KISSMYAURA said:

yep i see it you have the widow maker type,
Tubular with cross pins are the way to go!

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Yes. 100%

KISSMYAURA said:

yep i see it you have the widow maker type, careful not to knock that laver its easily done and then there goes your legs.

lol Tubular with cross pins are the way to go!

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And buy 3-6tonne jobbies for added lift/work height.

Nuffer said:

Well, someone said beware of scope creep... so far my shopping list has grown to:

brakes disks
pads
drive member
hub
CV joint
Lots of new bolts

It was a mess in there, not even looked at the drivers side yet!

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Wow, that looked hard work.

To be fair, if you intend to keep the truck, replacing worn gear is an investment. When I did my swivels I ended up changing one stub axle, both calipers and discs (though I got a deal on a set of calipers and discs that were vented so went for those), quality wheel bearings and seals, small section of solid brake pipe from calipers (made my own and used brass fittings with cunifer), both flexible brake pipes, all new bolts - oh, and the swivel kits. And then, about 3 months later, the axle case, galv shock turrets and new shocks Thankfully the drive shafts and flanges looked OK.

Costs certainly mount up but the axles (I did both axles including cases) on mine should be good for a while.

It certainly teaches you new skills too as I had never really done any mechanicing before, or brake pipe making, electrolysis, preparing bare steel for painting, etc etc.

Thankfully I can weld OK and have a welder so I managed the small tasks of replacing the bulkhead outriggers, rear outriggers, rear crossmember and rebuilding the dumb irons!!!

And your costs on new tools add up.

Fingers crossed thing progress smoothly going forward

It's better to buy parts and whatever additional tools you need than get a garage to do it in my experience. It still usually works out cheaper and then you've got everything you need for next time. Moreover, next time it'll come apart easier.