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Question on "Complete" front differential assembly

evolve991

evolve991

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I'm looking at a military surplus front differential assembly and I can tell it comes caliper to caliper with drag and center link but I was wondering if ball joints are also attached to the unit independant of the truck frame/body or if they stay when my front diffy is dropped. Forgive me for possibly an obvious question, been a long week already and I don't feel like crawling in the dark right now :D
 
If its got the hubs/brakes, it's got ball joints. Ball joints hold the steering knuckles on which in turn hold the spindles and hubs. The knuckles also hold the brake backing plates for the calipers.
 
D60?

Is it a used take out or true uninstalled surplus in a crate? The crate axles I've seen didn't have a drag link, can't remember if they had the tie rod. Crate axles also don't have locking hubs, just plugs covering the end of the bearing b snout.
 
Big Dan that's exactly what I was hoping!
Nvr it's a corp 10 on a military site that someone posted about on here for NOS hoods. Description says new in crate,may have surface rust, pic shows tie rod to tie rod. The place is an hour from me and I'll most likely be working in that area in the near future so I can check it out I was just hoping ,wishful thinking?,that someone here would have knowledge on it.
Being military supplies I assumed it would be ready for a fast swapout in the motor pool
 
If it's a 10 bolt it should be a typical 6 lug, 3:08 axle (I'm not aware of the military using any GM 3/4 ton, 8 lug axles). Since it's new it'd be good stuff if you need it but I'd be careful of how much you spend on it.
 
Yup it says it's 6 lug 3;08s which is just fine with me. 400 bucks doesnt seem too bad when looking at all 4 ball joints,calipers,rotors,spindles,etc seperately. And swapping it on whole sure beats the rebuild method I was dreading. With a lower front ratio I can go with my crazy 'muscle car' stance I wanted...bigger tires on back LOL
 
It's all about what it's worth to you. The reality is you can't hardly give away used 3.08 10 bolt axles. 400 would go a long ways towards a 60 or a set of used 3/4 ton axles with better gears. Although speaking as someone who did ball joints, bearings, and seals on an axle, that process is a PITA.
 
paratrooper307 said:
It's all about what it's worth to you. The reality is you can't hardly give away used 3.08 10 bolt axles. 400 would go a long ways towards a 60 or a set of used 3/4 ton axles with better gears. Although speaking as someone who did ball joints, bearings, and seals on an axle, that process is a PITA.
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Yeah the 3.08s are definitely the down side in this, I was simply looking at the convenience of the entire unit being ready to bolt up, But you do have a good point, 400 would give me a big jump if I could find a good 3.42 or even 3.73 unit and do the ball joints, etc before bolting it all up underneath the 'burban. My truck needs ball joints soon, u joints are shot, suspect a damaged spindle on one side and locking hubs are toast because the mess-chanic beat the gears in with a hammer so I have NO 4WD and winter is coming........
 
It's a tough spot to be in. I was lucky to find a set of 3/4 ton axles with 4.10s with the bonus of a rear gov lock and a lockrite in the front for $150, but they needed work. I ended up having to get brake drums, pinion seals, new pinion and carrier bearings in the rear, and all new seals, bearings, u joints, and ball joints in the front. Probably another 300 bucks in parts (plus my own labor) and then I had to get 8 lug wheels. The benefit of 8 lug axles (other than strength) is that they are usually a minimum ratio of 3.73. If you just need something to roll under there for winter, you might just want to look around craigslist or the salvage yards and pick up a complete six lug in decent shape, and save the money for a better axle or regearing down the road. It all depend on what you plan on using the truck for. If you're going to leave it as it, 400 might be worth it to not worry about replacing parts or running into a time crunch with the weather.
 
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It's my DD/Workbeast. It has to roll every day and I have no buddies with tow dollies these days:dunno: in case anything goes sideways on us. The higher ratio in front happens to not be a problem for me because I had the silly,unpopular notion to run bigger meat on back like the old muscle car maniacs did ( I had L 60s on back and F 78s on front of my 70 Skylark :saweet:) and the 308s are just a little more than the 342s in tire size drop....say 33's and 235s....
The other parts need changed last month....ball joints,front axle u joints,hub locks....even if I have to buy new locks it's better than my spindles which my inlaw helper trashed when he beat the hub guts in with a hammer. So the price vs downtime and knucklebusting equal out fine for me
 
paratrooper307 said:
Although speaking as someone who did ball joints, bearings, and seals on an axle, that process is a PITA.
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Really? When I rebuilt my outers I thought it was lots easier than swapping out axles. :dunno:

If that's a military surplus axle, with 30-year-old grease in all the moving parts, you might want to tear it down for new seals & fluids anyway. It's not "new" anymore.
 
Good point campfire. Hadn't occurred to me. This is exactly why I ask questions on the forum, sometimes I overthink the obvious.
 
evolve991 said:
Good point campfire. Hadn't occurred to me. This is exactly why I ask questions on the forum, sometimes I overthink the obvious.
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One of Larry's trucks got a NIB military axle (perhaps a pair?), and he described the old lubricant as a film of varnish, IIRC. Complete lube service required.

If your differential internals are working, it's not hard to change the outers. Spindles, U-joints, lockouts...probably takes less time than switching the whole thing out, even if you did find a perfectly rebuilt axle. And that saves having to reset the alignment when you're done, too.
 
campfire said:
Really? When I rebuilt my outers I thought it was lots easier than swapping out axles. :dunno:

If that's a military surplus axle, with 30-year-old grease in all the moving parts, you might want to tear it down for new seals & fluids anyway. It's not "new" anymore.
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Well, in my case I had to rebuild the axles I'd bought and then swap them with the ones on the truck. They were old and had sat out, so they were full of gunk, and ball joints were rusted in, etc. You make a valid point that if it's an old surplus axle it will need servicing anyway.
 
evolve991 said:
Good point campfire. Hadn't occurred to me. This is exactly why I ask questions on the forum, sometimes I overthink the obvious.
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Go rent/borrow the ball joint press from the local auto parts store. Thats the nice way to do it
 
Glad I asked about this idea. As far as I know the differential is fine, I hardly ran 4 wheel at all before the hubs were destroyed. I knew it needed u joints then. I had the lower balljoints replaced way back but they were the cheapies. So I'm back to looking at 4 balls joints,u joints,rotors hubs and locks.....and a decent place to do the job with winter coming......:doah:
 
OK next question. Any good sites for good parts at decent prices? I'm always window shopping for my wish list but open to ideas
 
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