Can right and left rear axles be swapped?

LJ-TJ · May 13, 2009, 08:20 PM

Will the left axel on the rear end of a 75 Dodge fit the right side of the 75 Dodge rear end or is there a left axel and right axel?

Slantsixness · May 13, 2009, 09:54 PM

good one TJ!

The answer is:
YESAs long as it is a 1973-77 Dana 60 (R-30, RM350,M300) and has not been modified, it should have the 3732 948 axle shafts.

Why do you want to swap them? or do you have one that's bent and can only find the opposite side in a junkyard?
either way... it'll work.

angrybreadbox73 · May 13, 2009, 09:57 PM

what you need to do to figure out tis dilema is first measure both axles to see if they are equal lengths then of the splines are the same you may be able to swap

Slantsixness · May 13, 2009, 10:13 PM

I should also mention that you need a "Dana 60" rear axle, NOT a "Dana 60F" Careful here.... Ford rears have offsets and different axles!!! Be sure the junk yard dog is a R or M series Dodge chassis...

Secondly, it's a really good idea to replace all bearings and seals, at least on the affected side (might be why the axle bent or sheared in the first place??!!).
Being at a junkyard, it would be helpful to go ahead and take the axle nuts off the brake drum too, heck maybe even the brake drum if they'll let it go cheeeep) (because they're hard to find) It will also help to take the conical inserts with the "new" axle, and use them, since they have been seated in that shaft, you won't have any problems like craked cones or cones that don't seat. Sometimes, the flange will wear funny from being over or under tightened.

so...
What happened? is the vibration an out of round axle? Don't swap left and right sides just to see... take them out and roll them across a flat surface (except for the flange of course) if they roll true, and the splines on the insertion end are not twisted, that's not the problem.
If this is the case, check the drive shaft angle (important!) and the axle tube itself (yes that means completely disassembling the brakes). and Lastly, improperly installed brake drums can ruin your day too... check and see that you have not lost any of the balance wieghts on the brake drums... some newer drums have been balanced by drilling out material, so don't be too surprised if you don't see these... but if they're missing and they were there once upon a time, you'll see the remains of the spot welds where they were attached...

All right... I know you're not all that "in" to why it might not be your axle... but we were here before about your rear end vibration and shaking on the lift... I'm assuming here that that has not been completely resolved...

so now I'll catch my breath and wait for your input... after all, the simple answer was "yes" you can...

Tom

LJ-TJ · May 13, 2009, 10:21 PM

Why??? Well after several thousands of dollars on engines, transmissions, driveshafts, universals and a complete rebuild on the rear end I still have a vibration some where in the drive train. I thought it might be the alignment of the driveshaft between the tailstock on the tranny and yoke on the rear end so I took her to some folks who I really trust and specialize in springs etc. today only to have them say nota. Nothing they could do would eliminate the vibration. So the had it jacked up by the axels and ran it. The left rear duels would jump very slightly vertically. However something didn't look right with the driveshaft when it was running ( it was suppose to have been balanced and straightened

??) any way I'm going to trade it out tomorrow and see if that makes any different. But if not then I'm going to pull the rear axel and replace it with another one I have. There both dodge rear ends 74-75 and 318's. Oh! Ya! going down the road if you stand over the rear end you can feel the vibration, if you stand at the rear of the tranny it feels a little stronger. Also the vibration will go away at 3000 RPM but if you back off slightly you can bring the vibration back.

Slantsixness · May 13, 2009, 11:05 PM

at 3000 RPM, the vibration is simply at a differnt frequency and may only seem lessened. It's still there, just more tolerable.

my next guess: (if it's not a bent axle, and it sounds exactly like a bent axle, except for the driveshaft wierdness... but that could be coming from the bent axle and resonating through the driveshaft)

It could be as simple as the Yoke nut is loose or overtightened?...
or an improperly installed universal joint. espescially the front universal joint... but I'm sure that was changed and has been checked again and again too... but... "it's the simple things that cause the biggest headaches"

Bad tire(s)

or Rims???

LJ-TJ · May 13, 2009, 11:11 PM

>GRIN< How did I ever get along with out You. Geeeeee am I ever glad I asked.

Arberg0 · May 14, 2009, 12:30 AM

I had the same thing on my van in the uk in the end it turned out to be busted steel cords in the tyre causing the problem used to run out a little at a certain bit but checked out ok when you spun it by hand was only when we replaced the back wheels it stopped and we found out it was bad cords ...

arberg0 aka william

LJ-TJ · May 14, 2009, 09:22 PM

Update...... >

I pulled the driveshaft and replaced it with a spare with minim change......sooooo I put the old one back in. I pulled the axle shaft on the side that was bouncing which produced no change. So now nun of my ideas worked. So first thing tomorrow I'll jack her up and put a 4x4 about a 1/4" from the tires and see if any flat spots show up. I may call the tire place and see if there is some kind of warranty on the new tires even if there three years old with about a 1000 miles on them and see if I can work some kind of an exchange on them. Cause that's about all I can come up with.

Arberg0 · May 14, 2009, 10:20 PM

LG

were the springs ever taken off that rv and check out to see if it is something as simple as a broken leaf on a spring i know its a long shot but i have seen springs make noise on vans before due to loose or broken leaves or worn bushes on the hangers
just another train ofthought to think about

arberg0 aka william

Slantsixness · May 14, 2009, 11:35 PM

ok...
NEXT!

