Hi,
My 88 F350 is being set up for my business and I am going through everything so I can try to keep the breakdowns to a minimum once I get it out and working, I am into the front end changing bushings, etc, and pulled the whole thing down to replace both u joints, when I pulled the axles they had fairly heavy seal grooves on them which I was not surprised by so I pulled the cover to change fluid and check everything out, first I was surprised because the whole assembly is new, carrier, gears, bolts, nuts, you name it, so I thought immediately why would anybody spend that kind of $$ and not replace the damaged axles?? So, once I de-crapped the housing, I started to really look at what the seal problem was. I noticed a smooth piece of stainless in each side of the housing about 2 1/2" long which completely covers the area of the damage when completely assembled. My question is , is this a common fix for these Dana 60 axle problems??, I have never seen it before and my machinist hasn't either, it is similar to a speedi sleeve but seems to have some kind of seal at both ends that allows the damaged area to be isolated and, because it wasn't leaking, seems to work. I don't know much at all of the trucks history as the young guy I bought it from couldn't even do an oil change (his wife's words) and had only used it a couple times to carry a camper and then it was parked for at least a year, unfortunately across the road from the Pacific ocean! I would appreciate any info on this repair as I am slightly hesitant on assembling it until I know if it works!

 

Here's a pic I got with my cell that shows what I mean, I hope

 

Don't think I've seen that before.

 

Are there any signs that the "sleeve" was inserted into the axle tube? Might be someone's way of moving the seal to miss the groove, but in all honesty I'm not entirely sure that I understand all the variables at play here.