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Score... or money pit?

Pedestrian

Bronco Missionary
Joined
Sep 10, 2008
Messages
2,299
I just obtained a front Dana 60 from a 2004 Dodge 1 ton, for free.
The only problem is it is bent.
Am I opening a huge bag of worms?
Can this be repaired?
Any recommendations would be appreciated.
 
OP
OP
Pedestrian

Pedestrian

Bronco Missionary
Joined
Sep 10, 2008
Messages
2,299
Appears to be bent at the housing itself, both axles angled upwards. It's not cracked, but you can see where the plug welds have moved. The truck it came out of was a Cummins that was driven HARD thru the desert.
It is bent enough to put the spiders in a bind, especially in turns. Other than a howl, the axle functions normally.
 

sprdv1

Contributor
REBEL
Joined
Mar 8, 2007
Messages
81,734
Well hopefully that isn't too much of an issue.. :(
 

ep67bro

Contributor
Bronco Junky
Joined
Aug 28, 2008
Messages
3,644
Loc.
Easton, MD
Junk it! The can of worms this could open is huge. Dana 60s are not that hard to find It would be worth the money to get one that is not bent.
 

broncnaz

Bronco Guru
Joined
May 22, 2003
Messages
24,341
use it for parts if you even trust it that far. plain and simple its been abused. It might be fixable but I'm not sure how much it would cost. Depending on how its fixed I would probably consider bracing it as the tubes and housing are probably already weakened. Might be good for a trail rig that never sees hiway speeds.
 

Hal9000

Bronco Guru
Joined
Oct 12, 2008
Messages
1,324
Loc.
Flagstaff, AZ
Junk it! The can of worms this could open is huge. Dana 60s are not that hard to find It would be worth the money to get one that is not bent.

OR, use this golden opportunity to learn a new skill. What have you got to lose except your research time and some minor material costs. If you're not happy enough with the repair to use it, I bet you could throw it on craigslist for $75 or $100 and sell it easily even if your honest about the condition.

I've seen several alignment shops adjust alignment on some trucks by putting the rig on a lift and physically bending the axles/knuckles with a chain/block/prybar setup. Depending on how thoroughly its bent, you could probably use a similar method to bring things back into alignment then seam weld the tubes at the pumpkin.
 
OP
OP
Pedestrian

Pedestrian

Bronco Missionary
Joined
Sep 10, 2008
Messages
2,299
Thanks for the suggestion Hal.
Seeing as I don't have the money to buy another one, or have this one professionally repaired, I will try to repair this.
If it didn't fail under the diesel, I doubt it will cause any catastophe under the Bronco.
I'm thinking chain the knuckles to a length of I-beam and 20 ton bottle jack under the pumpkin. Get it squared and then weld the tubes and brace.
 
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