Wheel bearing meltdown.........

[Ratman]

BTW a gear/guts swap aint bad on a 14 bolt. way easier than a Dana.

Is it because of the ease of being able to adjust the pinion? I've never done a 14 personally, -done lots and lots of 44's, and a couple 60's, -they are definitely not high on my fun-list.

I also remember the 14FF carrier having spanner nuts??

 

[bk95td]

Think the OBS trucks had the same diffs...
http://miami.craigslist.org/brw/cto/2492243638.html

Too bad you don't live around here. tons of Junk Yards.

OBS has different spring mount width.
$1400 is crazy price. I think $4-600 is average around here

 

[Acesneights1]

Spring mount width is nothing. Real easy to mover those. what counts is backing plate to backing plate width.

 

[Acesneights1]

Is it because of the ease of being able to adjust the pinion? I've never done a 14 personally, -done lots and lots of 44's, and a couple 60's, -they are definitely not high on my fun-list.

I also remember the 14FF carrier having spanner nuts??

Yep and yep. when I used to do alot of Dana 60's I actually took an old set of carrier bearings and honed them out till they slid on and off without a puller to set the backlash and then once I had it I would press the new ones on. Same for the pinion. Then check it. Usually worked pretty good. Don't need to do that with a 14 bolt. Wayyy easier. I just did the backlash on my 93 when I yanked the carrier out for inspection. All you really need is some white grease or dekkum blue and a decent dial ind with a mag mount.
I never owned a Pinion Depth tool although I certainly coveted one.

 

[Ratman]

Yep and yep. when I used to do alot of Dana 60's I actually took an old set of carrier bearings and honed them out till they slid on and off without a puller to set the backlash and then once I had it I would press the new ones on. Same for the pinion. Then check it. Usually worked pretty good. Don't need to do that with a 14 bolt. Wayyy easier. I just did the backlash on my 93 when I yanked the carrier out for inspection. All you really need is some white grease or dekkum blue and a decent dial ind with a mag mount.
I never owned a Pinion Depth tool although I certainly coveted one.

Funny you mention honing carrier bearings to make them slip-fit, -I did the same thing! The part I had problems with was on my first two 44's trying to get the dang carrier back in without the case spreader, -that sucked bigtime. I never quite understood why they run so much bearing preload, -always seemed excessive to me, -but what do I know. I set several up on the loose side with little to no preload, -and they seemed to work just fine.

Thanks for the info..

 

[Acesneights1]

Forgot about that, yeah that was a bitch. I didn't have one either. Dumb setup. GM 14bolt way better.

 

[Yachtcare]

Was able to clean up the spindle, then had to find a replacement hub as the race had spun inside of it. Put humpty back together again. But now getting an occasional snapping sound from what sounds like the front (pinion/yoke) area of the differential. Anyone ever do a pinion bearing swap on one of these, how tuff is it?

I'm back on the road, but will likely have to replace the rear sometime soon, if the bearing swap isnt a relatively simple operation. At least I have a little time to do some shopping, and consider some possible upgrades........maybe a 14 FF with discs?, something a bit more robust, like a Dana 70/80? any suggestions. I have that disease that doesnt allow me to replace something without upgrading at the same time.:rolleyes5:

 

[3500GMC]

.... Put humpty back together again..... But now getting an occasional snapping sound from what sounds like the front (pinion/yoke) area of the differential.....

HA I use the same name for my jalopies, whenever I'm asked what I am doing to one of my trucks, I say, 'Oh, puttin' Humpty Dumpty back on the wall.'

Yacht you might check the CV's first. They like to pop and crack too.

 

[Yachtcare]

Yacht you might check the CV's first. They like to pop and crack too.

Before I drove the truck after the spindle cleanup, I put the rear up on jackstands and let 'em spin to give things a bit of "run in" before going around the block. The front CV's werent moving, so I can rule those out.......

The noise is definatly coming from the area of the diff. Checked the usual suspects, u-joints, center carrier bearing, looked for loose weights on the drive shaft, etc. Louder on the front side of the diff, than the rear. Why I suspect the bearing up there. After a few days of driving, and some Lucas stabilizer added to the diff, the noise is quite a bit less, but still present. I'm sure it is on borrowed time.......