Dana 44 pictorial build

These are the methods that I use for rebuilding differentials like the Dana 44, and most of these methods apply to all axles. I was taught most of these methods years ago, when I worked with a very good transmission builder. They have helped me do many successful rebuilds. I’ve simplified some procedures compared to what you may find in a service manual. The idea is to complete the rebuild in a timely manner without sacrificing the quality of the rebuild.

Donor axle is out of a 88 Wagoneer.
Diff. cover has been removed and axles will be un-bolted and pulled out next.

I have the housing secured on a cart that I fab’d some tubes onto. I built it so that I could remove the upper tubes and use the cart normally when not rebuilding an axle.

There are parts that require a lot of torque and/or prying force during the build, so it’s helpful to have the housing secured, either on a stand or in the vehicle.

If I am discarding the old ring and pinion gears, it’s o/k to use an impact to loosen (not remove at this time) the pinion nut. And if I’m using the impact gun, I do this before the carrier is removed.
But, the impact gun can damage these gears, so if I want to re-use them, I use a pipe wrench on the pinion flange and a long breaker bar. Then I loosen the pinion nut (this method can be done later after the carrier is removed if so desired) I never use an impact when assembling differentials.
(If you’ve ever used an impact to remove a pinion flange or to put one on, you have been using the impact to slam the pinion gear against the ring gear, until the nut turns or tightens, this is not good for gears)


Next I mark the carrier bearing caps so that I’m sure they will go back on the same way. There's a lot of ways this can be done. I use a center punch and mark one side with 1 mark on the cap next to 1 mark on the housing and the other with 2 marks each. I do this instead of marking parts left or right, which can easily get confused, I mark and refer to everything as “1” or “2”.

and the other side like this


After removing the caps, the carrier needs to be removed. It should be wedged in fairly tight and will require some prying to get it out. I take care to work it out evenly, so it won’t bind up. This is one of the places where some manuals suggest using a case spreader, I don’t have one so I never use one myself.



I will need a set of bearings that can be used as set-up bearings (more on how to use these later) and most importantly, I need to know what thickness of shims, are under the carrier bearings. Sometimes it’s possible to remove them without damaging them, using a bearing splitter and puller kit.


But on the Dana44, it’s very hard to get under the bearings and get them off without damaging them or the roller cage. Sure enough I wasn’t able to do it without damage this time. So I cut a slot in the inner race with a grinder and then smacked them with a hammer & chisel to split them.

Since I can buy a couple of new carrier bearings separately for about $30.00, I’m not too upset that I couldn’t get them off.
The good news is that once I have these set-up bearings made, I can use them again.
It's important to keep track of all the shims and which side they came out.. I like to start with the same amount of shims installed on the new carrier, as there was on the old, and then adjust as needed. It makes it much easier to get the new gears set-up. Most of the time, the new carrier will fit with the same amount of pre-load if you keep the shim thickness the same as the old carrier had. Same is true with the pinion bearing shims.

Shims in the bag marked “1” came out of the side that I had marked with 1 center punch mark. Bag marked “2”, same.


So now I will grind the inner race surface of the newly purchased carrier bearings, until I can slide the bearing on and off the carrier. I grind evenly around the race so that the bearing will not be misaligned. This die grinder works well for this. I work the die grinder around the race, keeping equal pressure and an even circular motion. This takes a while to do. Patience grasshopper.


I keep trying the bearing on the old carrier until it fits snug but can be removed by hand. Then I thoroughly clean it off.



Next I take the pinion nut off that I had loosened earlier. I can then tap the pinion gear out of the outer pinion bearing and remove the pinion gear from the housing.

Then I pry out the pinion seal and remove the outer bearing and bag the shims that are on the backside of the outer bearing, and are used to set the pinion bearing pre-load (sometimes these shims stay on the pinion shaft as it’s being removed)




I then need to remove the pinion bearing races, out of the housing. I use a long punch with a flat end. As long as I work my way around the race and don’t let it get in a bind, then it can be tapped out with minimal force.


Under the above race are shims and once again, I need know the thickness of those shims so I can put the same amount back in. Shims are bagged separately and I will measure them with a micrometer and install the same thickness of shims, back in during assembly. “P” for the inner pinion shims and “O” for the outer pinion shims. (No crush sleeve is used on this Dana 44, there are some slightly different assembly methods for crush sleeved pinion gears).


I will also need to grind the outside of the old inner pinion bearing race so that I can slide it into the housing by hand. Then I can use it for set-up.

If I did not make these set-up bearings and race, then I would not be able to change out shims without pulling and probably damaging the new bearings that are pressed on, and/or the shims that are under those bearings and race. So having these bearings and the pinion race that are removable by hand, means that I can get everything set, and the right amount of shims determined(for good pattern and backlash). Then I can take everything back apart and press on the new bearings with the correct amount of shims, for the final assembly

As you can see in the photo below, I have cleaned up the housing and applied a coat of primer. Not really needed but it looks nice and it’s easy to see if any dirt falls in while I’m assembling.


I am now ready to start installing and setting up some of the new parts.
Here is the new pinion gear that already has the new inner bearing pressed on.
(some differentials use shims between the inner carrier bearing and the back face of the pinion gear. If this were the case here, I would make a set-up inner pinion bearing, instead of the set-up race that I made)
The set-up pinion bearing race.
The .048 shim pack for the inner bearing that matches what was in the old housing.
The .050 shim pack for the outer pinion bearing that matches the old
The new outer pinion bearing (the new race for this bearing is already installed in the housing)
The new oil slinger.

I will put these parts in the housing without the pinion seal installed and slide on the yoke. Using the old pinion nut and washer, I will tighten the nut until I have no up and down play in the pinion gear. I take care to not tighten it very much at this time.

