dana 28 cracked :(

[85_Ranger4x4]

A good cordless impact would be a godsend if you have one.

I rattled apart the D28 from my parts truck, that really helped speed it up. Most of it is metric so plan accordingly with that.

A good penetrating oil would help you not break stuff too.

 

[brett387]

just thought of this, how do i take the half shafts out? from the pumpkin to the two tires and from the tcase to the pumpkin? sorry if im asking too many questions, just have a very little idea how to do it.

 

[kunar]

1st gen 4x4 explorers are all D35 TTB yet finding one with 4.10s (if thats what you want) is nearly impossible from one of those. Late '90+ RBV are all D35 but some '93-'97 Rangers that weren't 4.0 had whats called a hybrid 35 which is basically a D35 axle with D28 gears..

you won't find 4.10's in a 1st gen explorer, because ford never put em there. luckily the OP is looking for something more commonly available in explorers as well as rangers.

just thought of this, how do i take the half shafts out? from the pumpkin to the two tires and from the tcase to the pumpkin? sorry if im asking too many questions, just have a very little idea how to do it.

you have to take the spindles off the knuckles, then pull em through the hole that's left when the spindles came off. one half of the passengers side shaft (the long one) will be left stuck to the pumpkin, it splits at the slip joint and the outboard half will pull free, but you have to take the center section off the beam to take the c-clip off to pull the inboard half of that axle shaft.

if youre pulling an entire axle from the junkyard, you wont have to mess with any of that. unbolt the drive shaft, unhook (or remove) the calipers, remove the clamps from the slip joint on the passenger side shaft i discussed earlier, remove the sway bar end links, and the tie rods from the knuckles. at this point (unless im forgetting anything) unbolt the pivot point and remove the nut on the radius arm of one beam. itll take some jockeying but it should just fall free of the truck, assuming its up in the air far enough. pull it sideways so the slip joint pulls apart, and get that beast out of the way. then unbolt the other side and do the same thing. dont forget to grab the steering linkage as well. i honestly dont remember if i used it or not, but i know i took it home with me.

I hauled my entire d35 out of the yard in 2 separate wheel barrows. the drivers side will keep the pig, half of the passengers side axle shaft and the drivers side axle shaft, all the way to the hub. the passengers side beam will have the other half of that axle shaft, the hub and rotor, etc. i left the springs and radius arms attached, and they were included in the price of the axle. if you chose to leave them at the yard, it'll make things a little more time consuming for you. most of that hardware tends to be corroded, and some heat goes a long way toward freeing things up. my yard won't let you take in torches, so that stuff all happens at home.

there's some good reading here (http://therangerstation.com/tech_library/dana_28_35.shtml) it explains the differences in the d28, d35 as well as the hybrid. if youre going through the trouble of swapping an entire axle, id steer clear of the hybrid, unless its the only thing you can get your hands on.

 

[turbo91xlt]

you won't find 4.10's in a 1st gen explorer, because ford never put em there.

I remember reading on here that someone found a 1st gen police spec explorer and it had 4.10s in it so never say never.


Edit: found the thread; http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=127531&page=2

 

[turbo91xlt]

i might as well get the same gear ratio soi dont mess anything up. the d28 i got is a 3.43 gear ratio, and from what i've read, they should be fairly easy to find (hopefully). i read about the hybrids as well. okay thank you for the info!

You won't find 3.43s in a D35. 3.27/3.55/3.73 are what you're gonna find most often.

 

[brett387]

you won't find 4.10's in a 1st gen explorer, because ford never put em there. luckily the OP is looking for something more commonly available in explorers as well as rangers.



you have to take the spindles off the knuckles, then pull em through the hole that's left when the spindles came off. one half of the passengers side shaft (the long one) will be left stuck to the pumpkin, it splits at the slip joint and the outboard half will pull free, but you have to take the center section off the beam to take the c-clip off to pull the inboard half of that axle shaft.

if youre pulling an entire axle from the junkyard, you wont have to mess with any of that. unbolt the drive shaft, unhook (or remove) the calipers, remove the clamps from the slip joint on the passenger side shaft i discussed earlier, remove the sway bar end links, and the tie rods from the knuckles. at this point (unless im forgetting anything) unbolt the pivot point and remove the nut on the radius arm of one beam. itll take some jockeying but it should just fall free of the truck, assuming its up in the air far enough. pull it sideways so the slip joint pulls apart, and get that beast out of the way. then unbolt the other side and do the same thing. dont forget to grab the steering linkage as well. i honestly dont remember if i used it or not, but i know i took it home with me.

I hauled my entire d35 out of the yard in 2 separate wheel barrows. the drivers side will keep the pig, half of the passengers side axle shaft and the drivers side axle shaft, all the way to the hub. the passengers side beam will have the other half of that axle shaft, the hub and rotor, etc. i left the springs and radius arms attached, and they were included in the price of the axle. if you chose to leave them at the yard, it'll make things a little more time consuming for you. most of that hardware tends to be corroded, and some heat goes a long way toward freeing things up. my yard won't let you take in torches, so that stuff all happens at home.

there's some good reading here (http://therangerstation.com/tech_library/dana_28_35.shtml) it explains the differences in the d28, d35 as well as the hybrid. if youre going through the trouble of swapping an entire axle, id steer clear of the hybrid, unless its the only thing you can get your hands on.

okay thank you very much for that bit of insite on how to remove it from the truck/explorer!

