Friends, take this information for what it's worth. Back story first, then the good stuff...

I have a 2002 Dodge Ram 3500 (dually) SLT quad cab, 4x4 with the Cummins Turbo Diesel. She's one of the last of the Gen II bodied trucks.

I just recently had to replace the rear wheel bearings, races, seals, gaskets, locking nuts, and special locking wedges, (and don't forget the gear oil!) in my Dana 80 rear axle. I decided to do BOTH rear wheels, and not just the one that was about to fall off. Good thing too, as the opposite side of the axle had a melted Ny-lock hub nut. Now... how the in hell did the Ny-lock get so melted? It almost appeared like it was intentionally done, but who knows... All I can say is, good grief!

So, after doing some reading (and using a little common sense), you are NEVER supposed to re-use the special 2-9/16" rounded corner hex rear axle hub nuts, because they are a Ny-lock Nut and they have a tendency to loosen up if re-used. Now this seems like common sense, but then again, what the hell do I know?!

Bottom line is that the genius that owned my truck before me did just that, (re-used the nuts and locking wedges) and I almost lost a rear wheel because of it! When you do a little reading and research, there are warnings everywhere NOT to re-use the Ny-lock Nuts! Oh, and the locking wedge was nowhere to be found on the nut that was falling off either. Guessing the missing locking wedge was either lost by the former monkey that was working on my truck, or worse... it fell out and got ground up either in the wheel bearings, or lord help me... the differential gears?

Seems anything is possible here.

Fortunately, I noticed a lot of oil and smoke (yeah, gear oil in my rear brakes makes for a helluva mess and stink!) coming from my left rear wheel and I stopped before losing the entire dual assembly along side the road! After removing the full-floating axle shaft, the large hub retaining nut was literally 1/2 turn from falling off the last threads of the axle spindle. OH, SO NOT COOL! What's even more amazing is that it didn't destroy the axle shaft/spindle, but it did do some damage to the brake pads, parking brake shoes, backing plate, and ruined the bearings in my axle hubs. So, I guess you could say I was lucky, in a way? Meh...

Anyhow, after limping her home and digging further into this headache I quickly found out that you need a special socket for the hub/spindle nut, and also those special Ny-lock Nuts and special Locking Wedges for holding the rear hub assemblies onto the axle.

The parts are all a total ***-rape, rip-off from the local Dodge dealer. Even worse, they don't stock them! That just tells me that most service shops everywhere are NOT doing the proper repairs on these trucks when they are doing axle work or even brake work! For safety and reliability, the hub/spindle rear axle NY-LOCK NUTS AND LOCKING WEDGES MUST BE REPLACED every time they are removed! BEWARE!!!

(The ny-lock nuts alone at the Dodge dealer were something like $55 bucks a piece. I literally laughed at the parts guy, from both shock and amazement at the assenine pricing.)

Thus, I went elsewhere. I found my parts on-line for a fraction of the dealer's price, and shipped to my door no less! The place is called "Drivetrain America". I believe they are based out of Iowa, and they are the bomb for saving huge money on all kinds of drivetrain (axle, differential, etc.) parts.

Here's a link to Drivetrain America: http://www.drivetrainamerica.com/default.aspx

On their website are links to parts lookups for various different axles also. I used the following catalog that I found on the DTA site for my 2002 Dodge Ram 3500 Dana 80 Rear Axle. Take your time and READ the information found in the catalog so that you don't screw up and order the wrong parts!

Dana Chrysler Light Axle Parts Catalog: http://www2.dana.com/pdf/X510-5DSD.pdf


Dana/Spicer P/N's for the Dodge Ram Dana 80 Rear Axle hub retaining parts:

Rounded corner hex, 2-9/16" Hub/Spindle Ny-lock NUT: P/N: 47163 DTA's Price: $9.42 ea
Special Yellow Locking WEDGE: P/N: 46545 DTA's Price: $3.91 ea
8-bolt Metal Flange GASKET (for floating axle shaft): P/N: 39697 DTA's Price: $1.70 ea

***Note*** You will need one for each side of the truck, so qty x 2 of each part if you do both sides.


It just so happens that I bought my special 2-9/16" hub nut socket, inner and outer hub bearings (cups & cones), hub/axle inner seals, gear oil RTV sealant (for rear diff cover), and gear oil from Advance Auto Parts before I had found Drivetrain America (DTA) on the internet.

***Yes, you HAVE to use a special socket to do this job correctly. A standard thick-walled angular hex 2-9/16" socket will absolutely NOT work!***

The goons at Advance Auto weren't any help at finding the hub/spindle nuts or locking wedges that I needed, so that's how I wound up searching online and finding DTA. It's entirely possible that the bearings and seals were less expensive from DTA. I don't know. To be perfectly honest, I didn't even want to know since I'd already purchased them from Advance Auto. I had everything shipped to me, since nothing was completely available from any one source. With the "online coupon codes" that you can find if you Google search for them, I was able to save around 30% more off my order from Advance Auto Parts as well.

