D44 torque

I need to to check the bolts for peace of mind. I know I saw it before but for the life of me I cannot find. I need the info for carrier and the wheel bearing retainer.
:wave1:

One of the axels have excessive end play. I have dismantled and inspected the axel and bearings and therre seem to be nothing wrong with it. However, the axel could be moved in and out almost 1/8 inch. Is there a spacer that could go behind the seal that could push everything in and keep it tighter?

techno1154 said:

One of the axels have excessive end play. I have dismantled and inspected the axel and bearings and therre seem to be nothing wrong with it. However, the axel could be moved in and out almost 1/8 inch. Is there a spacer that could go behind the seal that could push everything in and keep it tighter?

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70-90 ftlbs for the bearing retainers.
For the axle retainer, I just make them very tight, they are grade 8 hardware.
Are you using the original brakes and axle seal retainer?
If so, there should be no play. If the nuts are tight, the retainer pushes on the seal which pushes on the bearing.
With a properly installed bearing and its retaining ring no play is possible.
The only way I can imagine play would be if the retainer is messed up, or the wrong seal, or wrong bearing (part# A10 I think).
Look at it, is the retainer straight and tight on the axle seal?

Carrier Bearing Cap Screws - 70-90 pound-feet

Bearing Retainer Plate nuts - 25-35 pound-feet.

Both specs direct from Dana.

After several hours and a few more gray hairs I realize the axle builder used the wrong bearings on the axle shafts. Because of this, the seal that should pre-load the bearing do not. Talk about a man who is :fuse: :flamemad:. Well you get the picture.

Thanks guys for your replies. However, I have another question. What is the pinion bearing preload on the D44. The manual I have is for 1996 XJ which is what I have and only cover the D35 and CHR 8.25 rear axle. The D44 I am trying to setup is from a 1989 XJ.
I am not happy with the work I got from the local 4WheelDrive/4WheelParts 15 minutes from where I live here in Miami. Among the obvious errors are;

1) different wheel bearings on each axle shafts,
2) impropely tightned brake backing plate,
3) not properly secureing the magnetic ring on the ECTED,
4) a filthy finished product (inside the axle housing).

I want to go back to them screaming but I want to go as an informed customer. Is the pinion preload set by shims, crush sleeve......?

Any and all info will be greatly appreciated.

The pinion is hard to turn by hand but I do nt know what it should be with all new parts. It is a lot more difficult to turn compeared to the used diff that I have felt.

D44 uses shims for the pinion preload. Most spec for preload is 14~19 in/lbs for new bearings and 6~9 in/lbs with used bearings (this is from Randy's web site) You should be able to turn the pinion by hand with the carrier removed Don't forget the seal also adds drag to the pinion preload numbers as well. Sorry to hear that your gear install was not done properly..

techno1154 said:

The pinion is hard to turn by hand but I do nt know what it should be with all new parts. It is a lot more difficult to turn compeared to the used diff that I have felt.

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It doesn't turn freely, it feels a little stiff even without the carrier, with the carrier installed it will be hard to turn.

possibly too much preload. I have seen d44 pinion preload quoted from 14-19, 20-45, and 20-40. around 20 seems to take in all those. you really should have a proper inch pound dial type torque indicator, as this is a pretty important measurement
you need to measure this without the carrier installed. It will be harder to turn still with the carrier and gears ( even more so with lower gear ratios) and seal

OLAK said:

possibly too much preload. I have seen d44 pinion preload quoted from 14-19, 20-45, and 20-40. around 20 seems to take in all those. you really should have a proper inch pound dial type torque indicator, as this is a pretty important measurement
you need to measure this without the carrier installed. It will be harder to turn still with the carrier and gears ( even more so with lower gear ratios) and seal

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For peace of mind I will go out and buy an inch pound torque wrench and test it. I may add a few more pounds for the drag caused by the oil seal, is this reasonable?
Does this mean the pinion nut is not torqued tight,.....150+ foot pounds?

the rotating torque ( pinion preload incidator) is adjusted by a shim pack under the yoke-side bearing cone. if you want to decrease the preload, you need to increase the thickeness of the shim pack. Unfortunately you will need a new seal if this needs adjusted, as you have to remove the seal to remove the bearing cone to change the shims.
Dana has a good publication available on their website that has the rotating torques for the seal, as well as additional torques that allow you to estimate the carrier preload as well