Anyone swap in a real front axle ??

[darwink1]

Ok, maybe this truck is just pissing me off and maybe ive only owned solid axle trucks with real bearings and king pins but this is getting to be annoying.

This truck is my dd. I dont tow and I dont really wheel it but im going through front end parts like a mofo. Stupid assed unit bearing/ball joint crap, wtf is this shit doing on a "heavy duty" truck? Garbage is what it is.

Now that the rant is over, has anyone swapped a real axle like a king pin dana 60 under a pw? If so what did you get it out of? Im starting to think it might be smarter to start collecting parts for said swap now for when this pos set up eats it again (which will be in what, another year?).

If you know of any links to builds that have gone this route please post em up and maybe save a pw from getting burned to the ground in the near future.

Thanks in advance.

D

[Cactus Red]

It would be cheaper to upgrade what you already have. Free spin hubs and high quality aftermarket ball joints are available from multiple companies. Do some searching here to find some really nicely done axles.

Mark

Sent via Carrier Pigeon

[darwink1]

You really think it would be cheaper in the long run? Even if I spent 5 -700 on the axle and another grand on locker and gears that would add up to the cost of just the free spin kit (last I checked that kit alone was 1500). Id be doing all the bracket building and welding myself and a ruffstuff gm 1 ton tie rod and steering kit can be had for 4-500.

Ive just had it with the craptastic unit bearings and ball joints. I have a d60 kp on my fj60 land cruiser with the gm tie rods and have had no problems for the last 4 years. This is with 40 inch tires a locker and some fairly heavy wheeling. My other land cruisers also sport toyotas version of a king pin set up and I have yet to mess with any of them, shit some of the axles ive worked on with that are 30 yrs old are still tight.

Ill look into the options you mentioned and add it all up, thanks for the reply. If you could point me to a thread where all of these upgrades have been done that would be cool.



D

[TwinStick]

http://www.rcvperformance.com/product-d ... JAAM-D2535

http://www.dynatrac.com/products/freesp ... dodge.html

http://www.carlisuspension.com/dodge-ra ... truss.html

http://www.carlisuspension.com/dodge-ra ... ndkit.html

weld the axle tubes to the diff housing & you should be set.


All it takes is


http://www.dynatrac.com/products/axles/ ... ml#prorock

[darwink1]

Lol. So 2300 plus shipping for the rcv axles which btw look exactly like factory toyota axles, 2400 plus shipping for the free spin kit, 800 plus shipping for some axle truss, and 1400 plus shipping for the carli bj kit....

So without that truss im looking at 6100$ plus shipping to upgrade my "heavy duty" axle on my daily driver. Wow. Now I know for damn sure I can swap in a 60 for a hell of a lot cheaper than that if it came down to it.

The only things id actually be interested in are the free spin kit and carli bj kit but were lookin at 3800 bucks. Plus shipping of course. Burning it is sounding better and better.

Thanks for the links.

Fawking dodge. Why cant they (every manufacturer) build em like they used to? Anyone want an 06 pw? Has an all new front end man! Cheap!

D

[06wagon]

If it's a reg cab G56 truck, I'm interested!!!! Lol

You can make your own free spin kit using OBS ford knuckles.

[darwink1]

Nah its a quad cab dealie.

Tell me more about the ford knuckles, thats the kind of thing id be interested in doing. Screw this fifty thousand dollars to make a front end last longer thing.

D

[06wagon]

I know you could do it to the Dana 60's for a ford/dodge. And I believe the knuckles out are still very similar to the Dana 60's.

You would use all OBS ford parts from the ball joints out and use ford stub shafts.

That's about all I can say right now without doing some more reading. I'm sure for our trucks, that you'd have an abs light on for the wheel speed sensor....

[05PWrockcrawler]

Ok since you don't wheel it heavy all you need is a Yukon free spin kit around $1500 and some dynatrac ball joints around $600. Have both these items on my truck on 40" tires that I wheel on the regular and beat on it pretty hard and they are holding up great. Just a suggestion. Lot easier than swapping whole axle out and getting everything set up right like steering, suspension, abs, driveshaft, etc you get the point. Good luck.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk/hopefully somewhere Offroad!

