Dana 60 Axle Help

My rear axle on my Jeep started to leak about three weeks ago from the pinion. Replaced the pinion seal, put everything back together, leaked less, but still dripped a little. I ended up putting a Speedi-Sleeve on the yolk to see if that would solve the leak. Stopped it for awhile, but it started leaking pretty bad today, so I pulled everything off to see what was going on. This go around there is play from side to side and I can pull the shaft toward me a little. What's up w/ this? Bearing bad? Thx for the help.

 

Assuming your pinion nut is torqued properly, your bearings are shot. I'd take a good look at the gears while you have it apart to make sure there are not trashed.

Extreem

 

Well now I'm wondering if I just need to put the yolk back on and torque the nut back down and then see if I have any play. If I hold that metal piece (can't think what's it's called right now) that's right behind the seal tight, then the shaft doesn't move. When I took if off the nut was def. loose. Had no vibs, no noise, it just leaked. I don't know hardly anything about this axle, except when I changed the fluid the ring and everything looked brand new, no marks or imperfections on anything.

 

Inspect the yoke for any damage in the machined seal area and retorqe the pinion nut. If you have play with the nut properly torqued, your bearings are likely shot. Keep in mind you will have about 5 thousands backlash on the gear set. Play when the yoke is rotated left and right is backlash. There should be no play in or out or side to side.

If the pinion nut was loose to begin with, that is likely the cause of the leak. Chances are you will need a new seal.

Extreem

 

Update: I went ahead and checked out my front bearing, everything looks good from what I can see. Torqued the pinion nut back on w/ the yolk and there's no play in/out or side to side, so I think my bearing is good. There is a little more backlash than normal, but I don't think I should worry about it. I'm wondering if the nut backed off just enough to let the front bearing spin and then loosen? God I hope this is the last I have to deal w/ it.

 

If you didn't put a new locknut on the pinion, it will come loose again. That nut should be replaced every time it's loosened or removed. Luckily, the 60 doesn't use a crush sleeve so you can just crank it down. What torque did you tighten to? The spec is about 275 foot lbs. If you didn't get close to that, it'll come loose again.

You can't tell a bearing's condition by feeling for play. By the time you get play, the bearing is way past shot. You can check it by sight (shiny rollers and race, no scratches, no discoloration), or by spinning it to see how smooth it turns (should be smooth as silk. Any roughness is a bad bearing).

 

OK, so here's another update:

Found out that my FLAPS gave me the wrong seal, even after assuring me that it was the right one. The rubber lip that contacts the yolk was off by just enough that it leaked and finally ended up splitting in one place, even w/ the Speedi-Sleeve on. This allowed some movement and loosened the pinion nut just a little. Got the RIGHT seal, put it in a little while ago, torqued everything down to the original marks w/ Locktite, bearing and everything checked out, so now I'm good to go! Drove it around for awhile constantly checked it, no leaks, everything tight as original.

NorCoJeeper-I don't see what's wrong w/ using the old nut w/ some Locktite on the threads. There are several people who just go ahead and reuse it and run it w/o problems. I was wondering if my bearing was shot since it got loose after I took the pinion nut off and pulled off the yolk. The bearing is good I believe. Thanks for the help! What a fiasco for just a stupid seal. That's my luck for ya. On to my wiring. . .

 

Just for informational purposes, there is a Dana 60 that uses a collapsible spacer (crush sleeve). Some late model Ford high pinion 60's used a collapsible spacer to set pinion pre-load. Found this out the hard way..... But you're right, the vast majority didn't. Nickmil