72 C20 Truck With Broken Axle - Advice Desired

[BrokenAxle]

I have a 72 LWB 3/4 ton truck with a Dana 60 that has a broken axle. The axle stub refuses to come out. I tried hooking it with a piece of wire which did not work. I cannot hammer it out from the other side because there is something in the way. The truck has a limited slip in it. From what I have read I think the part blocking access to the broken stub is part of the limited slip.

The differential was then removed from the truck and hung vertically from an engine hoist based on thinking gravity would make the axle stub drop out. That did not happen and tapping the axle tubes with a hammer didn't loosen anything enough to make it drop out.

Would it be safe to assume the axle stub has broken something in the limited slip and it is permanently welded or stuck in the limited slip? I considered removing the limited slip to get the axle out, but if the axle is stuck to the limited slip, won't the axle just bind on the axle tube if the limited slip end of the axle is pulled on?

I realize I could replace the entire differential, but the Dana 60 is so heavy I dread the thought of the job. Plus if a Dana 60 is so weak that the axles can break, it seems like a bad idea to put another weak Dana 60 in the truck. I read in the forums that other differentials might fit, but I don't know which ones, or if they would be a good idea.

Taking the truck to the shop is probably going to be $1000 at least.

So I am looking for advice on what to do.

(1) - Go ahead and spend $1000 on towing to the shop and professional repair? I really like the old truck, and I realize $1000 is a lot less than $15,000 for a new truck, but ouch! $1000 on a 40 year old truck........!

(2) - Install a junkyard replacement of some type while praying the junkyard replacement actually works? It would be extremely disappointing to install a junkyard differential and then find out it needed to be rebuilt.

(3) - Accept the fact I am now an old guy too weak to do heavy work on vehicles, and just sell the truck and get rid of it? I used to laugh at old guys who gave up doing their own repair work so that choice is really galling.

If the advice is to sell the truck, what would a rusty beat up old 72 LWB 3/4 ton with a broken differential sell for?

Thanks for reading if you made it this far.

[Heavymetl]

Use a stick welder, make a long welding rod, start a weld on the stub axle and turn the welder off. The rod will be welded to the stub of the broken axle, pull axle stub out.

[Jurassic-1]

Is it broken off near the outer end? can you drill and tap it and install a screw eye into it where you can get a slide hammer attached?

[57taskforce]

1 ton 10.5" 14 bolt rears are a dime a dozen... One would need to be re-perched and the shock mounts corrected but it could be a pretty cheap alternative to that 1,000 number you threw out.

[kwmech]

If it broke down at the splines and you have a power-loc you won't get it out without pulling the carrier out. The early power-locs have a 2 piece side gear and if the splines twisted it will stay in there until you disassemble. Not that hard from my perspective since I work on these all the time. If you manage to get it out, I have extra shafts, but when you put it back together make sure the splines inside are perfectly lined up. The 60s are actually pretty tough, the one in my 68 gets abused all the time with more weight than I should be putting on it, it also has a power-loc

[Sklptrljay]

There is a place in Fremont that has gobs of rear ends from these trucks that have the owners stamp of approval.

You can find it on SF craigslist or go to vintagechevytrucks.com.

I know they will install parts also.

[jeffahart]

The 1ton srw corp14 is a straight bolt in. All you need to do is cut off the shock tabs and have new ones welded on and get new soft line to fit between MC and axle split. You only need help getting the axle out of the delivery vehicle. After that, you just drop the 60 onto dollies and roll out of the way then roll the 14 under the truck jack it up.. bolt it in... and presto... it's about that easy! about $400 bucks. Just don't try to lift the axle by yourself! So the only real issue is what gears do you want and do you want one with a locker!

Good luck.

[jeffahart]

Oh wait I forgot... I swapped eaton for corp14. So you might want to have zero rate leafs on hand to move the axle a little forward or back for d-shaft fitment.

[swamp rat]

Any junk yard replacement may require a rebuild, its a crap shoot unless you find a place that guarentees its a good one. Are you qualified to rebuild and set up a diff? if not take it to a qualified shop. I don't know how old you are but i deal with my age and less than stellar physical ability thanks to injurys all the time. Some things i just don't want to contend with anymore even tho i went to diesel mechanics school and started out my life as a mechanic well over 20 years ago. I vote take it to a shop and let them do it. You have to understand that owning these old trucks they will need repair from time to time.

[DillonGMC]

Might be a dumb question but... do the Corp 14 bolts not have c clips like the 10s and 12s? Did you remove the c clip?

