01 dodge unit bearings, want to get rid of them they tried to kill me

[turboL]

one day on a trip to nenanna in my buddys dodge ( some you may have seen it, big red dodge extended cab, beat up, big 12.5x33in tires, black rollbar to big for the truck) we got pulled over by a state trooper. he said the truck was thrown sparks from the passenger font wheel. he took the insurance and my lisence, then came back and calmly said the tire was on fire. the unit bearing had failed, causing the tire to fall over onto the front coil. it cost him 500 to rebuild it with junkyard parts.

i have heard bout the 2000 dollar kit from dyna track, but is there a axle i can bolt on that would be cheaper? im not worried bout abs, its a trail truck and dosent pass emmissions, so i got a seasonal waiver on it. im lookn for somethn close to the same size, i can fabricate if i have to

[ChevyKev]

You can get an older style solid axle that has the older style spindles adn serviceable bearings. You'd have to find the correct side drop and gear ratio, then cut off stoclk brackets and replace stock truck axles on the other. then you'd have what you want. I'd look for a Dana 60 instead of a 44.

[TJVigilante]

You could always run up to livengood and salvage the axles out of this:



But they'd need some work...

D60 front:

and rear:


Sorry for the tiny pictures, I used the little handheld GPS thing that UAF issued to us to take them...and they're junk. I can't see squat in the pictures I took of actual geology.

[turboL]

hahaha how far away is that

[TJVigilante]

Only about an hour and a half straight up the Elliot. It's off the road a little back into the brush on the right just after you see the big rock outcrop. If I had a pickup and a free day I'd get them myself.

[turboL]

hahah if i wasnt 4000 miles away id get em. got a portable plasma tourch i wanna try

[AKMark]

No offense, but they went to unit bearings because folks wouldn't grease the other ones and the result is the same. Except that usually unit bearings will give obvious indications of failure, long before they start on fire.

I agree that it's easy to grease the old style ones, but many forget about them until they're on fire or shot as well.

Personally, I'd just leave it alone until some day when you find an axle to swap in that doesn't have them.

They weren't going to kill you, do I agree with the style no, but for the most part they do work. Just need to engineer a zerk fitting to service them with once in awhile.

Admittedly they suck for vehicles that are lifted and/or run larger tires, as it kills them quicker.

If I had a free Saturday, I'd run up and snag the axles.

[turboL]

i do love the fact thatthey are sealed, and if u have a stock rig then keep em, but once u move up to bigger tires, they are just a safety liability. another mile and i woulda lost a wheel at 60.

[ajpthng]

i do love the fact thatthey are sealed, and if u have a stock rig then keep em, but once u move up to bigger tires, they are just a safety liability. another mile and i woulda lost a wheel at 60.

You would have known before it failed, trust me I know.

[turboL]

hahha im guessn in most cases, only thing i noticed on my drive to nenanna was the motor was a bit sluggish and the steering felt sligthly heavy. not having experiance in it, i thougth his power steeri ng line was going again. now that i know what it feels like, ill be able to notice if it goes n mine. but then again im not gonna run 15in wide tires, or jump my truck like he did. but i got mad respect for the ram, cause other than that and the tranny, his truck never failed him. anything that can stand up to his driving is tougth in my book.

[AKMark]

As an automotive service technician, I would say if a vehicle is every acting out of the ordinary to check it out. Figuring it's not a big deal can be fatal.