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Old 03-14-2019, 02:04 PM   #11
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soloalpinist You will do fine in a Ford E350 SMB with 45K. I am just looking for solutions for problems that seem to start after 100K mi. I have found that there are a lot of very talented folks on this forum who have either solved the problem or experienced enough to find a solution. Feeling at home at 10,000 elevation and above I've used my van to do a lot of back country travel. You will benefit greatly by all the experience the rest of the van owners have. The only thing I would recommend now is to install the steering stabilizer. I did not have a problem with the death wobble until last year. Heard of it but never knew what it felt like. It has the potential to wreak a van but it is an easy fix.

Because repairs are very time consuming and expensive I have never traveled on the Rubicon Trail or other aggressive, advanced routes. I have driven trails like the Alpine Route from Silverton east across three 14,000 passes to the Rio Grand and the van did great. I carry somewhere around 100# of tools not including a 12K# Warn winch. I have MS and an immune deficiency so I do have limits tho I often ignore them. Despite all the problems I have with the 4X4 platform we've been lucky in that the serious failures happen when we are within reach of a tow from someone or a tow truck.

The good news is that, with the exception of the Penthouse suspension bolts breaking, the Ford van and SMB top and interior have held up to a lot of use. For the past 10 years we have been traveling with a 1976 Airstream. The 5.4 does OK but the entire female side of the hitch assembly that is bolted to the van fell off last year. Fortunately the road shoulder had just been graded. Independent of the van the trailer, with all of the steel sitting under the hitch rolled to a stop off of the pavement. It did not sustain any damage.

The only real solution for the 4X suspension that I have heard of is Tom Z's conversion to a Dana 70 front and rear. Since I don't have the money to go that route I need to find a solution so that we can keep rolling for another 10 years or so without investing another $10K in the suspension system.

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Old 03-14-2019, 02:18 PM   #12
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BronchoHauler Good point. In my case I had the entire front end surveyed by a mechanic I trust. it appears that when I am towing (additional weight on rear) down hill that is more than 6% it changes the camber and caster. Applying the brakes triggers the death wobble when towing but if I am not towing it does not happen. I was fully aware that our modified suspensions often have death wobble. Just wish I would have done the smart thing and installed the steering stabilizer long ago.
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Old 03-14-2019, 02:46 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by soloalpinist View Post
Would the Free Spin Hub from Dynatrac solve this issue? https://www.dynatrac.com/blog/dynatr...-fuel-economy/

Grazie community
Subscribed - Interested to see which direction this topic goes.
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Old 03-14-2019, 02:53 PM   #14
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TomsBeast One of the failures on my front axle was probably due to the tab not being forced up enough to truly lock the nut in place. You are right about setting the torque but in my many years of building and repairing vehicles I have never seen anyone using a spring scale. Not even a torque wrench. Everyone including me has used our training as a Jedi to determine the correct torque when reassembling hubs or anything else for that matter. One shop used an impact hammer to put on the lug nuts and stopped just at the right torque. Last time I went there.
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Old 03-14-2019, 03:54 PM   #15
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I found a procedure:


https://www.dynatrac.com/fileuploader/download/download/?d=0&file...pdf
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Old 03-14-2019, 04:15 PM   #16
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Not sure exactly what packing you guys are talking about. I have a 2007 SMB with the Dana 60 front end. I can't remember ever being told that the axle needs packing. There is a little dribble of grease or oil visible under the axle right behind the knuckle that my mechanic pointed out. I obtained the replacement seals for him to install at next service. Please explain the packing to me. Thanks.
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Old 03-14-2019, 05:19 PM   #17
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Hey Jeffery check out this thread:
http://www.sportsmobileforum.com/for...ings-4262.html
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Old 03-14-2019, 06:11 PM   #18
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etbadger posted the instructions below for packing the Dynatrac front bearings. Reviewing several discussions. Seems as though 20,000 is a good time to pack the Dynatrac front bearings. Thanks badger

OP 2010 Front Wheel Bearings

Its not that hard to do yourself, and for the Dynatrac axle I would echo the 20k mile period. We ended up waiting till about 30k for lack of a place and time, and the grease was starting to get pretty black and lumpy, especially in the outer bearings of the hubs.

We carry a spare set of wheel bearings and a hub grease seal. For tools its all standard except a (for us) 6pt spindle nut socket (its huge, and not cheap), and a seal puller is very handy too.

I am rolling through it again this week and can try to take some pictures and put a write-up on our website along with the new transmission flush page I'm putting up (tracking down all the steps necessary to flush the Torqshift was a PITA due to the internal thermostat).

Basic steps:
Make sure you have wheel bearing grease for disk brakes (handles high temperatures better)
2 New grease seals
Spanner nut socket

-Remove wheel
-Remove caliper & place on springs (don't hang it by the brake line, unclip ABS wire first)
-Remove locking hub cap and big O ring
-Remove spiral snap rings (2 of 'em in our case) in inside rim of hub
-Pull out locking hub body (2 of the screws from the hub cap can help here)
-Use screwdriver to reach in and bend out lock-tab on spindle spanner nut
-Use spanner nut socket (huge, 6pt for us) to unscrew spindle nut
-Remove lock washer with bent tabs
-Remove 2nd spanner nut in same manner
-Carefully pull off hub, supporting its weight so as not to scratch up spindle or drop out outer bearing

-Outer bearing pulls right out, clean, inspect
-Inner bearing is behind grease seal, loose seal by tapping in with punch and hammer to release glue
-Pull out seal with seal puller
-Remove inner bearing, clean, inspect
-Clean all the grease out of the hub (there is a lot between the bearings, its never used, but may be of incompatible type with new grease, causing failure)

-Pack bearings with grease (squeeze in from large end till it fills carrier and comes out at small end and around rollers
-Fill hub between races of inner and outer bearings with grease (to keep from that area sucking up all the grease in the bearings at speed)
-Put in inner bearing
-Push in new grease seal till flush with hub, put grease in seal groove
-Put hub back on spindle, careful of the grease seal, support the weight of the hub till it bottoms on inner bearing
-Push in outer bearing till it is in its race
-Screw on inner spanner nut, 50ft-lb, back off 1/4 turn, tighten up again with hand on socket only. Hub should spin smoothly, no looseness.
-Lock washer with tabs goes on
-Grease & screw on outer spanner nut, 70ft-lb
-Bend a tab from the lock-washer into a spanner nut slot (w screw-driver) to lock it in place
-Put in locking-hub parts in reverse order to disassembly
-Put on caliper (166ft-lb)
-Put on wheel

Check brakes before you go drive, may have to pump them a bit to get the pads back down to the rotors.
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Old 03-14-2019, 06:40 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeffrey View Post
Not sure exactly what packing you guys are talking about. I have a 2007 SMB with the Dana 60 front end.

Dynatrac


SMB offered (always installed?) Dynatrac aftermarket hubs with a more robust bearing set up and manual locking hubs. An upgrad from the stock Dana 60 axle with vacuum locking hubs and non-serviceable, and less robust, hub and wheel bearings that came oem on the F series 4x4 trucks.
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Old 03-14-2019, 10:16 PM   #20
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Tom Did the folks at Dynatrac called that the ProRoc 60? My front diff was installed in 2004 and I think the label was ProRoc 60. I was told that the Dana 60 front axles came from the mid 90s Bronco 4X4s which would be stock before Dynatrac did the modifications. I think.... Its just my feeble memory that may be making this up. If someone knows for sure please correct me.
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