Here's the contents of the 35 Spline upgrade "kit":

• (2) 35 Spline stub shafts (D70) Spicer part #: 3-82-871
• (2) Spicer "Life Series" greasable 1480 series U-joints, Spicer part #: 5-733X
• (1) Warn 35 Spline Drive Flange kit, Warn part # 39346

The Spicer shafts are made from SAE1137 steel (not a true "alloy steel") and are induction hardened. In this pic you can clearly see the blue circles along the shaft that show the hardening.

From the "Machinery's Handbook":

"Induction hardening is done by placing the metal part inside or close to an "applicator" coil of one or more turns, through which alternating current is passed. The coil, formed to suit the general class of work to be heated, is usually made of copper tubing through which water is passed to prevent overheating of the coil itself. In most cases, the work piece is held either in a fixed position or is rotated slowly within or close to the applicator coil. Where the length of work is too great to permit heating in a fixed position, progressive heating may be employed. Thus, a rod or tube of steel may be fed through an applicator coil of one or more turns so that the heating zone travels progressively along the entire length of the work piece. "

A great deal has been made of these "new" style Spicer joints in the last year or so. You will often see them referred to as the "new forged' or "cold formed" U-joints. This is a bit of a misnomer, I think, because, as far as I know, Spicer U-joints have always been forged.

Spicer refers to them as the "Spicer Life" series. They do claim a 50% greater life due to the improved seal.

And they also mention "greater torque carrying capacity", but give no figures on this. The greater strength in part comes from the reduced diameter of the grease holes, as seen in this pic. manufacturing process, metallurgy, heat treating, and quality control procedures may all play a part as well.

Some conservative shade-tree estimates have been made at 20-30% strength increase over the old style U-joints. I personally have no idea if this is true or not, not having the equipment to run proper testing myself.

This is the contents of the Warn 35 Spline drive flange kit. When I spoke to Greg, I hemmed and hawed about whether to go with Warn 35 spline lockouts or drive flanges. On the one hand - the lockouts are nice because of the flexibility they offer, especially for a street driven or spooled front rig. On the other hand, the drive flanges are undeniably simpler and MUCH stronger.

In the end I went with simplistic and brute strength - was there ever really any question :-)

If you have 30 spline drive flanges, you may be able to find a machine shop that can broach then to 35 spline for you.

The caps have a nice large O-ring seal, and secure with 3 simple Torx screws.

Start by removing the 6 small bolts that hold the manual lockout cap on. They may be allen head or Torx bits, depending on brand / age.

Just look at that tired, beat up hub cap. I will not be sad to see the end of hassling with these things. The Warn drive flange caps stick out far less from the end of the hub.

Once you have the cap off, remove the 2 snap rings - one on the stub axle, and one just inside the hub.

I find the "2 screwdriver" method the best to lever out the big snap ring just inside the hub. Some patience is required. The small snap ring in the end of the stub shaft can be removed with a screwdriver, or with snap ring pliers if it is the type with the holes for the pliers.

Once the snap rings are out, you can remove the body of the manual lockout hub. If it is stubborn (as most will be), you can easily fabricate a hub removal tool. I used a scrap piece of 1" strap, drilled to take 2 of the hub cap screws, and a big chisel behind it. To use it, just screw 2 screws back into the hub through the tool, then put a bar or chisel behind it and yank out the hub.

An interesting note, if you drill the holes in the scrap for 2 adjacent holes in a D60 hub, it will also work for D44 hubs, 3 holes apart.

The proper way to remove and install the spindle nuts is to use the proper 6-slot socket. of course, if you're a high-tech redneck like me, you can bang them out with a hammer and screwdriver!

Note - there are a huge number of different lock washer and spindle nut arrangements out there. Some are 6 slot as shown some are 4 slot, some are a large hex head and some are a special rounded hex head. Also, some lock washers use tabs as shown, and some have holes that index onto little "tits" on the spindle nuts. You will have to adapt, improvise, overcome.

The final step is simply to grab the shafts, and gently slide them from the housing.

Be careful as you remove them from the housing, so as to avoid damaging the inner axle seals.

