4speedfunk
Well-Known Member
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- Tardville
So this morning I'm out for my morning run, when a buddy of mine drives past me in his Fummins (2004 Ford F350 with a 12v Cummins diesel). I waved and he proceeded to turn onto the main highway...when I heard a horrendous noise. As I ran back to the intersection...he had pulled over and was looking underneath his rig. I came up on the situation to see if I could lend a hand. The rear axle housing was rotated...YOKE STRAIGHT UP! It looked like a freakin Rockwell!!!! I said, "Dude...your U-bolts are loose". He said that entire axle was brand new, (it was all painted nice & purdy). I said "not anymore". (yeah I tend to be a sarcastic SOB). He went on to say he just got it together, and only had a few miles on the new axle. This truck had ridiculously large 5" lift blocks in the rear, and they had large chunks missing from them.
So he gets inside and power-brakes it in reverse to point the pinion back to something close to normal. I grabbed some wrenches and we got the U-bolts tight...but the rear U-joint was toast, as was the end of the driveshaft and possibly the flange where it bolts to the pinion. He limped it over to my driveshaft guy for a not-so-quick (and not so cheap) fix. I recommended that he do a shackle-flip instead, and run some arched springs instead of those big goofy blocks. The Jamboree is in Indy this weekend and he was on his way up there...clearly he may have been in a rush during the final assembly. tsk tsk.
So, for those of you that have done the SOA mod (or any other fiddling with U-bolts) on your H3....take some time to re-torque the U-bolts after you drive it for a day. You might be surprised how much they can loosen up, and you can avoid a lot of serious damage by just doing a quick re-check.
So he gets inside and power-brakes it in reverse to point the pinion back to something close to normal. I grabbed some wrenches and we got the U-bolts tight...but the rear U-joint was toast, as was the end of the driveshaft and possibly the flange where it bolts to the pinion. He limped it over to my driveshaft guy for a not-so-quick (and not so cheap) fix. I recommended that he do a shackle-flip instead, and run some arched springs instead of those big goofy blocks. The Jamboree is in Indy this weekend and he was on his way up there...clearly he may have been in a rush during the final assembly. tsk tsk.
So, for those of you that have done the SOA mod (or any other fiddling with U-bolts) on your H3....take some time to re-torque the U-bolts after you drive it for a day. You might be surprised how much they can loosen up, and you can avoid a lot of serious damage by just doing a quick re-check.