Well, the 1990 Needs front end work on this D50...here is a list of things I have found so far that need replacing:

Axle U-Joints (all three???, never done this before)
Ball Joints
Brakes are pulling me to the right when braking
Axle Bushings??

Any tips, tricks, advice would be lovely, never messed with a D50 before...

 

keep it that way dana 60 swap time!

all i can say is loosen pinion nut with the tires on the ground, does the gears have the pin that releases the axle shafts? or clips? been so long since i messed with one of those style axles...ill try and find my old pics of it

 

k thx Brandon, i've not the funds to mess with swapping a D60 in there, and there are no Kingpins around anyway....

 

I didn't do inner u-joint it wasn't bad. Doesn't take near as much angle/stress as outers. Also you have to dissassemble diff to remove C clip to release stub shaft. You could try something like this Ball Joint Press Kit to see if you could do it on truck.
You can replace the inner pivot bushings on truck. It is not fun but you can do it. An air chiesel helps to get them out, That is almost as much fun as trying to drive new ones in under vehicle. I used a bottle jack and 2x4 to push wheels apart to line the holes back up to put bolt in. Watch the bushing you get, My old 84 F350 used a 5/8" bolt, but my 89 F250 uses a 1/2" bolt. But autozone can't tell the differance, gave me wrong ones twice for F250, even though it was listed for 1/2". Had to go to Napa to get the correct bushings. Don't forget bearing inside spindle to support inner end of stub shaft. IMPORTANT When you re-assemble you should break loose adjuster sleeve for upper ball joint, MARK ADJUSTER SLEEVE BEFORE LOOSENING. When you re-assemble put nut on upper ball joint, DO NOT TIGHTEN, put nut on lower ball joint and tighten, Then tighten upper. If done wrong you can pull new lower ball joint apart. My old F350 was done wrong by PO, I had to replace new the ball joints because of this. Also make sure you put grease Zerks in or atleast plug all your joints. That is what killed ball joints on current truck, can't believe someone has enough sense to change joints but not enough put fittings in.

Long enough yet?

 

More details plz rolape.....got any pics???

 

I know where there's one!!! He's a little high on the price, but I think there's some room

Jason

 

No pics sorry, pivot bushings were done 18 months ago in brother in laws garage with friend that had done it before. Was rushed for time. I haven't pulled the diff apart, just read what it takes to do inner joint. There is a mod you can do to eliminate the C clip, I would have to do a search to find it though, involves putting spring in slip joint to push/hold inner stub in diff I think the said something about old valve spring. but don't know how to get right length. On the pivot bushing. Once under truck it is pretty obvious. Put floor jack under arm near pivot. Pull bolt, mine weren't to hard. lower jack, you might have to use crow bar to get low enough. Use air chisel from rear to slice a piece or 2 out of back of bushing, just don't cut into arm itself. Use air chisel against back of lip on front of bushing prying against arm for leverage, hard to explain easy to show, if you have ever done an A Frame bushing it is the same deal. Once out drive new 1 in, a bushing driver will help a lot. I didn't use a driver and couldn't get 1 of the bushings all the way in. Putting it back is fun lining up. use floor jack under end of arm and jack up till it lines up, might need jack uner frame to lighten wheel. 1st arm went back up easy, 2nd arm was fighting against other arm, this where I had to use bottle jack to spread wheels to line bushing up left to right and slide bolt in. The rest is in the Haynes manual and the same as a D60 front end

 

Here is the breakdown of the D50. In the list find the part labeled camber adjuster, that is the 1 you need to mark with a punch or something so you can get it aligned the same when it goes back together. Also part that you need to loosen, pop up from bottom before you put knuckle back on. Any other questions I will try to anser best I can.

Probably good idea to get aligned after done, but if aligment was OK before and you get those camber adjuster bushings back the way they were you should be good. Alignment on this puppy cost me $300. Mine was off before I started and eating tires. If you need I could try to E-mail larger picture.

 

lol the way i changed my ball joints and u joints in my D 50...was to cut it out with the torch and put a 60 under there...lol no balljoints for me

 

That gets rid of that stupid little C clip too!

 

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/accessories/OEM-Ball-joint-U-Joint-press-set-with-4WD-service-set/_/N-264q?itemIdentifier=516524&_requestid=29692
Autozone loan-a-tool might allow you to change the inner U-joint on vehicle unfortunatley thier bushing driver is not on loan-a-tool list. Harbor freight has 1 but will cost you ~$60-70. They may have the spindle nut tool on loan-a-tool. When I did the 84 F350 D50 they did but my 89 F250 D50 used a different nut and had to by the tool. Of course you can always use the old hammer and chiesel method to work them around, I always prefer not to do it that way, but sometimes you don't have a choice. Harbor freight has 1 but will cost you ~$60-70.

 

you should need the smaller of the two spindle nut sockets, im pretty sure its the same for the d50 and d44. get the socket because youll want to preload the hub bearings with a torque wrench, dont give it the ol spin and tighten trick..lol

 

Couldn't press out the axle pivot bushing by removing the bracket from the frame doing the work with a press then reinstall? I have to do those on my twin i beam. I look at it the other day and was like yikes! The bracket for the twin i beam i bolted to the frame. Can't remember with the dana 50 but when i get home i'll hop under and take a look at the 91.

 

don't pull your front diff apart the center u-joint you can do just fine with a ball joint press, orielys will loan you one. you will need a special socket for the axle nut and there is an outer ring right inside the hub that you have to remove that is sometimes difficult to see, just pry it out with a screw driver. the d50 is pretty simple.

 

Anybody got pics of the D50 tearapart? Ball Joints checked out, can these be done w/o redoing ball joints as well?