Hondo's 2006 Roadtrek 210 Popular Build

[booster]

The sway bar mounts are the same as with the 60s, our bar went back on OK, with exception of having to space it back 3/8" to clear the rear cover because of the larger ring gear. Our bar had been made to fit very close to the 60s so not surprising.

Govlock sourcing is really tough, as GM will not sell new ones except parts for a specific vehicle by VIN. I tried to get one several times from them without success. They do sell parts, apparently to some of the rebuilders, as they do have some of them rebuilt, but as you have found very expensive.

Personally, I would get a used 70s with a Govlock and put a gear set in it before I would put $600 into a 60s. Pretty much everything you have will work with the 70s except for the rotors, which have to be a different ID by a little bit. All the rest of the brake parts bolt right up, as do shocks, springs, etc.

You might even get a bit better stability with a new axle. Our 60s had over 1* of thrust angle, and the 70s came it at zero thrust, which I have never seen before in a live axle.

[Hondo]

So I should be looking for a 70S axle out of a 2500 or 3500, right?

Do you have any idea on what years I should be looking for?

[booster]

When I was looking, it appeared that that the years would be 2003 to 2009. They came in the 3500 and the 2500HD vans both Chevy and GMC.

The best way to tell quickly if one is possibly the right one is that it will have disc brakes and be a full floater. The earlier ones had drum brakes, and the later ones have the 3.42(?) gears because of the 6 speed.

[Hondo]

Ok, thanks for the info...I'll start looking around.

[Hondo]

Axle question-

The Roadttrek Popular 210 would not be considered a "cutaway" van, correct?

[booster]

Originally Posted by Hondo

Axle question-

The Roadttrek Popular 210 would not be considered a "cutaway" van, correct?

You are correct, they start as a full bodied van.

[Hondo]

Having trouble finding a Dana 70 4.10 posi for a non cutaway...lots of cutaway axles though

[Hondo]

I'm rethinking an upgrade to the 60S, it might be easier to buy the posi unit and have it installed at a local axle shop.

It would be much less hassle and cheaper than having a shop install an axle.

[Hondo]

Installed a generic ebay "Nautilus" type of air horn today.

I used a better relay that I had and wired directly to it instead of using the "wiring" that was included.

Here's the horn-



I removed the stock horn and welded a piece of scrap steel to it, extending the mount upward-



It is MUCH louder than the stock horn and worth the $13.50 (shipped).

https://www.ebay.com/itm/12V-Red-Car...53.m2749.l2649

[booster]

Originally Posted by Hondo

Having trouble finding a Dana 70 4.10 posi for a non cutaway...lots of cutaway axles though

I looked around a little and there are some 4.10s around with the Govlock, quite a few of the 3.73. Many under $500, so you could put in a gearset and still be under $1000. A 60s is nowhere near the axle the 70s is IMO.

[Hondo]

I gotta look more.

I searched using a auto parts search engine, but many yards don't use that service. I'm sure that there are vans out there with a 70, I just gotta find one with relatively low miles and Gov lok.

[booster]

You could try this search

https://www.hollanderparts.com/used-...2%22-ring-gear

There are lots listed, but you have to call to comfirm what the really are, no matter watch the search says. Last time I went through the list a while ago there was a 4.10 with Govlock that had under 100K on it. Most of the driveline experts would put a 70s as a 300-400k mile axle, so they last a long time.

[Hondo]

Working on a deal, Dana 70, GT4 & G80 (3.73 & locking diff) 76K miles, $425 shipped to my driveway.

Waiting on pics before ordering.

[booster]

That's a decent price, and close to home. Hopefully, from a relatively rust free area, as that will make life easier (ours was very rusty).

How did you find it?

[Hondo]

Originally Posted by booster

That's a decent price, and close to home. Hopefully, from a relatively rust free area, as that will make life easier (ours was very rusty).

How did you find it?

I found it using the search engine that you provide- thanks!

I don't know what it looks like, still waiting on the pics. Need to make sure that the shock & sway bar mounts look the same.

I went to a local Chevy dealer and had them give me the RPO codes from the VIN and it indeed had the GT4 (3.73) and G80 (Locking diff) listed in the Chevrolet records. It was a 4.8 L gas 3500.

So if the pics come back & it's a Dana 70 and not a 60S then I'll order it.

[Hondo]

Not a Dana 70 but a 60

He thought it was a full float but it wasn't, pics don't lie!

It's still a great deal on a 3.73 Dana 60 posi though.

[Hondo]

As the Roadtrek has an open rear end (1 wheel drive) I want to upgrade the rear end to a limited slip/positraction axle. The stock axle is a Dana 60S semi floating axle and upgrading it to posi would cost around $1K. The axle itself has a max loading of 6,084 lbs and it's at 5,100 lbs now, could reach the limit with a heavy tow and extra gear inside.

So the best solution is to install a complete axle from another vehicle, and the best axle out there for the Express van 3500 is the Dana 70S, a 7,500 heavy duty, full floating axle. It should be a simple swap though I may have it done by a shop after the axle is prepped. I have found one with less than 70K miles and it will be about $550 shipped to my driveway.

Thanks to Booster for all of your advice!

[Hondo]

New axle ordered from a salvage yard, to be delivered to my driveway-

• Dana 70S
• limited slip/posi
• 3.73 gears
• 66,000 miles
• from Oklahoma, never seen salt
• includes rotors, might be able to turn them

[Hondo]

I make a rig like this to go onto my floor jack-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxo5xkknXSs

[booster]

That will work, but it is very narrow and the axle has a lot of outboard weight, so can be pretty tippy. Rental transmission jacks usually have a much wider wheel spacing and also some tilting methods for easier alignment. They rent pretty inexpensively.

How are you going to move the axle around the shop to get it on a bench for any work, and onto the installation jack? I wound up using my cherry picker and setting it on saw horses with a sheet of 3/4" plywood on it, so I could get all the way around it (I had a lot of stuff to do on it), and left the picker hooking up to stabilize the axle and let me rotate a bit to get at everything. The axles are very awkward to deal with, as they are very nose heavy, and don't want to sit, or hang level.