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Posted by Clint Dixon [65.125.107.130] on Friday, July 01, 2011 at 12:33:17 :
In Reply to: would like to hear more about this please posted by JeremyR [161.7.95.119] on Friday, July 01, 2011 at 10:23:03 :
I did not have to cut off the rear spindle, just cut the heads off of the five rivets that attach it to the axle housing and drive them out. The spindle then came right off.
What I was doing was replacing the brake backing plate. It is sandwiched between the mounting plate of the spindle and the flange on the axle housing. I needed to remove the spindle in order to replace that plate. There was no alignment to putting it back together. It was self aligning but I don't remember exactly how. I think it had a flat on the step that mates to a flat within the bore on the flange of the axle housing.
I was incorrect in telling you that I put a front spindle on the back. I believe when I had it off, I compared it to a front spindle and could see no differences. It makes sense that it would be in Dodge's best interest to use common spindles front and rear. The reason why the rear was riveted instead of bolted appears to be because the rear should never have to be taken apart. The front spindle needs to be removable to access the constant velocity joints in the steering knuckles.
Before scrapping the whole rear axle housing, I believe it would be worth a try to remove the spindle and bolt on a front in its place. You would not be hurting anything if you were going to scrap it anyway.
I did all of this work to the truck nearly 25 years ago, so the details are a little fuzzy, but I really do not remember it being a hard jog or having any problems.
Junior
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