Full-size heavy-duty trucks tend to see a fair amount of abuse. After all this is why they are purchased -- they are used as work trucks. Whether it is as a chase truck, support truck, or tow truck, a well-used HD truck can wear out parts a little more quickly than a fancy half-ton truck or Escalade that some suit is daily driving to his squishy job every day.
Trucks that work for a living are built to take the abuse, but nothing lasts forever. Our own Super Duty support truck, the STD, is a good example. The odometer still shows less than 70,000 miles, but practically everything underneath was worn out, obviously due to six years of hard off-roading, tow duty, and parts hauling. It was definitely time to rebuild the drivetrain of this truck. Even though we knew that it would be expensive endeavor, it would still be much cheaper than buying a new truck. And in this economy, buying a new truck is just not an option for us right now.
Instead of making 12 different phone calls to get parts, we decided to make just one call to National Drivetrain who was able to supply us with everything, from ball joints to driveshafts, we needed to get our truck back into tip top condition. National Drivetrain is one of the largest mail order drivetrain shops in the world, and they have great archives and parts databases. With one phone call and some simple driveshaft measurements, a sales guy was able to get us the correct ball joints, ring and pinion gearsets, install kits, ARB lockers, hub rebuild kits, and driveshafts without us even knowing what size U-joint our Super Duty's driveshafts came with from the factory. And we like that everything was mailed to us in just a couple of big boxes, instead of dealing with a bunch of phone calls and running around for parts.
But even with the advantage of the one-stop shopping at National Drivetrain, we still needed to visit our favorite drivetrain shop, South Bay Truck & 4x4 in Hawthorne, California, to get everything installed. National Drivetrain may be able to box up all the parts, but you cannot mail order all the knowledge, wisdom, and experience of a good drivetrain installation shop. It was a big job, but South Bay Truck had everything from National Drivetrain into our truck and ready to go in a day and a half.
 With all the parts that National...  With all the parts that National Drivetrain had sent us sitting on the bench, except for the driveshafts that showed up half a day later, we were ready to start tearing into our 1-ton work truck. |  Frank Gilliland of South Bay...  Frank Gilliland of South Bay Truck started tearing into the front axle. We had recently rebuilt the front hubs after an incident about eight months ago, but it was necessary to do again since we had to replace the ball joints and front differential. |  We didn't really realize how...  We didn't really realize how bad our ball joints were until an alignment shop showed us that our truck's front end was so badly worn that they could not align it. National Drivetrain sent us high-quality Spicer ball joints to replace the worn out ones in the factory Dana 60 axle. Kenny Herrington had the old ones popped out of the knuckles and the new ball joints installed in no time at all. |
 A previous differential inspection...  A previous differential inspection found worn and chipped ring gears in both the front and rear axles. It is common for a rear gearset to wear out, but the front ones usually do not show as much wear due to the fact that they are only spinning when in four-wheel-drive (assuming the vehicle has locking hubs). We replaced both gearsets with ones from Motive Gear. |  We also replaced the differentials...  We also replaced the differentials while we were at. This truck was originally set up with automatic lockers -- something considered acceptable for street use but not ideal. Since ours had seen better days and were starting to pop a lot, we decided to put in a high-quality selectable locker. The ARB units made an excellent choice since they could be actuated with the flick of a switch, but would remain "open" until specifically locked. |  The hard line coming off of...  The hard line coming off of this air collar is what feeds the ARB locker it's actuating air pressure. |
 With our front Dana 60 ARB...  With our front Dana 60 ARB locker, Motive gears, Spicer ball joints, and bearings installed, it was time to move on to the rear axle. South Bay Truck's Herrington popped off the differential cover while Gilliland removed the eight bolts from each full-floating axle shaft and pull them out so we could remove the differential..... |  .....At this time we also...  .....At this time we also found out that will have to replace one of the hubs since three of the bolts were broken off in too far in the hub to extract. |  Gilliland carefully installed...  Gilliland carefully installed the ARB locker into our factory Visteon 10.25 rear axle. ARB units are extremely reliable, but only if set up properly. Installation is everything with these lockers. An improper install will lead to air leaks and a locker that will not stay engaged. But luckily Gilliland is an old pro at these, and he was actually the first one to tell us years ago that any problem with an ARB was usually due to an error and installation. |