Just a sidebar about Advance Auto Parts... You can get "free shipping" from Advance with any order that totals over $75. (Pretty darned easy to do when getting parts for these trucks.) HOWEVER, be aware that it excludes the discounts given by coupon codes. In other words, if your final total (before tax, but after coupon code is entered) falls below $75, you will still have to pay for shipping.


Here's what I ordered from Advance Auto Parts for my Dana 80 in my Dodge truck:

Brand: P/N: Description: Price Each: Qty:

National 45291 Cone, Bearing - Hub, Inner $24.99 x 2
National 45220 Cup, Race - Hub, Inner $ 9.99 x 2
National 455086 Seal, Hub - Hub, Inner $11.99 x 2
National A-38 Bearing Set (Cup & Cone) - Hub, Outer $19.99 x 2
OTC OTC6928 Socket, 2-9/16", 6pt. hex w/rounded corners, 1/2" drive $33.19 x 1
Permatex 81182 Gear Oil RTV, 3oz. (Use to seal up the rear diff cover.) $10.99 x 1
Valvoline VV975 75W-90 Full Synthetic Gear Oil with Limited-Slip additive $ 9.99 x 6

(You will need 6 quarts of gear oil for a Dana 80 rear axle. The book calls for slightly less, but believe me - buy 6 quarts or you'll regret it.)

Yes, 80W-90 is what the service manual calls for, but it's my understanding that you can't get a synthetic 80W-90. Also, most 80w-90's require adding the limited-slip additive separately also, which costs more money. Therefore, I went with the 75W-90 full synthetic with the limited-slip additive already in it, which is perfectly fine for this application. Sometimes good 'ol common sense trumps what is written in some book or manual somewhere.


The assembly process (and some IMPORTANT NOTES)...

1.) When installing the hubs back onto the axle, be sure not to "drag" the inner seal across the nut threads of the spindle. That will make for a bad day, and a leaky axle hub!

2.) It's also a good idea to put a thin layer of grease on the seal and on the axle surface where the inner hub seal will ride.

3.) ***VERY IMPORTANT*** Use that little "nozzle tip" that comes on the gear oil quart to squirt some oil into the center cavity of the hubs BEFORE you install the outer bearing cone on the rear axle spindle.
This step is critical because you need to have as much oil available to the bearings as possible, as it can take some time for the oil to seep/weep into the hub bearings from the rear differential. It's best to have oil available to the hub bearings immediately upon installation. I even pre-oil my inner and outer bearings before I install them into the hub. Some people use grease in the bearings, and that's ok too, but don't get too carried away with the grease, as it can impede the flow of the gear oil through the bearings.

4.) ***VERY IMPORTANT*** The torque spec for that rear axle spindle hub Ny-lock Nut is as follows: Torque nut to 120-140ft/lbs while spinning the hub with your free hand or with a helper. I set my torque wrench at 130ft/lbs - as that seemed most logical. This allows the bearings to seat properly. Then, back nut off 1/8th of a turn. Easiest to get your 1/8th by looking at the bolt holes in the hub for the floater axle. Line up your breaker bar with one and then turn the nut counter-clockwise until your bar lines up with the next hole in the end of the hub. It really ain't rocket science, but you'd be surprised how some people get pretty excited about these things.

5.) Now install your locking wedge with a small hammer, into the Ny-lock part of the nut, in the key slot groove that's in the axle spindle tube.

6.) Next, install your metal axle shaft gasket over your floater axle and install axle. Make sure both surfaces are clean and not all bunged up. NO, you do not need any RTV sealant on these surfaces. Torque the 8 special grade 8 axle-to hub bolts to 95ft/lbs.

7.) Put your rear wheels back on. Proper Lug Nut Torque is 145ft/lbs for the Dana 80 dually. A 15/16" deep 1/2" drive socket with an extension works best.

8.) Use gear oil RTV on your rear differential housing, install your cover, and tighten it up. The rear differential cover bolts are torqued at 30ft/lbs. Personally, I just snug 'em down with my wimpy 3/8" air impact gun, and do a quick re-check with my standard 3/8" ratchet. DON'T FORGET TO ADD YOUR GEAR OIL!!!

9.) Remove the 1/2" square drive level/fill plug from the rear cover. Fill differential with 5 to 6 quarts of 75W-90 full synthetic gear oil (or whatever gear oil you decided to go with).
Feel free to slightly overfill the rear differential. In other words, squirt an extra 1/2 to 1 quart (maximum) of gear oil into the diff and then put the level plug back in as quick as you can (yeah, oil will be running back out the fill/level plug hole while you are putting it in).
Yeah, I know... they always say to not overfill them - Blah, blah, blah... Bull****. Always better to have a little bit too much oil than not enough. I've never had a rear diff or axle fail because I put a little too much oil in it. I've seen plenty of them blow up due to NOT enough oil in them though!

