It's good to push just past the limits ...

[pjpvi]

Originally Posted by rltilley

How did the trailer flip? Those have articulating hitches so I assumed it was very difficult to get them to roll.

Actually, I think the fully articulating hitch allowed it to flip rather easily with very little damage. Flip was due to a bit of inexperience and attentiveness by the driver. He was very attentive after the incident and this is how you learn!

[carringb]

Originally Posted by rltilley

How did the trailer flip? Those have articulating hitches so I assumed it was very difficult to get them to roll.

An articulating hitch will allow roll, where a pintle or even a ball will bind up at some point, and resist it. A regular ball coupler will blow apart if you put it under enough torsion. Pintle hitch not so much, but then you'd probably just twist the tongue.

[carringb]

Originally Posted by arctictraveller

Most interesting. I assume you were using 4low when you rear dif came apart? If the front was just spinning due to the failed hubs, all that increased torque was sent to the rear, overloading the gears, but I wouldn't have expected that with a FF 70 though.

So some cargo vans were built with the FF Dana 60.

The Dana 70 vans also came with Dana 60 9.75" differential. That's how mine came. So after shearing some teeth off the pinion, I had it upgraded to full Dana 70 10.5" internals.

Only the cutaways came with the true Dana 70 full float.

[pjpvi]

Only the cutaways came with the true Dana 70 full float.

My Dana 70 came out of a cutaway so hopefully the bigger internals. I was being very hard on it. Now I know!

[carringb]

Originally Posted by pjpvi

My Dana 70 came out of a cutaway so hopefully the bigger internals. I was being very hard on it. Now I know!

Great!

FWIW - That's the first time I've seen spider gears go first on a Dana 70.

The 2nd time I blew up my axle, which was post 10.5" upgrade, I split the carrier in half. Hard landing on a big jump... But the spider gears were fine, even after driving 250 miles. Carrier bearings, not so much. Made it home, swapped the wheel bearings before figuring out the noise was not coming from those. It was making so much noise I didn't trust it on the 10 mile drive to the axle shop.

3rd time I blew up my axle, the pinion gear was twisted in half, ejecting the driveline in the process. Front wheel drive would have been nice then, just to get off the highway.

[arctictraveller]

Originally Posted by carringb

Great!

FWIW - That's the first time I've seen spider gears go first on a Dana 70.

The 2nd time I blew up my axle, which was post 10.5" upgrade, I split the carrier in half. Hard landing on a big jump....

Wow, you must have been on the gas when you landed. That's the kind of fun I'd prefer to have in someone else's vehicle. With my little semi float, I'm really careful, and when in 4wd with a Dana 44 in front, I'm as light on the throttle as possible. Of course, with a whopping 2.5in of bump in the front, I don't have much choice.

[OurayMark]

Great story, creative save! Thanks for sharing.