That dreaded metal on metal sound

arctictraveller · 04-11-2017, 08:46 PM

It's funny how one thing always leads to another, and usually it's expensive. On the last couple days of our recient trip a loud grinding noise made it's self known. When ever I applied the brakes it sounded like I had gravel instead of brake pads. Today, I pulled the caliper on the rear drivers side to find one pad with welded metal where the friction material should have been. Just prior to that, when pulling the wheel, I noticed a disturbing amount of end play in the axle. Once the wheel was off, I noticed that the pinion seal was suddenly leaking and the pumpkin was wet with oil. And finally, if that wasn't enough, the rotor won't come off, and I suspect that the parking brake shoes are so worn into the drum they are below a lip and preventing the rotor from coming off. I've been eyeballing a full floater in a local junkyard, but conversion would be hard to swallow as I just re-geared and installed all new bearings and a new limited slip in the semi floater. Tomorrow, I'll call Randys ring and pinion, the shop that did the work to see if their willing to warranty the problems, and their response will go a long way to deciding if I should upgrade. Meanwhile, can anyone tell me how much end play I should expect in the original Dana 60, and how the heck to get the rotor off?

Flux · 04-11-2017, 09:35 PM

Dang, that sux.

rallypanam · 04-11-2017, 10:29 PM

Should be easy enough. I don't think it'll cost you more than $4,000-5,000 to get this right.

arctictraveller · 04-11-2017, 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rallypanam

Should be easy enough. I don't think it'll cost you more than $4,000-5,000 to get this right.

Your just a freeking ray of sunshine arn't you?

rallypanam · 04-11-2017, 10:39 PM

P.S. What can't you get the rotor off? Shouldn't be an issue, if I remember correctly back to my old semi-float. Is it just rusted on? I'd go with BFH.

gcvt · 04-11-2017, 10:41 PM

At least you're not in a huge rush to get it fixed so you can make it to work on Monday. That's a plus.

arctictraveller · 04-12-2017, 01:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rallypanam

P.S. What can't you get the rotor off? Shouldn't be an issue, if I remember correctly back to my old semi-float. Is it just rusted on? I'd go with BFH.

It moves quite freely for about a quarter inch, then catches on the Ebrake shoes. I can feel the springs pull the rotor back when I force it outwards and then let go. The brake stuck on once and I didn't know it till there was a lot of smoke. I suspect the shoe is catching on a lip where the shoe wore the drum down.

boywonder · 04-12-2017, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by arctictraveller

It moves quite freely for about a quarter inch, then catches on the Ebrake shoes. I can feel the springs pull the rotor back when I force it outwards and then let go. The brake stuck on once and I didn't know it till there was a lot of smoke. I suspect the shoe is catching on a lip where the shoe wore the drum down.

Is there a rubber bung on the backing plate that you can pop off and adjust the star thingy with a screwdriver?

I seem to recall adjusting my parking brake shoes on my 2008...but maybe that was with the rotor off.....

beaker · 04-12-2017, 01:55 PM

I "think" the end-play should be no more than 0.7mm. I'm on the road, so it will take me a couple days before I can look it up to confirm. As for getting the rotor off, I used a 10# slide hammer and freed it up a little at a time running around the rotor. It took a bit of time.

I ended up yanking my axle and fitting a Sterling 10.5 in mine after experiencing the same thing. It was not an easy job, but U-joint sells a pretty nice hardware kit that helps a lot. I've personally not had good luck with the Dana 60, semi-floating or full-floating.

arctictraveller · 04-12-2017, 03:03 PM

Well, I talked to Randys ring and pinion today, and they are not willing to do anything about the issue despite the fact that I had trouble with this axle as soon as they finished the upgrades. Within two months, they tore it down a second time to solve a driveability issue (severe chattering despite double the recomended amount of Ford additive). I was concerned about them re-using the seals and bearings, but the service manager Josh assured me that if there were any further problems, even after the warranty period expired, he would be reasonable and take care of it. The new service manager refuses to even discuss it, since it's out of warranty. His solution is for me to bring it in, ( a three hour drive each way) leave it for a couple days and then charge me around $800 to install a new seal if it is the crush sleve type. Then there is the issue of excessive end play in the axle. There's no way to determine how bad the problem is until it's torn down again, but it could end up costing another $1000 or more to fix depending on what the problem is. I've had differentials go hundreds of thousands of miles without issue or leaking, and indeed this one had over 100k with out any leaks or other issues. Now, 19,000 miles after dumping a ton of money into it, and being torn down twice, it's leaking and has other possible failures going on. And I thought Randys was a leader in the differential field. Sadly, the new service manager refuses to discuss any assistance, and even refused to tell me who he reports to. That's pretty crappy customer service. .............