Yesterday and today was a game of musical front ends. I jacked up the dually frame and removed the Dana 60 axle.
I did the same with the ramcharger, removing the dinky Dana 44 full time half-ton front end. I installed the half-ton front under the dually frame so I could set it back down, then I went to work on removing the Dana 44 from the creww-cab frame. I moved all the axles with the springs. This would put the one-ton springs in the crew cab and the 3/4 ton springs with the 5" lift in the ramcharger.
I ran into a problem trying to remove the right front spring hanger bolt. The bolt had rusted in the sleve and I coul not break it loose with any hammer in the shop. I ended up using the cutting torch to remove the bolt head and thread end, then bore out the bolt far enough to drop the spring out. Luckily, I had a couple of spare polyeurethane (sp) bushings, a sleve and bolt on the shelf.
On the outside I mangled the hole a bit. The inside was perfect. It worked out okay, because I had to drill out the holes for the 5/8ths bolt required for the 1-ton springs.
Here is the 3/4 ton dana 44 in the front of the Ramchrger with the 5" springs and 35" tires. When I get the front axle back from M&H machine, I will be replacing this axle with the much beefier Dana 60. This will also change the gearing from 4:10 to 3:54.
Not quite the same angle, but a comparisson photo.
I did the same with the ramcharger, removing the dinky Dana 44 full time half-ton front end. I installed the half-ton front under the dually frame so I could set it back down, then I went to work on removing the Dana 44 from the creww-cab frame. I moved all the axles with the springs. This would put the one-ton springs in the crew cab and the 3/4 ton springs with the 5" lift in the ramcharger.
I ran into a problem trying to remove the right front spring hanger bolt. The bolt had rusted in the sleve and I coul not break it loose with any hammer in the shop. I ended up using the cutting torch to remove the bolt head and thread end, then bore out the bolt far enough to drop the spring out. Luckily, I had a couple of spare polyeurethane (sp) bushings, a sleve and bolt on the shelf.
On the outside I mangled the hole a bit. The inside was perfect. It worked out okay, because I had to drill out the holes for the 5/8ths bolt required for the 1-ton springs.
Here is the 3/4 ton dana 44 in the front of the Ramchrger with the 5" springs and 35" tires. When I get the front axle back from M&H machine, I will be replacing this axle with the much beefier Dana 60. This will also change the gearing from 4:10 to 3:54.
Not quite the same angle, but a comparisson photo.
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