 Since we had the differential...  Since we had the differential cover off, we could not help but take the opportunity to call Mag-Hytec and get a new increased-capacity diff cover to replace the lame factory cover. The heavy-duty covers are machined right here in California (we always like to buy American) and are made out ofA356-T6 aluminum. |  The Mag-Hytec differential...  The Mag-Hytec differential covers offer some really great features. First of all, the finned covers have their own built-in O-ring seal and therefore do not need a gasket. They also have a magnetic drain plug to help catch suspended metallic particles..... |  .....And the screw-in dipstick...  .....And the screw-in dipstick you see is a really nice way to check the condition and level of your differential fluid..... |
 .....Since the Mag-Hytec cover...  .....Since the Mag-Hytec cover is larger for an increased fluid capacity, the dipstick does not get in the way of any differential internals. |  Once both differentials were...  Once both differentials were buttoned up, we used an air hose pressed against the ARB's differential outlets to make sure the lockers would lock when air pressure was introduced. We do not recommend trying this, as you have to be very careful to use just enough air pressure to get the axle to lock, but we checked them to make sure they would engage and lock before finishing the job. Too much air pressure, and you can easily blow out the seals. |  Since this truck has already...  Since this truck has already been abused and will continue to be abused, we upgraded to ARB's heavy duty air line kit..... |
 ....The kit comes with an...  ....The kit comes with an adapter to install the heavy duty line to an already-installed ARB's housing outlet..... |  ....If you are adding the...  ....If you are adding the line at the time of locker installation, ARB also provides a new housing outlet to eliminate the need for an adapter. |  As we stated earlier, you...  As we stated earlier, you can now get driveshafts directly from National Drivetrain (ND). ND has both a West Coast supplier and an East Coast supplier of driveshafts so they can get your ordered unit to you as quickly as possible. Coast Driveline happens to be the West Coast supplier. |
 The new driveshafts would...  The new driveshafts would have to be the biggest blessing, since our old ones have been vibrating for the last few thousand miles and we knew it was only a matter of time before one of the U-joints came apart and annihilated the underside of our truck.Since our Super Duty happens to be a long crew cab truck, a two-piece rear driveshaft is used along with a carrier bearing. |  In the front, we needed to...  In the front, we needed to not only address the worn out parts on the driveshaft, but also extend the length when the suspension drooped out. Due to the amount of movement of the front axle during suspension oscillation, South Bay Truck made sure to specify a long-travel slip yoke for our front driveshaft. The long-travel yoke will allow almost double the push/pull acceptable movement that a standard driveshaft slip yoke could take. |  Since we had added such a...  Since we had added such a nice differential cover to the back of our truck,..... |
 .....we just couldn't help...  .....we just couldn't help ourselves by complementing it with a Mag-Hytec transmission pan as well. These have the same great features as their differential covers do,.... |  ....except without the dipstick...  ....except without the dipstick (unnecessary since every auto tranny has one from the factory). The fins on the pan, along with the increased fluid capacity, keeps transmissions running cooler..... |  .....The Mag-Hytec covers...  .....The Mag-Hytec covers and pans also come with new 303 stainless steel allen bolt hardware. |
 When we said "increased capacity",...  When we said "increased capacity", we were certainly not overstating the case. Once the new pan was on, Frank Gilliland started pouring Ford automatic transmission fluid back in. If this was a factory pattern that we just put back on, Gilliland told us that we would likely need to pour four or five quarts. With the Mag-Hytec pan and place, we ended up pouring 15 quarts of fluid into the transmission! Now that is what we call increased capacity! |  How Did It Work Out? Once...  How Did It Work Out?
Once everything was buttoned up and put back together, we took the truck for a spin back to the office. It was like driving a brand-new truck! All the clunks were gone and the steering felt much tighter due to the new ball joints.Thanks to National Drivetrain and South Bay Truck, we were back in business with a well working heavy duty truck.Except ... if you can believe this, on the way back home we were rolling smoothly down the 405 freeway when the engine started to shutter before making a large bang and shutting down permanently. Oh gosh, what now?! Jeez, just when we thought we had this thing back to tip-top shape.... I guess we'll be making another trip out to Diesel Tech to see if he can salvage our Powerstroke 6.0L diesel engine. | |