Well, the weather here in the heart o' the Bluegrass got right nice yesterday, and I decided that household chores could wait because I haven't had a chance to do anything with the Dana 60 axle I bought from one of y'all last summer.

Soooo...... I decided to pull the brake drums off and see what the brakes looked like. (They look good, though I need new brake springs.)

Now, I just KNOW that no self-respecting FTEer would EVER use a hammer and a drift, chisel, or big ol' screwdriver to loosen up those really big nuts that hold the brake drum and wheel bearing in place! However, at some time in this axle's past that is exactly what happened. At the moment I don't have the huge socket I'll need to properly tighten everything up, so the chances are pretty good I will resort to the hammer-and-drift method when I put everything back together, though I hope I can score a socket before then.

What I want to know is, how do I know when I have the inner locknut tight enough? I don't have torque specs to cover this axle (It's about a '73 Dana 60), so I'm kind of shooting in the dark. Is "good and snug" the precise torque spec?

By the way: For those of you out there who know me, I haven't been hiding, it's just that all the homework I've been having to do so I can learn to teach your kids gud Englush has kept me from spending any time tinkering with my truck or visiting y'all on this forum. I graduate this summer, so maybe, just MAYBE I can spend more time on other things I love.

 

Don and Grover
It's good to hear from you, I was watching your show the other day and was wondering how you've been getting along.

I've always been a fan of if you don't know how tight Good n Snug will work till it falls off, starts smokin, or gets along jut fine.

 

I haven't looked in a couple years, but Harbor Freight sells a 3/4" or 1" socket set and ratchet/breaker bar in a box for fairly cheap. the sockets go pretty big. Just a thought.

 

Hey Grover, where in KY do you live?

 

I live about 25 miles northeast of Lexington, in Bourbon County.

 

Hey truxx, we're growing more and more, seems like ky. is moving up to the big time on FTE.

 

I tighten the inner nut til real snug(to seat the bearings), loosen about half turn or so, spin the hub, then tighten the nut back up snug(not tight), then loosen about 1/8 to 1/4 turn. Grab the hub and try to move it in and out, if you feel any movement it's too loose. If loose retighten and back off a little less. For a novice I would try to find where it is too loose then retighten and back off a few times til I know for sure that it won't be too loose. I've been doing this for almost 30 years so it's a feel I have for it that a little hard to describe. If you tighten up too much you'll burn up the bearings, too loose and wheel will have a shimmy. Also I like to lube the bearings with some rear end lube and also put some in the hub.

 

Truth be told, I am one of the original Kentucky FTErs. I've been part of this crew since the '90s, when there were still less than 1000 of us. In fact, I bought Grover in 1997, so it's been about 11 years now, possibly more!

My daughter turns 16 in a week. A few of you may remember the first time I took her to Pigeon Forge, when she was still pretty small. She has decided she wants a '60 to '63 Ranchero, so I'm kind of keeping my eye out for one.

I insist it have only a 144 or a 170. She's too young for actual horsepower!

 

Hey thats how I spent last weekend. This weekend too. Wife and kids going to the inlaws without me .
On my 59 it is a castle nut that takes a 1" socket. If you back the brake shoes from the drum with the castle nut pretty loose, you should be able to turn the wheel without rubbing. Tighten the nut 'till it rubs a bit (that will be the bearings not the brakes) now loosen until the cotter pin fits back in. If it still rubs, loosen to the next slot. On mine this is not any torque at all.

btw once you get that damn nut off, you are half way done with inspecting and packing or replacing the bearings. Might as well follow through.

 

In other words, just like I'd do a front wheel bearing, right? That I've been doing for, well, about thirty years...... Sigh.....

 

hello,
I just done the rear dana 60 on my 77 hi-boy. The nut took a 2 -9/16socket and none of the auto stores in my area had it as a loaner. I had to have a machinist turn one down to fit inside the hub(3-1/4 o.d. on socket) The manual I have says 50-80ft. lbs. on inner nut,then loosen 1/4 turn.add lockwasher and 90-110ft. lbs. on outer nut. It also says to replace axle bolts and tighten to 50 ft. lbs

 

One of the things I like about that 3/4 axle is that I don't have to pack the bearings. I just have to make sure there's plenty 80W90 in the diff!

 

Don,

Nice to see you out of hibernation! Yup, just do like you'd do for front bearings and call it good.

Good luck finding the daughter unit a Ranchero. Last year I bought my wife a 65 Falcon 2dr sedan. Its has the 170 for power couple to a C4 auto tranny. The car is a blast to drive and the wife loves the attention it gets.

Enjoy the ride, oh and here's an almost congrats for getting almost graduated! Its quite an accomplishment. I'm sure there will be some big celebrating this summer when you get it all wrapped up
Bobby

 

Grover,glad your here, ive learned so much on here but don't have near the knowledge that some like (truxx) has. Some of the things you guys do just blow my mind. I too understand about the 16 year olds, my grandaughter was 16 on Valatines day so she is of course worring me to death about a car,wants vw jetta???? don't know where that came from but i have let her drive Homade and she says for me to hurry and get it painted so she can drive it to the prom, she says she wants to ---MAKE A STATEMENT--- what ever that means. Keep yours interested in the old stuff, Garry

 

We have a '65 Mercury Comet with a 200 and C4, so I hear you on the fun! It's been sitting awhile awaiting my reurh to full employment so I can afford to get it back on the road. I've had it for years! A loooong time ago I put a Holley Economaster (remember those?) carb on it because the old Ford unit was dying, and not only did it run better, but we got a genuine 25 mpg on the highway. Our Tempo won't do that good.

That Dana 60 is replacing the old Timken axle on Grover. I'm currently getting 13mpg on a good day with that 239 and those 4.86 gears. I suspect I'll do a lot better with the Dana's 3.73 gears.