[jeffahart]

Originally Posted by DillonGMC

Might be a dumb question but... do the Corp 14 bolts not have c clips like the 10s and 12s? Did you remove the c clip?

No not dumb question. The 1ton and 3/4 tons are full floating. No 'c' clip. The semi floating may have one. But you can get semi floating rear ends without 'c' clips. I think that's why the ford 9" rears are popular for drag. And I think track usage there is a requirement for no 'c' clip... but maybe someone else can chime in on that. Just get a full floating rear. I have to remove the shaft to get the drum off and that's one thing I don't really like.

[DillonGMC]

Haha learn sumn everyday. I've never been in one of the biguns before

[jeffahart]

BrokenAxle;
Your option 2) above. You would not have to rebuild the axle from the junk yard if it was bad. You just take it back and they say... go grab another. They will let you install a dozen axles until you get a good one. I had it happen to me years ago. Put a junk yard d60 in a 64 F250, then took it back the next weekend and they gave me another... no questions asked. But I had to pull axles twice.

Note: Swamp Rat makes some salient points. If you ain't up to the job farm it out. Never feel bad to pay to get your truck fixed. Main thing is to get it back on the road and use it. Good mechanics are worth the money too.

my 2 cents.... worth the price paid!

[Ol Blue K20]

Broken axle, I saw your ad on craigslist today. My advice is dont sell it. Get it fixed even if it costs a little more than you expect. That way you'll have a truck you know you like.

[special-K]

Rest assured, what happened to your axle is all but unheard of. These axles aren't weak at all. It took something very excessive to break that axle and probably would have broken any other axle suggested. I guess it could have spun itself down if it was dry, or a completely gone bearing could have caused serious misalignment causing a bind(?). A used axle is most likely going to be fine. Remove cover and inspect for bad lube, water damage, pitting or bluing. These rears will last forever if maintained, which is very little and not too often. Figure on at least replacing seals

[BrokenAxle]

Jurassic1 - The axle broke about 2/3 of the way into the axle tube. It is 1 /2 or 2 feet deep in there.

57TaskForce - I don't want to go through the trouble of welding new perches or shock mounts on a different rear end. And the 1000 number is what I have been told a couple of times for other differentials I had trouble with. Maybe the guy is expensive, but he is the only specifically differential guy in the area.

KWmech - I don't know what a power lock looks like. There was a "limited slip" tag on the cover. I am thinking you are right because the stub just would not come out. I tried to remove the carrier by prying on it a little. It did not want to come out and I was concerned if I put too much force on it something would get damaged, so I just put the bearing caps back on and put the rear end back in the truck so it could roll in case I call a tow truck.

Sklptrljay - I talked to the guy in Fremont and he thought he had a replacement. I could not make up my mind if I wanted to take a chance on a used rear end that might not work. If they would install the rearend that would be something that might be worth trying. I will contact him again to see if they would install the replacement for me.

jeffahart - I want to avoid welding of perches etc. I just want a straight bolt in. And there is no way I am going to switch multiple differentials in and out to get a good one! I was totally beat for a day or two after removing this one.

swamp rat - I am not qualified to rebuild a differential.

DillonMC - No C clips. I pulled the axle on the other side right out because I thought the stub could be hammered out from that side. But there is something in the differential blocking the way.

specialK - I am glad to read what you had to say. I had always heard Dana 60's were extremely tough. What broke the axle was dropping it into gear at about 2000 or 2500 rpms with a small block multiple times. That didn't seem like much to me. It is just a small block with headers, manifold and Edelbrock carb. The axle is destroyed so badly that it partially split and the split part sticks out far enough to contact the side of the axle tube. It is hard to see down in there but it looks like the split is maybe 6 inches long. It looks sort of peeled off like an apple peel.

To everyone - I live in a neighborhood that does not appreciate cars up on jackstands so I went ahead and put the differential back in the truck before someone calls the city on me. I am going to contact the guy in Fremont that
Sklptrljay mentioned and see about them installing a working replacement.

If KWmech is still around, or somebody else with similar knowledge, is it OK to stick a prybar in the case to pry and/or hammer the centersection out? And if that was done, do you believe it will come out with the broken axle still stuck in it? I thought that if I could break the center section free and pulled on it that it would only come out a few inches and then the length of axle stuck in it would bind between the side of the axle tube on the far end of the stub and the inner end of the axle tube where it meets the center section.

I just measured the good axle which is 34 1/2 inches and the broken axle which is 21 1/2 inches. So there is a 13 inch piece of axle sticking out of the center section down into the axle tube. If the axle tube is only 2 or so inches in diameter, it does not seem like there would be enough freeplay to pull 13 inches of axle stuck to the center section out of the tube without it binding.

