I've been doing some summer maintenance on my pickup truck. In the next few days I'm going to flush fresh brake fluid through the pickup, and then start doing some major maintenance on the Ford Taurus. The brake lines on the Taurus rusted out on me the other day so it's on jack stands in-op at the moment, and when I took off one back wheel I noticed one of the springs had broken, so I'm gonna be banging on it for a while after I do the brake fluid on the truck.

1999 Dodge Dakota
3.9L V-6
211,654 miles

Flushed the radiator out and re-filled it with fresh fluid, cracked open the differential and checked out the gears, cleaned and painted the cover, then put on a fresh gasket and filled it with new fluid. I drained the manual transmission oil and put fresh in it. I took off my brake drums to check the brake pads (I've got discs in front, drums in back) and painted the drums and the axle end cap since they both had a little bit of surface rust starting to appear. I even drained and re-filled my washer fluid reservoir with a bottle of orange RainX brand fluid that's supposed to be a de-icer (down to -35), bug gut and water repellent.

Some of the jobs I did because I had never personally done them since owning the vehicle, and some of them were just in preparation for the cold months approaching because I hate having to get outside and mess with stuff when it's cold outside.

Anyway, here's some pictures I took. You can click on the pictures for full size photos, I just didn't want to blow up everybody's browsers.

Some of my tools laid out with the differential cover.


Got to take a look at the inside of a limited slip differential for the first time ever in my life. There were no chipped teeth, no metal chunks, etc. This was actually a much easier job than I thought. The only real hard part was scraping off all the old gasket material before applying the new one and putting it all back together.


I scraped the cover clean since it had dirt, tar, and rust all over it, then painted it flat black and painted the fill plug red. Once I put it on with the fresh gasket, I painted the bolts flat black as well. Looking back, my buddy told me the bolts may have looked better as red.


Here's the brake drums after their first coat of paint. I added a 2nd coat and let that dry good before putting them back on.


Here's the brake drum put back on with the axle end-cap painted flat black. May also help keep wheels from corroding and sticking on there as well in the future.


Here's the brake drums with a tire hung on the lug bolts. It's not actually tightened down if it looks a little crooked, I just sat it on there to see how the drum looked.

 

Looks like a good cleanup.

You have the 8.25 rear. I know your picture isn't dead on but it doesn't look like it's an LSD from the carrier. Correct me if I'm wrong.

The right hand side is usually more "round" and deeper to hold the clutch packs.

 

Mine is definately non LSD, so I'm putting them both here to compare. Mine is the smaller pic and has 12 bolts, versus his 10.

P8250106.jpg

 

This is mine, it is an LSD but the 9.25. You can see how the right end is more round, this is where the clutch packs go.

 

I see. Cber, looks like you were mistaken in thinking you had LSD (other thread).

Dan, if decided to swap the rear end to 9.25 LSD, would it bolt right up if I pulled one out of a QC? The truck is 2WD... does it matter if it comes out of a 4x4? Driveshaft lengths the same?

Edit: I also have rear discs with new hub bearings that I'd like to keep.

 

Do you leave the whip up 24/7 or is it bent down toward the front.

Had to remove my whip when I ripped the bumper off.
I have an old Cobra 29LTD ST (had a buddy adjust it) and a K40 4' whip mounted to the side of the ladder rack now.
Still got plenty of clearance above the roof of the truck.

 

Dodgevity, the spring perches are different on the 4x4 (top) and the 2wd (bottom).

There are difference in years/models as to the pinion flange as well. I'm not sure on the driveshaft length.

 

I leave it up most of the time, but sometimes if I go places that have low roof or off-roading, I have a rubber tarp strap with one hook taken out that I slide over the tip of the antenna and bend it forward with.

To everybody else, I only recently started learning about differentials and how they work. I don't remember who told me it was limited slip, I think it's because if you turn one wheel, the other one goes the opposite way. Also, both wheels can and will pull, but if one is more willing to than the other, then it will get all the power. For example if one wheel is on ice and one on gravel, the one on the ice will get all the power. If you turn around where the wheels are reversed, it will then give power to the other wheel that is now on the ice. Neither one is permanently locked in, it just goes with whichever one has the least resistance.

If that's not LSD, what would it be called then? Open wheel?

 

It's an "open" differential.

In a limited slip, if you turn one wheel the other will go the same way due to the clutch packs. The clutch packs transfer power to both wheels but still allow some slip for turning.

 

I have a 7 foot HAM antenna, that folds down for parking garages. But my mount isn't very good, i'm probably going to design a new one with a more powerful motor and bolt it to the bed lip instead of clamping. I was trying to not drill if I could avoid it, clamps just don't stay.