frozen front axle

[Dazed]

So back in spring I was out enjoying/abusing my truck in a muddy stump field and came down hard on the right front tire. I expected the bent parts, was annoyed by the power steering pump pissing fluid and not financially able to fix either at the time. Parked it and started saving my pennies. Jump to now, have new parts, go to move it into the shop and the front is absolutly siezed! A little investigating also revealed that the front brake resivor is bone dry. So first thought, 4wd and unstick it, will push the front tires about a foot and throw bark dust 60 feet behind. Second thought, fix it where it sits, but what could I be getting into here? Brakes and bearings I'm expecting but beyond that? Worth noting that it is on soft ground and I'm not at all comfortable with laying under a 7,000 lbs truck on jack stands in soft mud!

 

[MrMarty51]

Hi Dazed. Welcome into the forum.
Might have to do some invesatigating, jack the front off the ground and see which, if not both sides is seized up.
are You full time 4X4 with this 79, what You got for equipment if not stock and a few pics of Your pickumuptruck could probably help us in identifying the problem.

 

[Dazed]

Have pics of everything except front diff, will add a couple soon. Honestly not sure of a lot, my first 4x4, but it does have converted np203, (2 hi/low; 4 hi/low) with manual locking front hubs. Will check if one or both sides are stuck.

 

[HotRodPC]

Welcome to the GMSB Colt Seavers !!! Just so you know, many mods had been made to the Fall Guy truck to do those stunts you see on TV.

This just may end up with about everything up front as far as brake rubber brake lines, calipers and outer bearings. Maybe even innner bearings. If I understand right, you were in water or deep mud and then parked it without spinning the mud and water out of it. Very well might just be hardened dried mud and could be rusted up bearings and races and even caliper pistons.

 

[Dazed]

First gotta say I LOVED THE FALL GUY!! That truck was awesome! It was damn near prepped to run Baja! Mine is / was prepped to pull a trailer full of christmas trees out of a field, hense the huge crack through my windshield! LOL

Anyways, no deep water, yes mud, but sprayed WD40 over axles, transfer case, motor etc. (not brakes) a half mile drive back to the house, hosed off afterward. Basicly hopped a stump (log? rut?) at slow speed, truck went up, maybe 2 feet, back hit the same thing and as the back came up it slapped the front down hard onto the right front. Afterward checked, noticed ps pump spraying fluid and headed home. Pulls right and wanders all over the road. Thinking I should get a buy/build another front axle and swap it where it sits. But looking for more cost friendly options.

 

[HotRodPC]

First gotta say I LOVED THE FALL GUY!! That truck was awesome! It was damn near prepped to run Baja! Mine is / was prepped to pull a trailer full of christmas trees out of a field, hense the huge crack through my windshield! LOL

Anyways, no deep water, yes mud, but sprayed WD40 over axles, transfer case, motor etc. (not brakes) a half mile drive back to the house, hosed off afterward. Basicly hopped a stump (log? rut?) at slow speed, truck went up, maybe 2 feet, back hit the same thing and as the back came up it slapped the front down hard onto the right front. Afterward checked, noticed ps pump spraying fluid and headed home. Pulls right and wanders all over the road. Thinking I should get a buy/build another front axle and swap it where it sits. But looking for more cost friendly options.

:lauhging1: Yeah, alot of us loved the Fall Guy truck but sure doesn't mean we're going to do the Bo and Luke Duke in our trucks.

Of course that doesn't sound like what you did either. Sounds like an unfortunate mishap. The front axle swap maybe not a bad option if you found one set up with the right gear ratio and ready to install. I've seen used ones for $100 from hub lock out to hub luck out, caliper and brakes included, but $150-$200 in more common.

 

[Dazed]

Sweet, $150 to 250 is a very workable budget, now I gotta save a bit and start stalking CL! I'm thinking it's not a bad idea to get a parts truck anyways, probably find something useable in the $500 range.

And Thank You!!

 

[HotRodPC]

Sweet, $150 to 250 is a very workable budget, now I gotta save a bit and start stalking CL! I'm thinking it's not a bad idea to get a parts truck anyways, probably find something useable in the $500 range.

And Thank You!!

What gear ratio are you going to be looking for? And is this for the K20 frame in 8 lug? If you're hubs are OK, you can even get buy with a 6 lugger out of a half ton, then swap your 8 lug hubs to it.

 

[Dazed]

Not sure about gear ratio, figured I'd have to either match the rear or swap ring and pinion, or swap both from a parts truck. Is the six lug half ton the same front axle aside from the hubs? Needs to be able to be a work truck again come harvest. This truck is/was a work horse pulling 2,000 lbs trailers loaded with christmas trees until the tires bulge! Probably 9,500 lbs total, and it drags them out a field three at a time! (Will add pick of the trailers to my album.)