You won't find 3.43s in a D35. 3.27/3.55/3.73 are what you're gonna find most often.

okay well i guess which ever gear ratio i get ill have to deal with. its only going to be used on gravel, dirt, or sand anyway. thank you for the info.

im more than likly going to go to the junkyard on sunday early so i have enough time to take it off and what not. im hoping the couple 4x4s they have there, are a d35 or a d28. hoping more for d35 but ill deal with d28 if it comes to it. ill post here what i get what i get when i get there. if you guys think of anything else that could help me out a bit that would be awesome! if not, then awesome! because you guys already gave me quite a bit of info on it already. thank you again!

 

[brett387]

had a very interesting day. start off by attempting to take the lug bolts off, and in the process breaking two half inch extentions then having one the junkyard guys come by use their impact to take it off. then find out i need a wheel bearing locknut socket to take the rotors off. i didnt think anything of the springs so i had to buy a socket and the spring compressor just to find out that i need a impact wrench for everything i couldnt lossen up with a breaker bar. so i left there without the front end. got there about 9:30 and left there at about 2:30 just trying to get it off. so im gona go back there sometime in the next week or so. with the tools i need and hopfully get bring the front end home with me. also i took some pictures. i want to say its a d35 but i cant say for sure. also, the guy at the junk yard told me its a d28, im almost 100% positive hes wrong. should i keep the spindles rotors and radius arms? also i need some tips on how to take the coil springs off. i have no idea how to. i can get a coil compressor but i dont know what to do afterward. Thank you! i got the sticker from the passenger radius arm, but i think its been spray painted

 

[kunar]

Definitely looks like a d35 to me. IIRC, a d35 has 10 bolts and a d28 has 12 bolts that hold the pumpkin to the beam.

You don't need to pull the rotors. Leave them on the spindle and take em with you, unless they will charge you extra. My yard included them with the axle. Just remove the caliper, or cut the line and leave it as well.

You don't need a spring compressor to pull the springs. They just kinda rest in place into the mount at the top. Sometimes there's a sheet metal tab that wraps around the very top coil, just bend the tab and they should drop right out as you pull the axle from the truck. The nut that holds it at the bottom is 1-1/8" hex, same as the radius arms. They're normally stuck pretty good though, so you'll probably need a torch.

 

[brett387]

they wanted like $550 for the TTB rotors spindle, springs and the steering linkage. i think that was all. he said he would be like $195 for the ttb and the radius arms by itself. if i leave the spindles, will my old ones from the d28 fit with the d35 shafts for the tires? will i be able to bend the tab fairly easily because there is a tab there? when i go there i was gona bring a small generator and an electric impact wrench to get those hard bolts off. is that a good idea or bad one?

 

[kunar]

No, the spindles aren't interchangeable between the d28 and d35, and neither are the rotors. One of the benefits of the d35 is the larger wheel bearings. The radius arms are the interchangeable though, so you could leave them at the yard and maybe save some cash. I don't know if an electric impact would do it or not. A big breaker bar is generally the way to go IMO. Heat goes a long way as well. It looks like there's not much rust (a benefit of living down south I guess) but I've heard those bolts have thread locker on em from the factory. The radius arm is held to the beam with a bolt on the bottom and a stud on top (the same one that holds the coil spring)

 

[brett387]

okay so i should keep the spindles rotors and hubs with them when i take them with me. now that you said that about the breaker bar, im probably going to go to advance auto and get a very long 3/4 breaker bar if they have one as well as harbor frieght in case one breaks, and head to home depot to get a metal pipe to make it longer so i dont kill myself trying to lossen it up. would it be a good idea to put the breaker bar on the bottom bolt or the top one?

 

[turbo91xlt]

they wanted like $550 for the TTB rotors spindle, springs and the steering linkage.

Thats a rip off, they probably pay'd half that for the whole vehicle lol. IMO you could probably find a cheap 1st gen explorer or 2nd/3rd gen ranger for that price, pull the front axle, and scrap the rest and make some money back. You'd also get the luxury of doing it at home.

 

[brett387]

Thats a rip off, they probably pay'd half that for the whole vehicle lol. IMO you could probably find a cheap 1st gen explorer or 2nd/3rd gen ranger for that price, pull the front axle, and scrap the rest and make some money back. You'd also get the luxury of doing it at home.

yeah very true. although i didnt know exactly what i would need for my ranger so i told him to put all of it on and see how much it would be. going through some of the pictures, i might not need the steering linkage and kunar said i dont need the radius arms, as they are the same length as the ones i have on my d28. should i take the brake caliburs as well as the d35 has different size rotors?

 

[kunar]

The calipers are the same, as are the pads. The rotors are the same size, but use bigger bearings, that's why you need the d35 rotors.

 

[brett387]

okay. i may have ****ed up somehow. i took the hubs off of the d35 and tossed them aside, and may not be able to get all the parts from it. will i be able to use the d28hubs? or am i sol?