dana 44 pinion and gears

Hi All, I have a 87 xj with a dana 44 and over the past few weeks I've had a vibration underneath. Well I decided to take apart my rear and noticed with the tires,drums and drive shaft taken off, the pinion sticks when I try and spin it. It only sticks on the initial first rotation, once it comes loose it will spin.. I noticed a few small metal shavings in the oil, nothing crazy. Now is there any way to fix this with an adjustment? or do I have to change the gears? Thanks a lot.

Shavings = bad.
Sticky pinion = potential for bad.

I'd strongly recommend you have someone knowledgeable take a look at that before internal pieces break or freeze up at highway speeds.

Jim www.yuccaman.com

Now should I take the diff off the truck and bring it to someone, rather than drive it there? What I dont understand is that everything inside is tight , there isnt any loose bearings. thanks

It may be cheaper to take just the axle to some one. Most people charge more to do gears/axle work while its still attached to the vehicle.

Ok, got this situation all figured out! Talked to a buddy which referred me to a man who can fix me up. Now will a 90 4.0 H.O. have the same gears as my 87 4.0 . If so I will rebuild my 44 properly with a locker over the winter, what are some recommendations on lockers. Thanks

Take the new diff and put it next to the "broken" diff.

If they sound the same under rotation... Send them both to me.

Otherwise... send them both to me.

And for lockers, I recommend a locker they work the best.