Anyways my point/question is would I be sacificing strength for convience or just adding a little work(swapping hubs) for a more cost effective solution?

 

[HotRodPC]

Not sure about gear ratio, figured I'd have to either match the rear or swap ring and pinion, or swap both from a parts truck. Is the six lug half ton the same front axle aside from the hubs? Needs to be able to be a work truck again come harvest. This truck is/was a work horse pulling 2,000 lbs trailers loaded with christmas trees until the tires bulge! Probably 9,500 lbs total, and it drags them out a field three at a time! (Will add pick of the trailers to my album.)

Anyways my point/question is would I be sacificing strength for convience or just adding a little work(swapping hubs) for a more cost effective solution?

Yes, the 1/2 ton 6 lug and 3/4 ton 8 lug axles are the same. The hubs will interchange with each from knuckles out being that's the ony difference between the 2. Same gears, housings, axles and even ball joints IIRC. Pretty much the spindles, brakes and hubs are the difference. Normally the K20's had 4.10 or 3.73 gear ratios. Some 1/2 tons generally have 3.73's but the 4.10's in the 1/2 tons are a bit uncommon but are available too. Around here, in the mid to late 80's K10/1500's seems 3.08 is the most common gear ratio, but there are still several 3.73's, but OEM I'm not away of any K10/1500.

You might want to visit the Front Axle thread in the Squarebody Library and look up your axle code. If it's the OEM axle, then you'll know what your ratio is.

 

[Dazed]

Nice! Very good to know, I'll check out the axle code page before I buy anything. Six lug are a lot more common here.

And I put up a few new pics.

 

[philjafo]

From what you say you do with the truck, I'd say look for a cucv for your parts truck. Has a Dana 60 front and a 14 bolt rear axle with a Detroit locker and 4.56 gears. They also have a 400 transmission but its a diesal so it needs some mods to work behind a gasser. Of course that's only if its time to replace axles, it might not be that bad.

 

[crazy4offroad]

Pull the cover off the front diff, sounds like the front driveshaft may have hammered the pinion or busted the carrier. Lucky you didn't bust the t-case. $100 will pick up another 10-bolt, $1000 will pick up a Dana 60.

 

[HotRodPC]

From what you say you do with the truck, I'd say look for a cucv for your parts truck. Has a Dana 60 front and a 14 bolt rear axle with a Detroit locker and 4.56 gears. They also have a 400 transmission but its a diesal so it needs some mods to work behind a gasser. Of course that's only if its time to replace axles, it might not be that bad.

Ideally, that's what we'd all like to do if you can find a CUCV for cheap enough. As far as the Th400, a governor swap and a readust on the vac modulator is all that is needed to the trans itself and actually you could get by the with same governor, it'll just shift early unitl you change the springs in it. Easier just to find a good used Gas governor since they're so common and all over the place. Governors usually don't wear out either. The only other thing is to change the Torque converter. It's all external easy stuff. That Th400 also comes married to an NP208 Part Time aluminum Tcase which isn't all that bad either, and good for mild to moderate use. If you want moderate to heavy duty giving it hell use, look around for an NP205 Tcase.

 

[HotRodPC]

Pull the cover off the front diff, sounds like the front driveshaft may have hammered the pinion or busted the carrier. Lucky you didn't bust the t-case. $100 will pick up another 10-bolt, $1000 will pick up a Dana 60.

Also a Dana 44 front works too from the 73-77 (Transistion Year) trucks. And if you find a Dana 44, same swapability on the hubs and brakes. The Dana 44 and 10 bolt are interchangeable. Some will say the Dana 44 is better, BUT, 1 is a bit stronger in 1 area, and one is a bit stronger in another, so many will tell you they are about the same and equal. The 10 bolts are much more common and can be bought cheaper. Those who have the Dana 44 are usually the ones that THINK it's better so they ask for more money for them.

IIRC, it's the 10 bolt that has a little bigger pinion bearing and stronger in that area than the Dana 44. C4 will likely know for sure and confirm or deny. I've seen a guy who broke the long axle once, and a U joint once on the same 10 bolt. He did a U joint up grade to a stronger U joint, that cost quite a bit more, and replaced the long axles with a chromolly axle. After that, he didn't have any more problems and continued to be a bit rough on it. I wouldn't say it's near the strength of a Dana 60, but it was certianly better and tolerated more abuse than the OEM Dana 44 and 10 bolt. He did also have a Detroit Locker front carrier which is also stronger than the OEM open carrier. So the combo of the stronger U joints, chromolly axles and Detroit Locker carrier did allow his 10 bolt to put up with some ******** and abuse without constant breaking. And don't think Dana 60's can't be broke. They can too.