10.) This should actually be step #7-1/2, and not #10. Check your breather tube (hose) that goes from your differential to the frame of the truck. It's a good idea to remove the little vent/check valve from the end of the hose by the frame, and blow through it with compressed air. This will assure that your differential is being properly vented. Too many times I've seen differentials blow hub/axle seals due to the vents being plugged and too much pressure builds up due to increased oil temperature and expansion inside the differential housings. Don't forget to re-install that vent/check valve back into the end of the vent hose.

**Side Note**
Because my rear brakes were worn and chewed up a bit, I also installed new rear caliper pads, cleaned and lubed the caliper slider pins, installed new parking brake shoes, and hardware kits. Did I have to do this? No. But while I'm in there, I decided that I was getting it all done at once so I don't have to worry about it for years to come. Fortunately, the brake rotors (discs) were still ok and didn't need replacement.

***A Final Note***
Just realized that I didn't mention how I removed or installed the bearing (cups) races or inner seals in the wheel hubs. Honestly, without the proper tools, it's a bit of a PITA.
I removed them with a long steel rod that I had around the shop, and a hammer. Removal is always the easiest part, because you don't have to be really careful of the parts that you are removing.

Bearing (Cup) Race Installation:
Simply put, if you have the money, just buy the correct seal and race drivers. It really will make this job a breeze. However, if you don't have the money, or know that you will never be doing this job again, and don't want to spend the money... you can do it my crude neanderthal way. LOL!

Using some smaller seal/race drivers that I already had, I used them in conjunction with some large sockets and the old bearing races that I had just driven out of the hubs. I found that by grinding down the outsides of the old (cups) races, it allowed me to use them as drivers for the new bearing (cups) races, without them getting "stuck" in the hub's bore.

This next step takes a little patience. Do NOT pound too hard in one spot! It will only **** the new (cup) race sideways in the bore and totally screw you for correct installation.
With a good wider brass punch, lightly tap the (cup) race around and around into the hub bore until you get it down into the hub below the surface. Now place the old race on top of the new one that is partially installed and continue to drive them down into the hub until it bottoms out evenly all the way around. Now your ground down old race comes right back out, you clean up the excess debris from the brass punch and whatnot, and you are ready to drop in your oiled/greased up cones (tapered roller bearings).

If my memory serves me right, the larger inner (cup) race is around 4-1/8" O.D. and the smaller outer (cup) race is around 3-1/8" O.D. If I had more time, I probably could have made up a couple of my own driver pucks, but I had to keep moving forward as fast as I could, and my crude method above did the job.

The inner hub seal installation was similar to starting the bearing (cup) race. ***Make sure that you've installed the large inner bearing cone into the (cup) race BEFORE you install the seal!*** Tap seal into place gently, carefully, and slowly work around and around it with a good wide brass punch. Once it's close to flush with the end of the hub, you can check it's flushness with a piece of steel or large socket, or old race, or what-have-you, where you can put it across the hub throat and smack it a few times to be sure that the inner seal is seated squarely and flushly in the hub's bore.


Well, that's about it. Hope this crazy long thread was helpful to y'all! Sure wish I would have had all of this information available to me when I started this project. Feel free to comment or whatever floats your boat.

 

PICS!!! WE WANT PICS!!!

Good write up though.

 

Great write-up and references to part numbers/resources. I need a couple of spindle nuts for a Dana 60 build I'm going to do soon, so those Dana 80 spindle nut and wedge part numbers came in handy, as they are the same as the Dana 60.

 

I do believe you are correct Atomic Dog. Thanks for the compliments too - much appreciated!

I was tempted to try a Ford Super Duty nut for the Dana 80 that they use in their trucks. Their Dana 80 hub nuts are of a different design, but do the same function (hold the rear wheel hub and bearings on). To my understanding, they are a "ratchet" style nut, that you torque to a certain spec, and then back off "x" number of degrees. I read the info somewhere, but have already forgotten it.) Sure seems like that style of nut would make a lot more sense to use, as they are re-usable.

I decided to stick with exact replacement Ny-lock nuts and wedges on my Dodge because I didn't have the time to risk something not going right with the job, as my truck had to be off of the lift before I left work for the day (or night, as it actually turned out to be - LOL). The Ny-lock nuts and wedges are also much cheaper if bought online.

 

hi,
thanks a lot for the infos appreciated !
for futur readers :
when filling the oil in the differential , i jacked one end of it (8 inches) and the oil did not spill out , in another way i tilted the truck side ways 8 inches.
thanks again