Back on the road!

[Natureboy]

Man it's been forever since I've posted! I finally got my 87 d50 fixed and back in daily service. The manual transmission broke 2 1/2 years ago and it's been sitting until last Saturday. I pulled the tranny in Jan of last year and paid a guy to rebuild it. Took him 4 months and a letter from my attorney to finally get it back. I installed it and it wouldn't shift out of reverse. I can't remember a time when I was more angry/frustrated/unhappy. Completely took the wind out of my sails. I finally located a used tranny and decided to pull the original and tear them down side by side to see if I could determine the problem-I was pretty sure it was the linkage, because the shift lever just flopped around without any resistance. Ended up that I left the tranny in the truck, pulled the t-case and gear housing, and fixed the problem with parts from the used unit. What was the problem? The %@*##+!?> lost the springs, balls and set screws that operate the detents that hold the shift forks in place, and hold the shift lever in the neutral position. Had it repaired in less than 3 hours. I am the happiest guy on the planet!!! The engine has 8k on it since a complete rebuild and just plain purrs. I had forgotten how much I love my truck. It's almost like a second honeymoon

Now for my question-I found an 88 Raider with the 2.6 motor and 4.62 gears and I want to put the gears in my truck. I know I could pull the diff and install that, but it's quite involved and I've never set up a diff before. So, can I simply swap the entire rear axle into my truck? Are they identical, or incompatible? My truck is a work truck, and the 3.9 gears on it don't lend themselves to towing or load moving. Also, I want to put my 31" BFG's back on it.

Anyone with info on this topic, I would greatly appreciate your input, and willingness to help a brother out.

[crvtec90]

Good deal man! When I cracked my cylinder head my truck was down for a year as well so I know the feeling.

I dont know much about the raider axle.....but if the center section is an 8 inch ring gear then it should fit your truck housing and there arent any gears to set up. You just swap the center section into your housing.

[DroppedMitsu]

Yup, there is nothig to set up since you arent changing the gears in your actual stock dif just replacing the whole pinion and gears. Loosen the axle on both sides to slide them out enough to be able to pull the diff out, then put the new one in and slide the axles all the way back in and tighten everything up and add oil.

[Natureboy]

Hey thanks guys. I can get the diff for $75. sounds like I'll just pull that and not worry about the complete axle.

[pennyman1]

don't forget the speedo gear if you can get it.

[Natureboy]

Oh yeah-must have speedo gear. It already reads 8 over at 60 mph on stock tires. However, it may be a moot point...just lost 5th gear. It goes in for a half-sec and then pops out and whines. Oh well, mustn't be greedy, I still have 4 gears. I found a low mileage 2wd D50 tranny for about $100 bucks. It looks like it may let me swap on the necessaries and t-case from my truck. Anyone know if this is right? Thanks

[camoit]

Oh man,, that sucks.. What else can we say? For $100 bucks of the same year there has got to be some usable parts in there.

[pennyman1]

You can change out the tailshaft and use the 2wd tranny with the transfer case. Before you swap it out, check the detents and shifter rails; they may just need adjustment

[Natureboy]

Once again Thanks for the help. One more question-is there any concern over "wide block vs. narrow block with the D50's?

[camoit]

depends on engine size. take a look in the wiki. We have lost of info starting in there.

[DroppedMitsu]

If your trucks a 2.6 its a wideblock, if the motor is a 2.0l manual tranny its a narrowblock.

[Natureboy]

thanks