1. Tires? wheels... yeah maybe.. I mean it's simple enough, eh? Just switch the two on the left for the two on the right and see if anything changes. If it does... presto! one or both of the tires, or even the rims have bit you in the butt. (and cost you a fortune) If they are in fact bad... you should be able to duplicate the jumping on a wheel balancing machine, although it would be much less of a pronounced effect...
2. warped or bent axle tube (the housing I mean... bummer to change- but you can check it out without removing, just the bad news is if it's bent, you replace the entire housing.... no small task...)
3. Bad brake drum. (out of round, turned on a lathe when it wasn't true and is now way out of balance) This could also be a loose or damaged backing plate (where the barke shoes are mounted) or incorrectly installed brake hardware or adjusment...but you would hear or smell something wrong with a dragging pad, or feel a lope in the brake pedal when stopping.

Aside from that.... I feel for you guys.... I'd have pulled all my hair out by now.(oh.. that's right, I don't have much hair left anyway

...)

LJ-TJ · May 15, 2009, 12:07 AM

Yep! Well we put a gen set in and took her to the oldest and best spring shop with in 100 miles. They did the springs.They checked the angles on the tyranny universal drive shaft universal and yoke on the rear end and everything checked out. It looks like piss'n around with tires tomorrow. I'm out of ideas I've done all new rims. I now have a spare set of 6 16" rims. I don't know I'll try more stuff tomorrow and let you know what happens.

tiinytina · May 15, 2009, 06:54 AM

just my 2 cents on tires... from a chat with my mechanic several years ago. He said mother and daughter had 2 identical toyota camry's... he put the same brand etc tires on them at the same time... the mom's car developed bad vibration etc... switched tires for different brand... and no problems... don't know that with all the other issues the 1,000 miles you have had these tires that you felt the vibration or not.... usually there is a year and or mile limit on tire warranties (I have had to argue my case on a set I bought for my old car back in the 80's but I did win) so maybe you'll get lucky....

Tina

LJ-TJ · May 15, 2009, 07:40 AM

Ya no I really do appreciate all help.

denisondc · May 15, 2009, 07:45 AM

I lost track of this epic, so pls forgive if Im repeating old advice. I understand you can jack one side of the vehicle up so the wheels are off the ground, and while spinning the tires with the engine, have the tires/wheels jump up and down somewhat. (Thats the only direction the springs will let the axle move easily). Have you done the same test:
1. Without the tires/wheels, i.e. just the drums spinning on that side? (...will have to spin the drums to maybe 75 or 80 mph - which would show up on the speedo as 40 mph, since only the one side is turning.)
2. With only the drums, with only the wheels mounted, minus having tires on them. OR...
3. With only one of the two wheels mounted on the studs at a time?
4. Without tires/wheels and without the drum/hub mounted on the axle flange?

Dont discount the possibility that you have more than one 'imbalance', 'bent-ness' or 'out-of-round' contributing to cause the dilemma.
Plus: Its entirely possible for a tire to look nicely round when you are turning it slowly to measure it, but to be no-longer-round when turning at 600 rpm (60 mph) ....due to internal tire damage/fault....Or: If a tire has ever been inflated using an aerosol can of 'inflate-a-tire' goop - it is likely to be impossible to ever rebalance that tire until the goop has been thoroughly cleaned out.
Good Luck...

LJ-TJ · May 15, 2009, 12:19 PM

Ya! Thanks for that Denison. I'm really struggling with it because I've just spent over $1000.00 dollars on tires. But hey you guys could be right. If it turns out to be tires I'm going to really be >

ed. I have a donor bago with 17.5s on it and what I may do (when I get the strength) is pull them off...put them on mine and see what happens. I've just noticed that they have bent the sh $@!#@!t out of my stainless steel inserts taking them of and putting them on so that could be another possibility.

Arberg0 · May 15, 2009, 03:04 PM

now this is really getting interesting you said you spent $1000 on tyres .well i went to sears a couple of years ago and got a complete set of top of the range tyres on my wifes buick she had at the time cost me $800 and had nothing but problems with them . i took the car in the end to a mom and pop garage i had started to use and asked him to check it out here is what he found the rims were never cleaned before the tyres were seated so they always leaked one of the rims was not true and they were balanced wrong for the cost of $10 a tyre he removed cleaned and painted the rims and reseated the tyres .never a problem since and the cost of those tyres at $800 could have got same tyres of better from momand pop guy for a little over $400 guess were i have been going for the last few years i say if you find a good guy stick with him the little guy does offer better over the big guys and can be as good a deal as them
arberg0 william

LJ-TJ · May 15, 2009, 10:05 PM

William I know exactly what your talking about. My mechanic was a Newf from the east coast of Canada. He wasn't one of your Technicians or one of your Associates, he was just one dumb dirty old mechanic. God I miss him. Carl could fix anything from a Massey Ferguson to a 1/2A model airplane engine. There was nothing on the old Winnie he couldn't fix and he wanted you there to help just in case you ran into trouble on the road. When it came time to do the rig Carl was feeling a little under the weather so we went some were else just until he got to feeling a little better. He died shortly after from Lung cansure. He was a big smoker. What a caricture. He never did have a hoist he did everything out of his pit. Anyway at 60 years old I don't hold out a lot of hope for finding a real mechanic. So guess what boys your it. I'll just keep picking away at it. Fix what I can. Got a real good mate in Winzilla. He's a real sharp caricature and been a real big help. But I think you guys are write. When I get a few bucks it looks like tires.

Chuck · May 16, 2009, 12:51 PM

Just a thought, because you mentioned RPM earlier. Have you tried running in different gears at a set RPM and felt any difference? If there is none, then you may need to look further up the drive train. I've heard of flywheels and harmonic balancers causing strange vibrations as well. But if it is speed that changes the vibration, forget my comment :-X

LJ-TJ · May 17, 2009, 07:56 PM

Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner but the hydro went out and took the computer with it. >

Never though of that. I'll try it out over the next few days need some time to recharge.

A little demoralized at the moment so time to take a break. But hey thanks for all the help. Can't get rid of me that easy. I'll be trying your suggestions over the next while.