Howdy all...on my truck in my signature, I've got a 9" with a 3.00:1 ratio and an open carrier...a few years ago, I was being an idiot at college and tore the splines out of the side gears and off the axle shafts so I had the automotive students replace them for me at the school. I bought brand new side gears and used shafts from a local junk yard and everything worked fine....until last week.....

I just got done swapping my newly built 300 into the old girl and I was driving it home from work for the first day. I stopped by a gas station and noticed my rear axle was steaming along the whole length of it...stupid kids who "fixed" it the first time didn't know how to use gasket sealer is my guess, but shame on me for not checking the level first either way... Anyway, the truck started giving me the same driving symptom it did when I tore it out the first time, like it was slipping on the splines of the axle.

I haven't torn into it yet to see if that really is the problem or not, but my question is, when I go through this thing (again) is there any strength difference between a 28 and a 31 spline shaft? I know I have 31 spline shafts in it right now that are probably shot, and a few cooked bearings as well.

Also, since I'm going to have the rear diff tore into anyway, I'm planning on re-gearing it to somewhere between 3.70:1 - 4.11:1, as its pretty doggy with those 3.00's in there now...I have the infamous TTB under the front end which will not only need new gears as well, but also has some pretty loose joints from nearly 30 years of wear and tear that need attention. I was wondering if anyone has any experience rebuilding one of these...is it a total bear, or is it something that's easier than it looks? Is there a company that will sell me a complete set with all the bushings to get the sag out of it and a matching gear set to re-gear the back and front?

Thanks for any insight in advance!

-Kenny

 

31s are stronger than 28s.

Don't know about the ttb rebuild, can't imagine it's a picnic...

 

I was checking out the ttb on my 87 f150 last night and it didn't really look all that bad, but still didn't look like fun either...mostly looked like all ball joints, but if I can find a D44 for cheap enough, I might just swap it out anyway...who knows, with the money situation right now, its gonna be some time before I can afford to do anymore upgrades on that truck

Thanks for the reply!