[TwinStick]

http://www.torqaxle.com/

[nts007]

I understand your beef with the balljoint setup ad yes there has been steering issues but why would you do or even need to go that far. The unit bearings are actually very reliable and miserable at the same time but they only cost a few hundred bucks. And I've seen some last 60k and others that lasted 300k. If you don't wheel really hard why do you need to go that far. A set of dynatrac or carli balljoints will fix that issue and a good set of spicer u joints would be more than you would need. You already have the lockers and the gears. Do you jump your truck on a regular basis to need a truss? If so any axle you build will need it. Balljoints and bearings fail on all vehicles. These trucks are not little Toyotas and jeeps. They are 8000 pound 3/4 ton trucks that can take a massive amount of beating and work and still get you home. the parts are much bigger and stronger but they still fail. Whatever you own will need repairs. It seems your only upset that the parts cost money. Go price out one of those lcd touch screen control systems for an import. If that fails you are screwed. And it's thousands to replace. Buy good parts and the truck will serve you well. We all hate when parts break but that's life. If you believe that the powerwagon was done poorly then you are driving the wrong vehicle

[darwink1]

Dude, I know the pw was built wrong man. Anyone that uses plastic in the bj s that hold the weight of a truck is wrong. Plastic cages for the unit bearings are wrong. Cheezing out and making wires too short so they break when you open and close your door too much is wrong. Im not necessarily just bitching about this truck in particular, its every new vehicle and I realise that.

Spending money on regular maintenance isnt my beef either but like I said its just a dd and its eating front ends at an alarming rate. I dont think its right that a person who bought a heavy duty truck would have to spend a ton of extra cash on aftermarket parts just to keep it on the road and reliable. This is stuff that should have been noticed by the manufacturer during r&d, if anyone still actually does that.

The toyotas I keep referring to are not the little mini trucks they are the heavy land cruiser type things. Not realy comparable to a jeep either since those are woefully underbuilt as well. My little jeep like fj40
comes with 9.5" axles stock not tiny little dana 30s or half breed dana "44" s.

Yes I know I bought the wrong truck, shoulda just been happy with what I had but hey we all make mistakes we have to live with. Thanks for the replies guys, next time I need to overhaul ill heed your advice and upgrade at least the bj s and see how that goes.

D

[Skyd Ram]

Like others have posted,
You can solve a majority of the issues with a Free Spin Kit, Dynatrac or Carli Ball Joints, and a set of Spicer Axle joints. All that should run you a bit over $2600 shipped to the lower 48. It can all be installed in a weekend.

Swapping in a KingPin Dana 60 would definitely be a strong option but by the time your rebuilt it from hub to hub, added 4.56 gears and a selectable locker, and built all custom bracketry for it you would be far over that in parts cost not to mention a whole lot more labor. You would still need to figure out a some custom work for the front abs sensors to keep all of the computers happy too.

[leo72987]

I get what you're saying you're used to older tech, tried, proven, and simple no doubt. To be fair this aam 9.25 spec for spec is very similar to 60 minus the strength of the kingpins obv. But like many have done you could upgrade to dyna trac ball joints for like $600 and most likely never have to touch them again. Like you mentioned you don't wheel very much. I spend most of my time playing on the rocks and I just have simple little Napa Ball joints LOL. I haven't had many issues, i'm rocking Moog Wheel bearings because of the warranty however I haven't had them on the truck very long so can't say much. If I had the cash I would do this

http://www.ringpinion.com/b2c/ProductDe ... DiffWizard

and then

http://www.dieselpowerproducts.com/p-56 ... mmins.aspx

and be done with it. You're looking at $2401 I really don't think it's worth it if you don't wheel or do anything crazy with the truck. What are you using for wheel hub assembly's and ball joints currently?

Vs a Dodge Dana 60 it has thicker axle shafts and 33 spline outers I believe. I don't know You're swapping a 1 ton axle for a 1 ton axle just to get rid of the sealed hub and ball joints. If you go this route be sure to take pictures would love to see the swap as i'm curious

[djgaston]

