Dana 60 question

[Gooseberry]

I have a 2000 E350 SD with a Quigley 4x4.

I purchased the van with 70k on and it now have 74k.


I had to replace the carrier bearing on the rear and was told by the shop the did the work it was a poor setup by who ever had done the work. Bad preload. No record of any repair.

Considering that the oil was changed at 69k I would have thought they would have seen metal in the oil and said something. Trusting the former owner.

Could I have over heated the oil and coused the bearing failure in 3k and in turn change the preload?

I plan on running Cajon pass and taking a ir temp gauge to check.\

oh and the R&P are in great shape

 

[ujoint]

Are you talking about the pinion bearing? A carrier bearing is usually part of a 2 piece driveshaft.

How much oil was in the diff when they tore it down?

 

[Gunracer1]

Sounds fishy to me. Just drop the drive shaft and grab the yoke it should have a small amount of twisting and zero in and out play. If it is to tight it will get hot when you drive it.

 

[shortbus4x4]

Are you talking about the pinion bearing? A carrier bearing is usually part of a 2 piece driveshaft.

How much oil was in the diff when they tore it down?

I think he is talking about the ring gear carrier bearings versus the driveline carrier bearing. There should be two of them on the ring gear carrier and yes if they were going bad you would expect to see quite a bit of metal in the oil. The rearend is probably a Ford corporate called a 10.5" Sterling or something along those lines. Your front axle is most likely a Dana 60. I don't know what loads you carry with your van but it is possible you overheated it and damaged the bearings, but again I would expect to see quite a bit of metal in the oil and damage to the bearings. I have worked on a sportsmobile before and I was surprised at how heavy the thing was, weight adds up fast.

 

[Gvan]

Some things to consider.

1 Did it have the correct oil for the diff? Was it full? The wrong lube can tear up a diff fast. Always check what it is supposed to have in it before just putting anything in. There are different weights and types of oil for a reason.
Also did they take the cover off when it was changed or just pump it out?

2 Was it ever apart before? Does it have a locker or anything after market installed? High pre load on the side bearings can cause the bearing in the diff carrier housing to fail without too much metal showing in the gear lube, it depends on how bad they were when they were repaired. I had this happen on a Chevy van one time years ago and there was not too much metal found in the oil but the carrier housing was even worn to the point it had to be replaced. The partials were very small and hard to notice. When there is metal in the fluid it is best to replace all of the bearings and clean the diff really well. Even small bits of metal can ruin the other bearings as it is almost impossible to clean it all out of the inside of the bearings.

3 What were the symptoms? Did someone just tell you it was bad or was there a problem with it? The terminology you used is confusing. The term carrier bearing is usually used for a drive shaft bearing like Chris said.

4 The ingress of water. Maybe the van has been into deep water and has a bad seal or the vent line is too short or leaks allowing water to get into it. Nothing wrecks a diff like water can.

5 Did you get the old parts back? Do they look bad?

6 It is possible that it was just wrong all of its life and finally gave out.

 

[Gooseberry]

you are right on this and yes it did have allot of metal in the oil. The shop confirmed it is a dana because I asked that same question. He said the level was good on the oil.
The van is at 9klbs. Talked with the previous owner and he has never had it apart and the last oil change showed nothing so I need to look at my driving habits and see.

I think he is talking about the ring gear carrier bearings versus the driveline carrier bearing. There should be two of them on the ring gear carrier and yes if they were going bad you would expect to see quite a bit of metal in the oil. The rearend is probably a Ford corporate called a 10.5" Sterling or something along those lines. Your front axle is most likely a Dana 60. I don't know what loads you carry with your van but it is possible you overheated it and damaged the bearings, but again I would expect to see quite a bit of metal in the oil and damage to the bearings. I have worked on a sportsmobile before and I was surprised at how heavy the thing was, weight adds up fast.

 

[Gooseberry]

see below

Some things to consider.

1 Did it have the correct oil for the diff? Was it full? The wrong lube can tear up a diff fast. Always check what it is supposed to have in it before just putting anything in. There are different weights and types of oil for a reason.
Also did they take the cover off when it was changed or just pump it out?


yes

2 Was it ever apart before? Does it have a locker or anything after market installed? High pre load on the side bearings can cause the bearing in the diff carrier housing to fail without too much metal showing in the gear lube, it depends on how bad they were when they were repaired. I had this happen on a Chevy van one time years ago and there was not too much metal found in the oil but the carrier housing was even worn to the point it had to be replaced. The partials were very small and hard to notice. When there is metal in the fluid it is best to replace all of the bearings and clean the diff really well. Even small bits of metal can ruin the other bearings as it is almost impossible to clean it all out of the inside of the bearings.


no


3 What were the symptoms? Did someone just tell you it was bad or was there a problem with it? The terminology you used is confusing. The term carrier bearing is usually used for a drive shaft bearing like Chris said.

grinding sound matching the tire rotation

4 The ingress of water. Maybe the van has been into deep water and has a bad seal or the vent line is too short or leaks allowing water to get into it. Nothing wrecks a diff like water can.

maybe. when test driving it I did a few stream crossings

5 Did you get the old parts back? Do they look bad?

yes the bearing rollers all pitted, chipped and worn.

6 It is possible that it was just wrong all of its life and finally gave out.

 

[ujoint]

I think he is talking about the ring gear carrier bearings versus the driveline carrier bearing.

Correct, the terminology confused me!

 

[Gooseberry]

After doing a little spring cleaning I found a bottle of Royal Purple gear oil and remember the he added it last time he had the fluids changed so I think I found the reason of the bearing failure

 

[dsw4x4]

That is interesting I have a 2000 q conversion psd van and I bought it from a car lot that bought from an auction it was originally a haliburton van. I got it with 160k on the clock and the dealer had to put new carrier bearings in the rear end before I got it. Mine is a semi float rear end so there is extra load on those bearings. I am switching mine to a full float when i do a gear change just because I have one here at the shop. I never gave it a lot of thought just figuring it was one of those fluke things and they just went out. I now have 190 on the van and I have not had any problems with it.