Solid Axle Swap BS Thread

If the snap ring is on and it's seated in the carrier I'd run it. It doesn't take long at all to pull it back out assuming you know the fast way to do it.... Only thing I can think of that would restrict it moving would be a bent housing or boogered splines.

 

@malburg114 This is the way you should be pulling your knuckles to get the shaft in and out.

 

I'll look at the splines again. The shorter side snapped right on. How do you tell if the housing is bent?

EDIT: video explained. Thanks guys. Will look tomorrow

 

It's hard to find a slight bend. You can try and use a straight edge against the long tube. If your knuckleballs aren't gusseted they are prone to bending too. Either of your tires leaning in?

 

Haven't had the axle mounted yet with wheels and tires yet. Just finished putting it all together. No gusset balls. Just a truss and diff cover but welded those very slowly so it wouldn't warp (1"-1 1/2" of welds then waiTed for it to cool)

 

John Birfields technical term for breaking the birf.

 

@malburg114 I would pull apart the side that is giving you issues. Go through and tear it down then rebuild it. I remember having the ifs hubs (what you had machined down) give some resistance when seating onto the spindle and that seal there. I'd check to see if that side is actually full seated.

Everything torqued to spec when you assembled the axle or just put together loosely?

 

Yeah I'll start at the knuckle and work my way back. Will have to wait till tomorrow. Caught my finger with the angle grinder yesterday and had to get a few stitches. Plus have to mail some returns and buy some oil.

Another question for you guys. It says to pack the knuckle full of grease. How much do you actually put in? I put a few big globs while reassembling it and coated everything but when I tore it down the first tjme, it hardly had any.

 

Pack the birfield full and coat everything with grease. Make sure the spindle bushing gets a good coating too. There is a plug you can remove to squirt grease in on the knuckle too. I wouldn't over pack as it doesn't do anything but make a mess of shit on disassembly, important part is the joint and spindle bushing.

 

This.

Make sure the birf is full and the bushing is good. Other than that just make sure everything has a light layer. The extra grease does nothing but make a huge mess when you take it apart again

 

Will do. Thanks guys.

 

From my build, requesting opinions.

Tech Question for anyone with experience, a big mouth, or helpful advice:

I want my rear suspension to roughly match my front SAS with 3" Trail Gear springs... This means I need about 2.5" more of rear end lift. (even with removing a leaf from the front pack)

Please advise/flame/whatever below! lol

Option 1) Put in an extra leaf I took out of my current leaf pack (add maybe .75" lift), run an extended shackle for the extra ~2" of lift. (so 4" longer shackle about)

Option 2) Chevy 63" Swap and extended length shackles with possible AAL in the chevy leaf pack for more lift. Also, would need to change shock mounts and ditch the spare that is like a 28" tire lol

 

63's work really well for what they are. Should give you plenty of lift as that's all I am running in the rear of my heavy pig.

 

I'd go Ford 57s or Chevy 63s and run an inch block/zero rate if you needed a touch more to level it out.

 

Another vote for 63's, but don't put in an add-a-leaf or super long shackle just yet. My 63's with a standard size 5" shackle lifted the shit out of my 1st gen. It ended up being the perfect height to match the front, but I did have a set of add-a-leads handy just in case.

 

Thanks guys. Sounds like I'll be looking for some chevy leaves then...

Any recommendation on a swap kit?
I've been looking at this one from Ruffstuff http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/catalog/R1799.html
and it seems to be everything I need and then just get leaves from a 1998 or older chevy.

 

Ruffstuff is the only kit I'd buy, Barnes is nice too but not as compete as the Ruffstuff kit.

 

Definitely the ruffstuff kit. It's what I used and what a handful of my buddys used as well.

 

I used the Skys kit. It was cheap at the time and worked well. Can't go wrong with the RS kit either.

 

I'm doing option 2. with the same kit you have.