I didn't put one under a Power Wagon, but we did build a truck with a Kingpin 60 out of a 79 Ford and they aren't as beefy as people think. You have to upgrade the lug bolts to the larger size, then the shafts are actually smaller than the factory half ton shafts in 2nd gens, so you have to upgrade those. They neck down for some reason and are freaking tiny. Kingpins are cool but a quality set of ball joints is not going to let you down. Like others have said, that's just the beginning. When you swap axles, you are going to need new steering, new driveshaft or at least a conversion joint, you'll have to weld on all of the brackets for the arms and coils and shocks and track bar, and then you'll need a selectable locker and gears, and you're probably going to need new hubs anyway unless the axle you find has already upgraded them from the factory manual hubs. Oh and new brakes, and then adapting that to your brake system... plus you need tone rings for the ABS unless you want to delete that system and deal with the light on the dash. On our straight axle swap project, when it was all said and done, I think we were in about $3500 on that front axle with my wholesale purchase prices, and while it never gave us any problems, neither have upgraded Dodge D60s or AAM 925s. For a custom setup, the HP60 is great, but I sure wouldn't swap one in place of an AAM 925. You are already ahead by just having the correct axle under there. Just upgrade it and you'll be good to go. It will cost WAY less, trust me (and everyone else who is posting the same thing). You have to do an apples to apples comparison. If you find a HP60 for less than $1200 it's gonna need some work, plan on that. Just to get it to bolt under the truck is going to cost a ton of money, let alone all of the aftermarket parts you'll want for it. I had a customer swap one in recently, I'll have to ask him how much his swap ended up costing. He did it mostly for the high pinion (it went under a 2nd gen).

If you hate the front axle THAT much, I would sell the truck and buy an older 2nd gen without ABS, swap in the HP60, and build it the way you want it. You could build the whole truck for what you sell your Power Wagon for.

[05PWrockcrawler]

Hey if you do swap the front axle I get first dibs on that junky AAM 9.25!!!! That way you can re coop some cash. Not too much though they are junk that's why I need a spare!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk/hopefully somewhere Offroad!

[06wagon]

Hey if you do swap the front axle I get first dibs on that junky AAM 9.25!!!! That way you can re coop some cash. Not too much though they are junk that's why I need a spare!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk/hopefully somewhere Offroad!

Lol. That's why I have a spare in my shop!!!

I also have a custom 10.5 rear set up for extreme lift!!!

[darwink1]

Yeah, the swap would be work but I am set up to do it if thats what it came to. You guys have convinced me to just upgrade the bj s and be happy with it though. I honestly dont even drive much compared to the average guy, 7km one way to work aint much but thats also why im so disappointed. This truck is lucky to see 10 000 km / year and in the summer it gets used less as my fj60 gets driven.

Who knows after winter is over I may sell it and go back to an 80 series land cruiser as a dd. That was the most bullet proof rig ive ever owned and im sorry I sold the damn thing. Only problem with that its its an suvan and not a truck.... Meh.

D

[TrueCowboy426]

It's weird that you have so many problems with your front end. I have 207,000kms (129k miles) on my truck and I've only replaced the ball joints once about 100,000kms ago, and one unit bearing and it wasn't bad (just slightly rough), but I had the front apart anyway so I replaced it. I'm even on the original old Y type steering and it's tight.

[RustyPW]

I've done the Carli ball-joint, Dynatrack freespin hubs, and RCV axle mod. There is a thread over on DT about what I did. I've abused the crap out of it too with NO problems.

[05PWrockcrawler]

That's the ticket RustyPW. Very happy with those mods on mine also.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk/hopefully somewhere Offroad!

[06wagon]

It's weird that you have so many problems with your front end. I have 207,000kms (129k miles) on my truck and I've only replaced the ball joints once about 100,000kms ago, and one unit bearing and it wasn't bad (just slightly rough), but I had the front apart anyway so I replaced it. I'm even on the original old Y type steering and it's tight.

I'm the same way.... I've only done 1 unit bearing. Old style steering.... And a lot of weight hanging off the front!!

[TwinStick]

Or.............You could just do this.......for about $2.00.

http://www.dodgetalk.com/forums/showpos ... ostcount=1

[2wagons1driveway]

The dynatrac bj's and some decent u joints may save your wheel bearings. also maybe add a grease zerk to the bearings. Free spin is ideal and will obviously extend your u joint life if you leave it free spinning also save some prop shaft wear too. As for the front end bending-don't smash whoops and jump it if it's your DD.

not that I've had to do any extensive work to my 12' front end......


Sent from somewhere your not

[garyrobert]

I'm not an expert by no means but I do know lack of use is a big enemy of front end parts. As a truck driver I drive my truck on weekends one little rust spot in a sealed bearing eats them up in no time!