paramax55
Junior Member
2006 3500 dually, diesel, 6-speed manual. It seems as if my left axle shaft is too long.
I replaced my left, rear oil seal today. When I took it apart, I saw that someone in the past had left the wheel bearing nut loose by a good full turn or so (which explained some issues). The job went as normal until I tried to bolt the axle back in. When it bottomed out, there was still a gap between the axle flange and the hub, where the gasket goes. The gap is .075". I decided to see what would happen if I snugged the bolts down and it bound up the rear end to where it didn't want to move. When I backed the bolts off, everything moved like normal again.
Here's the weird stuff amd my theory as to what happened... one of the axle bolts was different than the other 7. It was the same thread and all, but the head was different. Then, when I got the axle out, it had a number on it written in paint marker. This truck has a giant turbo, a big tune, and the motor has been replaced. I'm thinking someone did something stupid in the past, messed up an axle shaft, and got a used replacement from a Chevy or something and it's a little longer than the Dodge axle was. It looks like their idea to fix it was to back the nut off so they could bolt down the axle without binding it up. Then sell the truck.
Is all of this plausible? Is there a Dodge axle trick I don't know about?
If this axle really is too long, I have three options to fix it... 1) I can stick it in the lathe and cut .100" off the end of it (it's probably hardened and it doesn't have any signs of wear on the tip). 2) I can make a spacer plate of .100" where the gasket goes. Or 3) I could make a spacer to go behind the rear bearing and move the whole hub out (maybe the easiest).
Has anybody experienced something like this before? Any ideas?
I replaced my left, rear oil seal today. When I took it apart, I saw that someone in the past had left the wheel bearing nut loose by a good full turn or so (which explained some issues). The job went as normal until I tried to bolt the axle back in. When it bottomed out, there was still a gap between the axle flange and the hub, where the gasket goes. The gap is .075". I decided to see what would happen if I snugged the bolts down and it bound up the rear end to where it didn't want to move. When I backed the bolts off, everything moved like normal again.
Here's the weird stuff amd my theory as to what happened... one of the axle bolts was different than the other 7. It was the same thread and all, but the head was different. Then, when I got the axle out, it had a number on it written in paint marker. This truck has a giant turbo, a big tune, and the motor has been replaced. I'm thinking someone did something stupid in the past, messed up an axle shaft, and got a used replacement from a Chevy or something and it's a little longer than the Dodge axle was. It looks like their idea to fix it was to back the nut off so they could bolt down the axle without binding it up. Then sell the truck.
Is all of this plausible? Is there a Dodge axle trick I don't know about?
If this axle really is too long, I have three options to fix it... 1) I can stick it in the lathe and cut .100" off the end of it (it's probably hardened and it doesn't have any signs of wear on the tip). 2) I can make a spacer plate of .100" where the gasket goes. Or 3) I could make a spacer to go behind the rear bearing and move the whole hub out (maybe the easiest).
Has anybody experienced something like this before? Any ideas?
