Where to get parts for 4.44 ratio in a '89 Intl?

[eggman]

Fist off, welcome to the madness.

Second......to find out the rear axle ratio, take your vin to the closest IH dealer and they can look it up on the build sheet. You can call, but when you are face to face with them, they will usually let you have a free copy of the build specs. They come in pretty handy later on as well. Could be a corporate axle, which could be an International, but Dana and Spicer are the same.

One place that I buy axle shafts and ring and pinions from is Randy's Ring and Pinion http://www.ring-pinion.com . They may not have what you need, but they could tell you what you have.

To change out the rear ring and pinion, both axle shafts would have to be pulled out far enough to clear the removal of the carrier. Drive shaft would have to be removed to pull the pinion shaft out. It will be a fairly big job. A very important one. Myself, I would leave it to a professional shop, if you have never done one before.

Hope this helps.

[paul iossi]

Most truck differentials are the carrier type, the ring and pinion a.re installed into a cast iron carrier that bolts into the axle housing, do the dealer build sheet like eggman suggested, then remove an axle shaft and mesure the diameter and count the splines on the diff end. With the axle make and model and spline count a truck salvage yard should be able to help you out with a replacement exchange differential unit. If you don't have any luck locally, google goody's truck parts in toledo oh. they are very helpful and will ship parts.

[wmah]

My numbers on mine are close to yours.
13392A
029CA104-2X
5.57

Now I also found the line ticket that shows
Spicer f155s 15.5# SGL Reduction Axle 5.57 Ratio

[crazycal]

Welcome. I love it up there. I own a lot in Shelter Cove (a buildable one) and hope to build a house up there someday. Sorry I can't help you with your rear end question. I do second Eggman's advice about having a shop doing the swap.

[eggman]

Originally Posted by norcalgold

OK, I crawled under the bus looking for numbers and found a tag on the axle. We dont have any truck shops that deal in International so I will wait till I get to a bigger city on a trip or try Goodies' or do a search for someplace closer.

Here is the info off the tag:
spicer
dana
23588A
029CA101-2X
ratio 5.57

cast into the house near the yoke was:
07221
4C or 4G
68943-R4

Looks like it is a dana rear end. I guess some of the other numbers will determine the model of the axle.

Thanks for all the info.. if anyone can decepher what these numbers mean, that would be great. The tags ratio of 5.57 matches the line tag.

Gerald
(still trying to come up with a bus name.. "Old Goat" comes to mind

norcalgold and wmah,

Here are your answers.
Of all the numbers listed in your posting, the only number that was close that Dana could use was the 029CA101-2x....Which could possibly be 029CA104-2X. When the tech pulled that number up, this info is what he gave me:

Diferential case break between 4.33 and 5.38 ratios and 5.57 and 7.17 ratios. Which means that you can not use the carrier from a 5.57 rear end to mount your wanted gearing of 4.44 (which isnt available anyway).

Your axles ratios list is as follows: [4.33, 4.56, 4.78, 5.29, 5.38] using one carrier and [5.57, 6.50, 7.17] using the larger carrier.

Spline sizes: 3.228" x 36 splines, however different lengths....38.62", 40.25", and 40.60" depending on the hole type, straight or tapered and if it is the F155 or the F170 axle.

The tech also gave me a website that lists your axle's illustrated parts list, which is for the F155-S as well as the F170-S axles.

The first one is the list of manuals.

http://www.roadranger.com/Roadranger...Language=en_US

The second one is the specific manual for the F155-S and the F170-S axles.

http://www.roadranger.com/ecm/groups..._axip-8663.pdf

This one is for the service and sales literature....covers brakes and other things.

http://www.roadranger.com/Roadranger...ture/index.htm

Happy reading.
Hope this helps.

[the_experience03]

Plan on a couple hundred to have someone set the gears up for you as well. It's no black art, but it takes specialized tools and knowledge to do it. For the price of those components, I can't imagine you would want to mess around with doing it yourself and chewing up a gear set. Heck...if you don't have a press you might not be able to do them yourself at all. I'm still trying to work up the courage to do my Toyota gears and that will only cost me $200 for parts.

[kotflb]

The international dealer here in Oklahoma, told me a rebuilt diff would cost me $1400 exchange. And if they did the r&r work I would also be looking at 4 hours labor at $80/hr. Total out the door would be around $1875. That may be cheaper then buying the parts, paying someone to change the gears and your still stuck with removing the old and and installing the new/rebuilt one.

Also, I have a 4:44 ratio that I was thinking is too slow, and am looking for a 3:73 ratio. But then again you may have a v8 or faster turning 360/5.9 engine, which may be perfect with the 4:44 ratio.

[KC10Chief]

I've been looking into doing the same thing with my bus. I have a 1993 International with the 7.3 motor and the 5.57 rear end. My bus is a 10 window bus and it will top out at 65 mph. But the RPM's are screaming at that speed. Even at 55 mph, the RPM's are high. I've only had it on the highway once when I drove it home. The rest has been around town. I can tell you, that with 170 HP, it will be a real dog with lower gears. It's already a dog! I would LOOOOOVE to have some 3.73's in my bus, but I don't think it would move. My bus is empty right now and it's already almost 16,000 pounds. I'm thinking that 4.33's would be realistic, but then, you're going to have to give the engine some more power. I've looked into turbo's and what not. It's VERY expensive. I have also called the International dealer here in OKC and it will be roughly $1,500 for the parts and labor. This isn't a job you want to tackle yourself. Even replacing the gears on a small truck is very difficult. Have you seen the size of the diff on a bus?!? Wow. For what it would cost to rebuild the rear end and then juice the motor up enough so you could drive down the road, you could just buy a different bus with a DT466 in it. Now THAT would be sweet! I'm thinking that I may just leave my bus as it is and drive it 55 mph everywhere I go. I won't be in that big of a hurry anyways.

