Can't replace 27 spline washer?

[Alaska95xlt]

I have the dreaded broken splined washer. It seems a junk yard is my only option but if I cant find any is there any newer year i can swap in? How quickly will things wear if ran without? Surely this one little part doesn't render my front end useless. 1995 ranger xlt 4.0 4x4 dana 35 27 spline.

 

[dvdswan]

Welcome to the site.

 

[ericbphoto]

In 2wd, with hubs unlocked, it shouldn't wear anything out. That washer keeps the stub shaft from sliding toward the differential. It only rotates when the hubs are locked.

 

[Alaska95xlt]

Well I live in Alaska and it lives in 4x4 for 6 months of the year, soo I need an actual fix.

 

[ericbphoto]

Well I live in Alaska and it lives in 4x4 for 6 months of the year, soo I need an actual fix.

I understand. Was just trying to let you know you have some time to find parts if you can stay in 2wd for a while. Any Dana 35 ttb axle will have those washers.

 

[ericbphoto]

Here is more info about the Dana 35 and when it was used.

Ford Ranger 4x4 Front Axles: 1983-1997 - The Ranger Station

(Dana 35 Above / Dana 28 Below) Ford Rangers appeared with a reverse cut Dana 28 TTB (Twin Traction Beam) 4WD front axle in 1983. In 1990, Ford Introduced a 4.0L V6 to its engine lineup, and along came the … Continued

www.therangerstation.com

 

[Alaska95xlt]

I appreciate it but that doesn't help me with the problem. I already knew I could find them at a junk yard with any other dana 35 but where I am we only have two junk yards with limited stock so if I cant get one from there I need another solution. My question is couldn't it be possible to swap a newer say 2001 front spindle/axel that would presumably still serviceable. Im not going to stop using a perfectly good vehicle because of two stupid little spacers which some day none at all will be in existence.

 

[tw205]

Don’t know how much of an exhaustive search you did but here is a good source for Dana parts. Might be worth a call. Good luck fren.

Dana Spicer 706902X Spindle Bearing and Seal Set fits FORD BRONCO II with DANA 28 IFS

 

[lowspeedpursuit]

So I spent no shit like 2 hours looking for these things last weekend. Total unobtanium. I welded my broken washer back together, ground it flat again, and am just missing the 4 or 5 teeth on the melted part. No idea how it will hold up over time.

I've considered trying to take generic internally-splined lock washers [like so] and seeing if any of them will jam on there and do the job. I've also considered giving my non-broken washer to some sort of laser/waterjet metal-cutting place and saying "make 50 of these", but I have no idea how a place like that works, how to find a good one, or if machine time for something like that would be like a thousand bucks and not worth it.

-----

Just for reference, the Ford part # for the multiple pieces (washer, spacer, splined washer) on my axle (I believe a '93) is F57Z-3B458-A.

There's also another part that basically combines the 3 pieces into one thicker splined washer, FOTZ-3B458-A. These were actually marked in-stock a lot of places until I tried to buy some a few months ago, at which point they flipped to accurately showing No Longer Available.

It's hypothetically possible that either of these part numbers may pop up on, say, ebay at some point, but I've never seen them.

DIscussion [here] turns up the aftermarket part number WRN37891, but that was 10 years ago. Warn was sold to Randy's Ring & Pinion, and I read in another discussion that someone tried contacting them about the splined washers, and was told that part is now NLA as well.

Every other discussion I've read through ends up with people suggesting "go to the junkyard", which is obviously less than helpful if you don't live near a good one, and also less and less helpful over time. Unfortunately, the number of people still trying to keep this axle in service after 30 years is pretty negligible.

 

[Alaska95xlt]

Well I am a welder and one of them is in a fairly clean two pieces the other one was ground up to bits so i still have to scower the junk yard for the other and hopefully two, I will now also be looking for an early bronco dana 44 for the future of this truck.

 

[lowspeedpursuit]

Good luck. I've never seen a D35 TTB in any of the four junkyards within an hour of me, although they seem to turn up sometimes about 2 hours away, closer to the city.

I guess there's also the D44 TTB knuckle/outer swap that's [documented on this site]. I haven't worked with one, but the D44 stub/spindle/hub doesn't seem to use the washer/c-clip setup like the D35. You're still on the hook for various old parts, but at least they actually exist. I believe the wheel bolt pattern is 5x5.5, though, rather than 5x4.5.

 

[lowspeedpursuit]

Sorry to double-post, but good news. This thread reminded me to call Randy's, which is also Yukon and USA Standard Gear at this point, and see if they had any better info, or an engineering diagram or something to take to the laser-cutter.

Turns out WRN37891 is apparently still in production. It's not on their websites, and it doesn't come up in a search, but unless they made a mistake and cancel the order after-the-fact, phone sales just sold me four of them. Parts were something like $6.75ea, and I got even further hosed on shipping for like $18.50.

They didn't have any fitment information on what the part is for. Also, it's only partially splined, at 3 locations around its ID, so hopefully it's the correct part, and as strong as the original.

I'll confirm fitment and post a picture when they show up; their shipping usually takes about a week.

 

[sgtsandman]

I appreciate it but that doesn't help me with the problem. I already knew I could find them at a junk yard with any other dana 35 but where I am we only have two junk yards with limited stock so if I cant get one from there I need another solution. My question is couldn't it be possible to swap a newer say 2001 front spindle/axel that would presumably still serviceable. Im not going to stop using a perfectly good vehicle because of two stupid little spacers which some day none at all will be in existence.

The newer trucks went to a torsion bar suspension in 1998. So the front end is completely different and wouldn’t work unless you swap the entire suspension and front axle.

I believe they changed the front frame at that time as well, boxing it in and widening it. It could be done but it might not be worth the labor and expense.

 

[Alaska95xlt]

Ok so I found something. This website https://www.fordpartscatalog.com/oem-parts/ford-spacer-fotz3b458a. had this FOTZ-3B458-A listed in stock but no picture so I took a chance and bought two and they just showed up, they are the same except significantly thicker. I read on one thread about a later revised version that was thicker to replace the other two none slined washers that go in there but that one was said to be plastic not metal so this must be a new version of that. Anyway I'll try it and see how its fits.

 

[lowspeedpursuit]

I didn't get around to swapping my washers for a while, and Alaska95xlt solved his problem, but I still wanted to throw up a comparison pic for the Warn part. I also grabbed some of the Ford washers from fordpartscatalog, so they still have them for now, and then earlier this week I saw a 4x4 Ranger in the junkyard for the first and only time in my life, so I went from having 1 washer and no leads to more washers than I'll ever possibly need.

This is a new FOTZ-3B458-A vs. new WRN 37891. The Warn is clearly far less aggressively splined, but I've been driving around on them for a few weeks, and they don't seem to be moving.

Alaska95xlt has already compared the thicker and thinner Ford washers, but I've also attached another pic showing everything I have all together. The thick junkyard washers show some wear on the teeth but are overall in good shape, so if you're breaking the thin washers, hopefully once you switch to the thick ones you'll never have to worry about them again.