When you are all done, you'll have the old axles removed, and ready to be replaced.

But first, let's compare the old with the new, to make sure we're not just replacing these parts because it's the latest cool thing to do, but because there's a good reason.

Here's the spline end of the original, pre 1981 stock long-side inner front GM Dana60 shaft. Prior to 1981 was when the shafts "necked down", which you can clearly see in the picture.

One other thing is well illustrated here. On an older axle shaft, even a 1981 and later "big" shaft, there will likely be a lot of wear and corrosion. this can be a significant weakness, as very often, when a shaft breaks, it does so at a place where there is a stress riser - frequently caused by surface corrosion, nicks, or flaws. That's why Drag racers polish their shafts to a mirror finish - to remove surface stress risers.

This pic of the stock Dana60 front 30 spline stub shaft also clearly shows where it reduces in diameter to about 1.258"

It also shows quite well the "bluing" marks on the body of the shaft created as the shaft passes through the coil in the induction hardening process.

Here's a comparison shot of the Dana60 30 spline stub shaft versus the 35 Spline Dana70 stub shaft. Note that both are exactly 12.0 inches long.

The other dimensions in the pic are:

Comparison of old and new long-side inner shafts:

Comparison of old and new short-side inner shafts:

...as this picture and table illustrates. These are the long-side inner axles.

35 spline stub on the left, stock 30 spline on the right.

Reason enough to buy the kit right there!

No sense in installing those shiny new shafts with a bunch of old, rotted out seals and rusty bearings.

I purchased 2 spindle seal and bearing kits locally. They can be a bit of a bear to find, so if you're reading this Greg, it might be an idea to offer them as an add-on to the 35 spline kits.

I for one highly recommend using all new bearings and seals, especially while you have everything apart.

Here is an exploded diagram and part numbers for the seals and bearings:

I use a small aluminum bearing/seal driver and a BFH to install the new "Torrington" needle bearing into the back side of the spindle.

Don't ask how I got the old ones out - it was an embarrassing, frustrating, and altogether not very technical mixture of heat, blunt objects, brute force and cussing. - in other words - nothing at all you could learn from!

The metal "dust shields" or "stone guards" or "slingers" are not included in the spindle kit (but everything else is), so they have to be removed from the old stub shafts and reused.

Alternatively you can order new ones - the Spicer part number is 37308 (for GM and Dodge), and I expect the Ford are exactly the same.

First, remove all the bearing caps from the trunnions of the cross. With the new Spicer Life Series U-joints, the seals are so good you may have to use pliers to remove the caps - they are extremely hard to remove by hand.

Place a moderate amount of grease in each cap. Do not go overboard, as excess grease in the cap during assembly will cause excessive hydraulic force and make assembling the U-joint very difficult. I just put a good dab in the cap then wipe it around the needle bearings with a finger. the joint will be fully greased after assembly.

...and tap the other bearing cap into its bore until the snap ring can be inserted

With both snap rings installed, rotate the cross and check for binding.

Place the stub shaft with U-joint installed into the inner shaft yoke so that one of the trunnions protrudes through the top of the bore.

Then essentially repeat the entire procedure as above to install the other 2 bearing caps.

Be careful when installing the snap rings that they are straight and properly seated in the groove, otherwise you will bend one, like I did here, as you drive on the opposite bearing cap. Doh!

When all the caps are on and clips installed, install the grease nipple, the grease the joint until fresh grease purges from all 4 seals. Then do a final check for any binding in the U-joint.

When everything is back together (except the drive flanges), rotate the shaft in place and check to make sure the U-joint turns freely between the knuckle and end forging, that there is no binding or interference. Do this throughout the steering range of the knuckles.

Ensure the grease fitting is accessable and not interfering.

The last part of the assembly is to install the new warn 35 Spline Drive Flanges.

First, take the 2 "wear washers" (the small flat washers, not to be confused with the stub shaft snap rings)...

It's AWESOME how much less protrudes from the hub with the 35 spline drive flanges compared to lockout hubs.

And of course, having the biggest 35 spline axles throughout brings a lot of peace of mind...