I have a 93 4.0L AWD with 240K, The front Dana #28 is getting WAY Sloppy with about 1/3 to 2/5 of a pinion turn, in gear. It's almost painful to hear that CLUNK on a low, or intermediate speed kick down. Although it is handy when I had to take the front drive shaft out to R&R a starter on which the case munted solenoid had a screw that backed out causing a "no crank" situation, BUT I digress gentlemen. . . . . .

I think a set of spider gears, a shaft & some shims on side axle gears would resolve this issue if I do not procrastinate on the project. My querey then is can I do that with unit still in the front of my Aerostar & if so what'll getting at it entail anyway?

It would be less work to pull the front cover & redo the carrier pinions/ shaft than pull the axles, Drive shaft and unit IMHO. . . .

If not, am I better off finding another Dana #28 Diffy to put in there or what?

The Van has the T/C & Shaft recall, which was done 3 years or about 45K mi. ago. It included new Transfer Case & Aluminum Driveshaft Upgrade done at
"Henry's Expense" with 190K on the vehicle. FoMoCo was cranky, but the recall was owed on the VIN according to FoMoCo's OASIS & NHTSA. We pushed the issue & got the recall done. They could have done a better job, but beggars can't be choosers and I can tighten bolts and R&R seals etc.

Besides repairing my Aerostar sure as blazes beat buying a Windstar in our view of things considered.

Anyway any info would be appreciated, BTW I can Build rears & Differentials from scratch so tools, facility, equipment, and expertise are adequate I think, no brag just fact, I am a wrench & a "Tweaker" by experience so I'm good to go.

Thanx In Advance.

PS:
Any comment on the best source of front axles incase I want them?

FBp

 

Its not that difficult to pull the front differential and the ease of repair on the bench vs under the van is well worth the extra effort. I overhauled mine around 180k - more out of curiosity than need.

Tips: Four rubber isolation mounts suspend the diff. Getting the nuts off without tearing out the concealed bolt head within the rubber mount can be tricky. Go slow, use lots of penetrating fluid beforehand. If you rip up the mount it is dealer only and ridiculously expensive to replace. Once the nuts are off, and axles/driveshaft detached, it just drops down and out - with a little wiggling of course.

There is a crush sleeve used to set the pinion pre-load. You will need a new one, but buy at least two unless you are certain you can get right the first time. It takes considerable torque to get the sleeve to crush down to specified pre-load and there is a real fine line between "almost there" and "oops - too much".

Somewhere in the archives here, is a discussion of an interaction between RTV - used to seal the plastic cover and the Mercon/Dexron transmission fluid. Apparently RTV until fully cured out, causes foaming in case and resultant ejection of fluid out the overflow tube. (I had this happen and was perplexed at the time because I put in the exact amount specified during the bench rebuild, only to see some dripping out the overflow several days later.)

Parts: I used drivetrain.com for parts and have been pleased with the kit, quality, service and prices. You can buy a rebuilt unit from them but the price will likely gag you. Axle shafts: I purchased rebuilt ones from a fellow who rebuilds them in Ocala, FL. The business name was Constant Velocity of Ocala. If I were doing it again, I would probably just get rebuilt units from Cardone.

Happy Wrenching!

 

I think it is easier to find good used axe and replace.

 

Hi Dave:

I found that removing the front differential is pretty easy if you leave the mounts alone.

The front differential is held essentially by one big nut and two bolts.

The two bolts are on the driver's side of the differential's case and is bolted to the bracket itself, not the mounts. No problem there.

The big nut on the passenger's side secures it to the mount, and it's really tricky to get that one off without ruining a very expensive mount. However, I would leave that nut on, and remove the two smaller nuts that secure the mount to the frame itself. With those two nuts out, the differential can be removed with the mount still attached to it.

By the way, Dave, what do you mean by the rebuilt axles in your post? Is it the half-shaft that goes on the bearing hub or is it the axle that is part of the differential itself. On my differential, the axles on the differential itself are pretty worn out, and I don't know what to do with them. I have put in new bearings, but they still feel pretty sloppy. Any suggestion?

 

Aerocolorado,
Thanks for the reply.

Much to my suprise I found Advance/ Discount AP has complete CV~Axles, rebuilt, exchange, for under $70 + tax.
I bought 2 on "GP" today. But I am having a tough time finding anybody that even understands what I'm looking for
inside D28 differential case. I brought an Illustration from a FoMoCo Truck Manual, with an exploded view of a D60,
(same basic Concept as a Diffy carrier case in a D28) and with that, I then got an "Oh that's what's inside".

That got me because when cover is off it's all visible in there to naked eyes. . . . . . . Hhmm?

Copper,

My Inner Stub axles are snug, carrier bearings are snug, pinion bearings are too, but the spider gears and shaft are sloppy, Axle side gears in the case, where the spiders ride are sloppy too. It's not noisy it's just a lot of play after all those miles. There is resultant play in the stub axles of the Diffy itself as a result of the worn spiders, shaft, inner
axle gears, & shims. . . I had 100K plus before I figured out Mercon is useless as far as cooling goes here in the BiKiNi
State and changed to more substantial MPO type Gear Oil.

Wear probably already had happened by then.
It was more prevalent after new Transfer Case from FoMoCo recall @ 45K +/- mi ago.

FBp

 

Hi Pete:

If you ever figured out who sells internal parts for the Dana 28 front axle, please let me know.

Thanks

 

the unique Dana 28 Aero front axle unit hasn't been made in 10 years

the Ford Service cd gives the best internal breakdown view of this diff in the Ranger/BroncoII section, the housing and axles are different of course

call driveline.com 1-800-216-1632

call Dana help line 800/826-HELP (4357) for parts sources if driveline.com can't help

also try this
http://broncograveyard.com/bronco/i-92050_d28_open_carrier__complete_3_73_up.htm

in the Aero the front diff has power applied all the time thus the higher wear rates especially on the spiders

always use a full PAO/ester synthetic 75w90 lube in these. they get poor cooling air flow in the Aero enclosed constant drive design
Redline or Amsoil 80w90 Extreme lubes are the best

use Permatex Super 300 on gasket surfaces. the RTVs bead and break off into the diff. lube gumming a bearing or causing a tooth gouge
the chemicals in RTVs also react with the sulfur extreme pressure anti wears in diff. lube

 

Hi Cliff:

You lost me right after the part about it not being made for the last 10 years

We're hopeless, I guess

 

Hey, Pablo, do you know how difficult it is to install a Dana 35 instead to replace the 28? Any ideas of what is involved?