dodge rear end rebuild

[chicknnhead]

Well this past week I decided it was time to take the rearend apart and see what I might find after I noticed one side had leaky axle. I use the MH every year in august to pull a good size trailer for a good distance. so i wanted to give my self plenty of time since i leave in 4 weeks

On a normal camping weekend this is us

So last Wednesday I tore into it.
The passenger side is the one that has the leaky axle seal that started the whole thing.
You can see from the center cap (simulator removed, playing with wheel ideas, another post for another time) all the axle grease.

Got the drum off and brakes were about 50% worn which I was happy to see, because I had not checked them in the 14 years I have owned them. (I had replaced the rear springs with new and added bilstien shocks but never touched inside rearend)But bearings and races were good. Pulled the inner seal, washed inner and outer bearings and replaced with new seal.
Old

New


Installed new wheel cylinder and new shoes.

Rtv the end of the axle and re installed



Here are some pics I took of the wheel cylinder part numbers as they are sided, and the inner seal part numbers(which are not sided)



Now for the other side

After pulling drums, brakes not too bad, but upon pulling them part the wheel cylinder just started leaking and one of the springs broke. So new hard ware kit for that side as well


Then when inspecting the drum, the outter bearing was bad and of course time to change the inner seal
Inner seal replaced

Bearing race was junk so time to replace along with bearing
Old race for outter bearing

New race installed

Drum back in, before axle tube installed

Little wider shot, this pics makes it looks like there is a big 6x6 under the spring on the ground, it is not, it was used with floor jack and I just left it there when removed the jack
Two 6 ton jack stands sitting on steal plates, one in rear, and one towards front(out of picture)
Safety is the key on these old rigs


Next was on to complete rear end fluid change, 90w gear oil, as the cover was leaking as well, removed cover, cleaned it, new gasket, then cleaned rear end and reinstalled cover. Refrilled, took 3.5 quarts and Iââ,¬â,,¢m going to check it again this week just to double check


Part number is for rear end seal

Dodge calls them spicer 70, the seal is listed as dana 70

All in all the project took me 3 days because parts had to be ordered as I found things I wasnââ,¬â,,¢t expecting (bad bearing and race). Had about $300 in parts could have done better as far as price but used my local parts place because they get out the books for me and i get to double check what i'm getting against the part numbers i have(when i have them). plus it allows my to pick part number of brands i know and trust. so i stuck with Timken and national bearing



but at least now I can say I know what has been done. hope some of this helps you on your project

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Well done!  I remember doing that job on The Ark years ago...with a Dodge chassis (although it was a class A 1972 with a 413 engine).  It was a big job and those drums were heavy!  And I had to take the drums off twice, because my attempted repair on the dust seals on the wheel cylinders was a dismal failure, and I ended up putting new wheel cylinders on that I got from Alretta. 

Great job and thanks for the pictures!

Kev

[Shawn62]

Outstanding!!!   Nice looking rig.   Awesome photos.
Thanks for sharing.

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

FYI for those curious,
That Class C rear end and brake setup is essentially the same design used on 1974 and later Dodge M300 and M400 chassis Class A rigs.

[chicknnhead]

Well done!  I remember doing that job on The Ark years ago...with a Dodge chassis (although it was a class A 1972 with a 413 engine).  It was a big job and those drums were heavy!  And I had to take the drums off twice, because my attempted repair on the dust seals on the wheel cylinders was a dismal failure, and I ended up putting new wheel cylinders on that I got from Alretta. 

Great job and thanks for the pictures!

Kev

Yes they are not light by any means, hoping to do the job only once but we all make mistakes

Outstanding!!!   Nice looking rig.   Awesome photos.
Thanks for sharing.

Thanks

FYI for those curious,
That Class C rear end and brake setup is essentially the same design used on 1974 and later Dodge M300 and M400 chassis Class A rigs.

Good to know! Mine is 76 so that makes sense. I used to run across a few class A at the junk yards, but not any in the last 5/6 years