my 84 f250 w/ dana 44 ifs keeps eating wheel berings on the pass side. i was told its probly bad ball joints. is this right and how do i cheack them?

 

What kinda weight do you have hanging off the front ... Plow, Plow Frames, Elephant Bumpers??

Do you have monster mudders??

Do you run the right side in the ditch all the time??

Sounds more like poor quality bearings or improper install to me...

Bad ball joints would not tear up good quality properly installed wheel bearings IMO.

-Enjoy
fh : )_~

 

It use to always have a plow on it and gumbos on it.

 

Festus is correct, a bad ball joint will not damage wheel bearings. It will wear the edges of your tires though, induce death wobble, and cause poor steering, wandering, etc. To check for bad ball joints hack up the front end of the truck and grab the tire at top and bottom, try to rock it up and down. If you feel any slack at all it's bad ball joints, usually lower. If you have another person you can usually watch the ball joint move relative to itself. Try grabbing tire at the sides, and try to turn it back and forth. Any slack there indicates bad tire rod ends. Also ensure that this up and down or side to side movement is not from the bad wheel bearing itself!

 

I just looked and the only movement is from the bearings. Could the ttb be the reason there always going bad? Corey, do you know of any junk yards around that have dana 60's? I realy don't want to put any more money into this 44.

 

Movement from the bearings indicates either: A) improper install or B) bad bearings.
The fact that it's a TTB has no corralation to the bearings failing.
Cheap bearings, too much/not enough preload, not enough grease/improper packing, overloading, or massive wheels/tires can all lead to premature bearing failure.
I would inspect the spindle closely. If any previous bearing failure resulted in damage to the spindle, even minor damage, it may need a spindle replacement.

 

TTB is weak but won't make bearings fail. My problems when I used to run a 44 TTB in a F-150 was stripping the splines on the slipyoke on passenger side axle shaft. Shame I recently scrapped 4 Dana 50 TTB axles I would have given them to you. Not a 60, but a lot beefier than a 44 TTB and if yours is leaf sprung they bolt in. Oh well. What bearings and races are you using that keep failing? You sure the nuts aren't backing off? Sure you're fully packing with grease and setting preload properly? Don't want to sound like a *****, but never hurts to ask.

No junk yards around here will have a 60 front. Any time something like that comes in they pull it and set it aside to sell for top dollar, they think these things are gold. I got my 60 for $300, which I think is a good price. $300-$500 seems fair for anything that's in alright condition but could use a going through. Up to $1000 for completely rebuilt new everything (which is what I have into mine after doing all bearings, seals, king pins, except carrier and pinion bearings.

As for local options for a 60...

Dana 60 Kingpin

Front Dana 60

78-79 ford dana 60 high pinion (early axle, would need work to fit yours, not really worth it since they're more useful in any other application due to center section location)