brakes and hardware as it's not needed. I removed the axles to install new bearings and seals.  Today's job was to remove the yoke and manufacture the mounting plate for the brake rotor setup.   With the mail worker are finally back to work, maybe some of my other parts that were ordered will start to show up.

[the old trucker]

  Dave... ol' buddy..ol' pal. Is that diff still the original length or did you do some cutting to it ? I know you have a wide gauge, but I was wondering if it's the same length as the old one. I like the idea of the sprocket staying put in the event for trouble. Is that the same diff as in the newer pickups ( 80's - 90's ).
  The ends on yours looks similur to mine. The machinists here say they can narrow up a diff for me if need be. Dave, if I went like you are, do you think it would be OK to weld a piece of round 1/4 or 3/8 plate to the axle ends & get them drilled to accept my sprockets ??

                                                                                        OT..... 

[dpaulson]

The newer pickups have a 8.8".  The axles are held in with a c-clip at the differential end, so these ones won't stay in when broken.  I would think the odds of braking an axle is low in the type of driving that I do anyway, I not sure how rammy you are.   You'll have to judge that for yourself .  This diff is 2" wider than the Chrysler diff.  The bolt pattern is different anyway, so I'll just re-manufacture new centers for the sprockets with the correct offset.

do you think it would be OK to weld a piece of round 1/4 or 3/8 plate to the axle ends & get them drilled to accept my sprockets ??

I don't have any experience with welding on axles to say one way or another.  Can you just knock out the studs in the axle and locate and re-drill  in between stud holes (assuming the plate is large enough) or re-drill your alum. sprocket.  (or forget about the alum sprockets altogether and go with the newer style plastic sprocket).  I think that when the diff has been narrowed, the general practice to narrow the axle is to cut the spline end and re-spline because it would be a lot less work than to build up the axle and machining for the bearing as well as the plate for the stud bolts.

[the old trucker]

   Dave I think it would be educational to take pics of the step by step procedure involved in doing this. I know it would help me ....
                                            OT'S still learning....

[the old trucker]

   Dave I have an idea. I don't know if it is stupid or not but here goes. If the new diff you have was just the right size, couldn't you leave the brake drums & shoes attached ?? Then plum in two master cylinders so you could have steering brakes for use on icy surfaces...
   Look up (Drivetrain) & look at page 2, start @ Reply # 16. It will show what I'm talking about.

                                                                                     OT.


   

[Cranman]

Don't know if he comes on here in summer but stuckinslush (Darrell) used a diff from a ford explorer and it even bolted up to his sprockets. I think he had to put spacers in when he took the rotors off but it was perfect and the ratio was great for his woodie. That is a pretty tough diff apparently.

[the old trucker]

   Dave.... How are you doing with your new differential ?? Get it put in yet ??

                                                    A nosey OT.

[dpaulson]

I ordered a ARB air locker from a California company.  They say it is still on back order after 2 months.  I'm to call again this Friday.  I hope that I havn't been taken.  I've got the 4.86 pinion and motive gears as well as the rebuild bearings and gaskets, so as soon as I receive the  locker, I'll will be installing it.  I also have a better windshield wiper setup to install (a 2 wiper system with 1 motor). Only about 4 months and winter is here.

[dpaulson]

The air locker and compressor finally showed up today.  Hopefully in the next couple of weeks I'll get it installed into the diff.  I've got some reading to do on how to get the gears set up properly.

[dpaulson]

Got a couple hours in, well actually closer to a day and a  half .  I installed the new motive and pinion gears which is 4.86 and the ARB air locker.  Setup wasn't too bad.  The Ford 9" is supposed to be the easiest for a beginner to set up.

[dpaulson]

Diff is back together.  Locker verified no air leaks and engages.  Made new mounting brackets to get welded on the tube.  Now just to pull the bombardier out of storage and install.  I will need to make new adapters to mount the sprockets on as this diff has a different bolt pattern as well as the offset need to keep the sprocket inline with the wheels.