Tom's axles..

[Tom Mandera <tsm1@domain.elided>]

OK, put the 4.88s into the Travelall '44.  As near as I can tell, it's 
stamped as mfg in '63.

Put it in, check backlash.. hmmm... none at one point, lots at another.. 
so we put the dial indicator on the carrier and measured not the .003 
runout that's acceptable.. but .035!  Carrier itself is warped!  

Next week the carrier comes out and we start all over again with a 
different carrier... which gives me time to think some more. (which 
everyone should know by now is a dangerous thing)

I asked about the tapered bearings.. Mike said the only thing I can do is 
replace the housing ends... ah-hah!  Some new Mark Williams housing ends, 
change the bearings out, and I'm in Locker city again!  Mike then said 
he'd rather just re-setup the 4.88s in a different housing.. and 
indicated finding another housing would be pretty simple.

Hmmm....

In fact, he has a Dodge van rear end full float Dana 60 in his "junk" 
pile that needs gears (he got it for the 4.88s that are going into his 
"Tank" '79 F250)... hmmmm.. I know someone that had a set of Dana 60 
4.88s for sale not long ago... but I wasn't in the market for a rear end 
(I already had one, I needed a front) at the time.

Now that I almost have the front axle in hand.. 

I'm faced with another dilemma.

If I can still get the Dana 60 4.88s, I'm sure I can get the Dana 60 
housing from Mike inexpensively.  But.. being a full floater, it's 
undoubtedly an 8-lug assembly.. which throws my whole "share tires with 
my daily driver and use up all of those extra stock Scout II tires and 
rims I have" theory out the window.

Are all 8 lug 3/4T setups the same?  If I bought some Chevy 8-lug hubs n' 
rotors to go with the Chevy front axle I"m buying, will it be the same 
pattern as the Dodge Van 8-lug rear end?  I'd also need to buy 5 new rims 
for 8 lug setups..

I suppose I'll only find 16" and 16.5" rims with an 8 lug pattern.. which 
means the odds of finding a set of used 31x10.50s for 16 or 16.5" rims is 
slim..  Argh.  No easy answer. ;-)

Or maybe I ask the junkyard how much for the semi-float 5 on 5.5 Dana 60 
from a Travelall they had.. 

Oh well.  I'll do some talking tomorrow and some more thinkin'.

-Tom