Front 10 bolt axle service; replace, seals, spindle bearings, and repack bearings.
Replace front axle shaft u-joints
Added a Spartan locker to the front 10 bolt as well while in there.
Transmission service; replace filter and fluid.
I was suspicious of the front axle because when I replaced the broken hub on day two; while driving the rig home from the seller, I saw pink, white, and black grease inside around the wheel bearings.
Yes, grease is grease.
I just can't stand having a bunch of dried up wheel bearing grease of one type mixed with white lithium grease (which has no place in a disc brake equipped wheel bearing) and whatever the pink stuff was.
So I bought a GM8.5 10 bolt front axle service kit from Torque King of Billings Montana as well as a pair of front axle shaft u-joints, and a Spartan locker to replace the spider gears.
All my rigs have locking differentials front and rear.
There is no comparison between having one open diffs or even one locker in the rear.
Offroad or in deep mud or snow; having two locking diffs means getting through no matter what.
Lucky for me I found a broken seal on the drive side axle shaft during disassembly and that meant water was not far behind getting into that hub had I not done this service today.
All the validation I needed.
Then I took the rig out for a wheeling session around Bald Mountain in a mic of mud and snow to try out my fully locked rig.
That Gov-loc is not my favorite but it does work.
The front Spartan locker is torque sensing so it locks up the second you apply throttle.
Being in the front axle; it is almost invisible off road, except for the increased traction.
There is a tendency to follow ruts.
There is not noise.
I had one in the rear of m 1976 K5 but swapped it out because it was so loud on the street.
Of course the front axle is disconnected via the hubs on pavement so it is totally invisible there.
If you are in 2 wd and have the hubs locked on the street, you will hear a bit of locking action up front but feel nothing in the handling of the rig at all.
The Gov-loc rear takes some wheel spin before the clockwork mechanism tightens the friction plates and locks the rear.
I might be swapping in a Detroit before the snow really begins to fly.. or I might wait till spring. But the Gov-Loc is a goner either way.
View attachment 701330
That pile of parts on the right is significantly smaller tonight.
View attachment 701331
View attachment 701332
View attachment 701333
View attachment 701337
The Spartan locker replaces the spider gears inside an open differential.
When coasting around corners it ratchets to allow differential tire rotation.
Under power the cross shaft locks both axle shafts together.
In a rear axle; they can be quite obnoxious; ratcheting, banging, and chirping tires on the street.
In a front axle; they are invisible when in 2wd and hubs unlocked. In 4wd the traction is ridiculous but it does come with a price. A front torque sensing locker tends to follow ruts and you will need to modulate the trottle on steep hill climbs with tight turns to give it a chance to unlock momentarily so you can turn.
View attachment 701338
The Spartan locker model is the same for front or rear 10 bolt axles. It comes with a new cross pine and cross pin lock bolt.
ALWAYS make sure to replace the cross pin lock bolt with a new one. They are a wear item with a nasty habit of shearing off if re-used.
View attachment 701339
New Spicer 5-297 axle shaft u-joints. Won't have to worry about them for a while. Thanks to the front locker I won't need to spin the wheels to go places and even though the locker applies 100% torque to both axles under load, I find I need MUCH less throttle and therefore load to go places.
The "hunting" of an open front differential is gone now too.
Just remember that when you have the front wheels turned sharply left or right; keep off the go-pedal.
Heavy throttle when making tight turns under load is what blows up front axle shafts and u-joints.
View attachment 701340
The new spindle bearings came in the 10 bolt re-fresh kit from Torque king of Billings.
You'll need a slide hammer with a hook attachment to get these out from inside the spindles.
A 1-3/16" socket was a perfect fit to drive the new spindle bearing home with a hammer and a little tapping.
View attachment 701341
This axle seal was cracked.
It is weird to think about but this seal actually seals the outer wheel bearing in a way.
If water penetrates here, it passed through the spindle, over the spindle bearings, and into the cavity behind the locking hub.
Your outer wheel bearing is right there unprotected at that point.
I got the front axle service kit from Torque King of Billing Montana.
It came with all three axle seals for the outer stubs, inner wheel bearing hub seals, spindle bearings, a differential cover gasket, new spindle nuts, locktite(for spindle nuts), and anti seize (for the brake caliper pins)
View attachment 701342
Waving a hand from Wyoming's Bighorn mountains.
The new found traction is amazing and having the front axle freshly sealed and water tight with new axle u-joints to boot, is comforting
. As if I was supposed to know
, their website never mentioned it? Sense yours is a 4" lift perhaps it's not needed? But it's worth a call