[BrokenAxle]

The guy in Fremont said he would not install a replacement differential. And the only thing guaranteed is the center section I guess. Brakes, seals, etc may or may not have to be replaced.

Tried to remove the center section from the broken differential. As I suspected the 13 inches of broken axle stub prevents the center section from moving more than the 1/2 inch or so between the axle stub and the sides of the axle tube.

I am going to call a differential repair place and see if they have some magic method of removing the axle stub. Otherwise it looks like the choices are a replacement differential or selling the truck.

[hamjet]

I haven't messed with a rear end in a long time, but is there a way to remove the spider/sun gears to run a long broom handle or rod from the other side to push the broken piece out?

[BrokenAxle]

There is something in this particular center section that blocks access from one axle tube to the other.

[redman83]

Broken Axel, Could you possibly take some pics of what you are dealing with as in the blockage....There are some very knowledgable folks on here that could probably be more help if they saw what was going on

[BrokenAxle]

Originally Posted by redman83

Broken Axel, Could you possibly take some pics of what you are dealing with as in the blockage....There are some very knowledgable folks on here that could probably be more help if they saw what was going on

There isn't much to see. In the picture the carrier is protruding about 1/2 inch or so out of the housing because that is all the movement the broken axle stuck up inside of the driver's side axle tube allows. Whatever angle I tried prying from, the carrier will not move from the position seen in the photo.

[kwmech]

Originally Posted by BrokenAxle

There is something in this particular center section that blocks access from one axle tube to the other.

It's called a cross pin, it holds the side gears in place and unfortunately it is solid in the center. I've been looking at a power-loc I have here and see no way to pry or push from the inside or going through the other tube to push. The only thing I can think of is to somehow grab the end of what is left of the shaft and try to pull it out. What I would try is welding a rod to the end of the shaft. I would crank up my buzz box with a piece of say 3/8 solid steel ground to a point, with an insulator around it so it doesn't touch the sides of the spindle and try to burn it in so it sticks, let it cool and try to pull. You only have to pull it out about 2'' to get it out of the splines and about another 1-1/2 or so to clear the bearing.


Oh, by the way, you now know what a power-loc looks like, one of the strongest limited slips made.

[BrokenAxle]

Thanks for the advice KWmech. I managed to get the axle out with some love, anger, determination, and persistence instead of the method you describe though.

The local differential place suggested removing the bolts holding the two halves of the power lock together. I did that but it only allowed spreading the halves apart by millimeters. That is my farm truck and I really like it so I didn't want to give up. Then I got angry after 10 people wanted to give me $500 for it. So I went out there and wiggled and hammered on the powerlock, hammered on the axle, and fished around down the axle tube with a wire for the past 3 or 4 days. For whatever reason today was the magic day. After more hammering, prying and turning, I reached in there with the wire and the stub fell out. But then it would not come out of the tube because it was so distorted. Luckily there was just enough space to push the spline end over to the other axle tube, then pull the broken end out through the center section area.

Now all I have to do is come up with the 1000 or so to have it towed to the shop, the power loc put back together, and a new axle put in. I could not believe it when the guy at the shop said "110 an hour labor", but I guess it takes brains I don't have to do the work.

I am glad you think the power loc is a good center section. I am still not convinced the Dana 60 has strong axles though. Take a look at what the destroyed end looks like.



And if you or anyone else looked past the picture, would it be a good idea to put maybe 3.23 or 3.54 gears in it? I would like to get better gas mileage, but I don't know how those gears would affect the strength of the truck for farm work in the real world.

[viking427]

Maybe I'm missing something, but with a split/ destroyed tube, looks like you need an entire rear swap anyway (maybe that's where that insane $1000 quote came from). D60 PowerLoc is a salable item if you cant find another D60 housing or opt for a 14 bolt rear instead. D60 ratios only go down to 3.54, 14 bolts go down to 3.21, if that matters.

[hamjet]

Originally Posted by viking427

Maybe I'm missing something, but with a split/ destroyed tube, looks like you need an entire rear swap anyway (maybe that's where that insane $1000 quote came from). D60 PowerLoc is a salable item if you cant find another D60 housing or opt for a 14 bolt rear instead. D60 ratios only go down to 3.54, 14 bolts go down to 3.21, if that matters.

Thats not the tube, thats the axle. Its from that high torque 6 banger, 2 speed powerglide burnouts, he's gotta keep his foot out of the carb....