[the_experience03]

I'll ask Tim at UTB about the axle he has apart from a TC2000 today. Maybe, just maybe that third member would work for you guys. I have no idea what kind of axles the Bluebirds use, but most I have seen in these parts have very friendly highway ratios.

[oakspring]

Howdy norcalgold! I'm a refugee from Humboldt and a graduate from HSU....miss all the green, but love the sunshine here in Colorado. It sounds like we all have similar issues regarding speed. I've got plenty of power in my Skoolie with a 9.0L V8 Diesel, but with a 6.5 rear end the top end is seriously lacking. I really don't like running my bus full out just to drive 55

I'm really wondering what is the better way to go. I talked with a local International rep about this and he suggested that I might want to consider increasing the ratio to 4.11 or 3.90 but that I'd lose some hill climbing power and I might rather consider a compromise with either 4.56 or 5.17 ratios....I'M SO CONFUSED!!

I have a friend that is a heavy equipment mechanic and works for CDOT and I'm going to talk with him this weekend about such options. I'll get back to you'all if I have anything further to illuminate. I will tell you norcalgold climbing out of Humboldt with a bus is an experience ESPECIALLY if you are taking the highway over to Redding, that last leg will really test your brakes and calm. Of course going south by way of the Redwood Narrows and Suspicion Hill you'll swear you're going to leave paint on the side of the trees and rocks

I'll get back to everyone on the rear end ratios....later

Steve

[the_experience03]

My ratio is 4.56 and my top speed on the governor (25-2600 rpm) was just over 60 before the conversion and just below 60 now fulling loaded. I sure do love that torque converter slip. I wouldn't go any lower than 4.56 with my bus. My 6.6 can actually move the bus with the 4.56 ratio and the 6.6 is an absolutely GUTLESS. I wouldn't mind a 4.44 ratio myself.

[wmah]

I made the go on my rear end and brought it in this past monday and went from a 5.57 to a 4.33 which is a big jump for me. Also the catco guys said the international rear end RA39 takes the same internal parts and same carrier for the gears. My short little bus with a non turbo engine seems to handle it just fine although when I pulled my truck home it dogs a little bit but moves alright at 55 against strong wind. I then unhooked the truck and took it out and it went over 65 with the strong cross wind and about 60 against the wind. Well now earlier today I was going to take it west about 90 miles for a one nighter and I went about 10 miles down the road and....

I started hearing some noise and feeling a vibration. My first thought was one of my dayton wheels was falling off. So when I stopped on the side off the road I looked at the wheels and they appeared fine. I then looked under toward the rear end which also looked fine and then I noticed the drive shaft was hanging down by a carrier berring which of coarse is missing the bracket that holds it up with only one bolt left and who knows where the rest of the parts flew off to. Now since it is a easter weekend the truck parts stores had closed early so I couldn't get anything to repair it. TO get it back to the house I took a piece of cable tv cable and tied it up to the mounting position and drove it back. I did look under it when I got back to the house and looked at it and the cab;e held up well and I'm sure I could have gone many more than 10 miles to get somewhere and monday I may be bringing it back to the shop to let them replace it if needed or see if they will just give me the bracket.

So now instead of sleeping in the bus for the night I'm in the brothers front room which isn't too bad but I think I would have been more comfortable in the bus.

[lapeer20m]

at least you were able to drive her that 10 miles. There are definately worse places to brake down.

[kotflb]

Sounds as if they forgot to re-torque the carrier bearing. And yes I would put a new one in there b/c the old one won't last long after being run loose for even a short distance.

What was you old and new rpm at 55 mph? And was there a large difference in the noise level from your engine running slower?

[the_experience03]

Did you do a speedo correction of some type? If not I would atleast calculate out a few key speeds like 55, 65, etc before johnny law does with his radar gun. It takes a lot to pull over an RV, but a bus speeding happily 10 mph over might be enough.

[wmah]

The dash used to read 55 at 3000rpms. Now it should be 70 at 3000 rpms. I did manage to hit about 67 for a bit but I was going against wind
They did do the dash program for the speedo and it looks like it might be close but well I really couldn't try it out much cause of a little problem. The tach now looks to be a little haywire too.
At slower speeds it a little bit quieter. Now the carrier Bering that dropped looks like it might be all right but no bracket there to hold it up. And a closer look at the other one reveals that it is gone. The extra force when it dropped took the Bering right out. I brought it back to catco today and just parked it in their lot and will be going back there tomorrow.

[the_experience03]

Where is Catco?

[wmah]

http://www.catcoparts.com/ They are around a good part of minnesota and wisconsin along with fargo and siox falls.

I now have two new carrier berings for the drive shaft on catco. These guys sell all kinds of truck parts. I have noticed myself that brake parts can run cheaper there compared to what the auto parts stores want.

[the_experience03]

All over Minnesota..........as long as you don't live in the Arrowhead Region......drat. Atleast I still have Interstate Detroit Diesel and Allison Transmission along with the dealerships. I know there are a few places here in Duluth (living here for the summer), but I don't have any experience with them.