Dodge front end issue.
Hello everyone!!!, It has been a long minute. I am posting this as a safety issue and I hope the forum will see it this way also. I have an early model Dodge dually, (2002), with a Cummings diesel. Th...
Forum Discussion
The two biggest woes with the Dodge Dana 60 live front axle (Generation II, 2002 and prior) are:
1. Poor track bar design. Way too weak for the job it needs to do.
2. Legendary poor 'unit bearing' design of the outers on a Dana 60.
I have had no trouble with all the woes as described above except the track bar, which I retrofitted to a Gen IV design with that great big NBW on the upper end. It may look like overkill, but if it lasts through all the off-roading I do, I'm happy. All my bushings on the four link were toast after 150K miles.
I recently replaced all four links to the front axle with a compact, rubber bushing, zerked design. So far so good.
The next upgrade, now that I can afford it, is the selectable hub, complete front bearing replacement with 35 spline outers and the ability to cut the rotation of the axles when in 2WD. All the parts are serviceable with off-the-shelf parts. The bearing sets are bigger Timken and farther apart in the hub. This should be the upgrade for a D60 I've been looking for for years. The only reason Chrysler used those unserviceable, useless unit bearings it that they were easy to install at the factory and that impressed the bean counters. Probably saved them $0.21 per unit.
The reason I bought a 2001.5 Dodge 2500, 4WD is certainly not because of the Dodge nameplate but the legendary Cummins TD. No wire. No upgrades (except one to allow the turbo to kick in sooner). Now at 150,000 miles and just pulling into stride.
So far, so good.
jefe
1. Poor track bar design. Way too weak for the job it needs to do.
2. Legendary poor 'unit bearing' design of the outers on a Dana 60.
I have had no trouble with all the woes as described above except the track bar, which I retrofitted to a Gen IV design with that great big NBW on the upper end. It may look like overkill, but if it lasts through all the off-roading I do, I'm happy. All my bushings on the four link were toast after 150K miles.
I recently replaced all four links to the front axle with a compact, rubber bushing, zerked design. So far so good.
The next upgrade, now that I can afford it, is the selectable hub, complete front bearing replacement with 35 spline outers and the ability to cut the rotation of the axles when in 2WD. All the parts are serviceable with off-the-shelf parts. The bearing sets are bigger Timken and farther apart in the hub. This should be the upgrade for a D60 I've been looking for for years. The only reason Chrysler used those unserviceable, useless unit bearings it that they were easy to install at the factory and that impressed the bean counters. Probably saved them $0.21 per unit.
The reason I bought a 2001.5 Dodge 2500, 4WD is certainly not because of the Dodge nameplate but the legendary Cummins TD. No wire. No upgrades (except one to allow the turbo to kick in sooner). Now at 150,000 miles and just pulling into stride.
So far, so good.
jefe