The first thing I need to set is the pinion bearing pre-load. This is measured by how much force (in inch lbs.) it takes to rotate the pinion gear (I cannot measure this with the carrier installed, the force to turn only the pinion gear is being measured).

I use a pipe wrench to hold the flange and I tighten the pinion nut about a ¼ turn. I then take the wrench off and rotate the pinion gear by hand. I keep tightening the nut until I start to feel resistance when turning. I would not want to just torque down the pinion nut to spec. without checking the turning resistance (or bearing pre-load)as I go. There may not be the proper amount of shims yet installed and I could damage the bearings. Once I feel resistance I can start checking the pinion bearing pre-load with an inch lb. torque wrench (a swing arm style torque wrench is needed, not a clicker torque wrench)

If the new shims that match the thickness of the ones that were removed from the old pinion gear are the correct thickness, then I should have the correct amount of resistance or pinion bearing pre-load, at the same time that I reach the correct pinion nut torque.

In this case I found that the pinion bearing pre-load was getting too tight, long before I reached the correct torque for the pinion nut. This meant that I needed to add shims to the outer pinion bearing. I took the pinion back apart and took an educated guess and added .006 shim in this location.


Then I started the procedure all over again, I had to add another .003 shim before I got to the point that when the pinion nut was torqued to the correct setting, I had a pinion bearing pre-load of 17 inch lbs.

Here you can see the inch lb. torque wrench. It has a 1 1/8” socket and is rotated until the pinion nut just begins to turn.


Does this mean that I'm done with the pinion gear set-up? nope.

I still have not determined if the pinion gear depth is correct. That is why I still have the set-up, inner pinion race, installed.

But now that the pinion bearing pre-load is set, if I need to add or subtract any shims from the inner pinion bearing (in order to get a good pattern), I will do the opposite with the outer pinion bearing shims. This way the pinion bearing pre-load will stay the same.

Here I have laid out the carrier and the parts needed, to start doing the rest of the set-up.

The new carrier bearing race
One of the set-up carrier bearings that can be removed by hand
The same thickness shims on both sides, that came out of the old carrier
The new Detroit locker carrier with the new ring gear installed and torqued to spec.
The other set-up carrier bearing
The other new carrier bearing race



I will put these together and lubricate the bearings with some 90w, and then install the carrier assy. into the housing. The two things I am watching for are…

1. The carrier should be tight when sliding into the housing. I should not be able to get it all the way into the housing by hand. It should require using a dead blow hammer hitting on the races to get it close, and then using the carrier caps to draw it in the rest of the way in. This insures some pre-load on the carrier bearings.
2. I keep checking that I have some backlash or play between the ring and pinion gears as I draw the carrier into position. If I get to the point where I don’t have any backlash, before the carrier cap bolts are tight, I will need to pull the assy. out and take some shims from the #1 side and put them on the #2 side. But as long as I have some backlash, I can tighten down the carrier cap bolts to the correct torque, and then move on.

So the next step I like to do is to set the backlash. Backlash is a measurement of the play between the ring gear and the pinion gear. Some people go ahead and check the pattern first before they get the backlash set. I feel it is a more accurate pattern if the backlash is already set.

Here I’m checking the backlash with a dial indicator on a magnetic base, it measures .020, as you can see by the 1st picture at .0 and the 2nd picture at .020.
I am measuring the movement of the ring gear, as I rock it back and forth against the pinion gear.




.020 is too much, I will remove the carrier and take a .006 shim out of the #2 side (same side of the carrier that the ring gear bolts up to) and add it to the #1 side.


I was lucky, and only needed the one shim change. With the carrier re-installed and carrier cap bolts torqued to spec. I now have .008 backlash. Spec. is .006 to .010 so that is excellent.




Note;
Some people feel that when you have a spec. like .006 to .010, you should try and obtain as close to .006 as you can. Then as the gears and bearings break in, you will move towards the .010 spec. But in my experience, the settings rarely change even after extensive break in and mileage. I would rather be towards the .010 spec., this way I know that the gears get the most lubrication and least amount of heat build-up, right from the start.


Now is when I start looking at the pattern. The pattern is what tells me if the pinion depth is correct. I use the dye that came in the master kit, and paint both sides of 3 teeth. I do this at three equally spaced places, around the ring gear. Then I rotate the pinion gear until the ring gear has made a complete rotation in one direction, then I rotate it the opposite direction.

The picture below is helpful in describing what the different parts of the gear tooth are called.


Here is my first pattern. It’s not too bad, the pattern is pretty good in relation to the heel and toe of the gear tooth, but it is a little too close to the flank or root of the gear tooth. This indicates the pinion gear is set a little too close to the ring gear.

Most master kits come with a chart that shows patterns and how to correct a bad pattern.

Drive side if the teeth


Coast side of the teeth.



So everything has to come back out. Carrier assy. and pinion gear assy. both need to be removed. I will take out .002 worth of shims from under the inner pinion bearing race, and add .002 shims to the outer pinion bearing. This moves the pinion gear .002 away from the ring gear, but retains the same amount of pinion bearing pre-load. This will also increase the amount of backlash and I’ll have to change the shims again for that.




So after moving the pinion gear .002 away from the ring gear. I then re-installed the pinion gear assy., carrier assy., and then re-checked the backlash. I was up to .016, so then I took .003 worth of shims out of the #2 side and added them to the #1 side. I once again had .008 backlash. I then re-checked the pattern.

This is the pattern on the drive side.


I am happy with the pattern on the most important drive side. The coast side looks about the same as before.

So now I will once again, take it all apart.

Note; Rant follows
Maybe this will help explain why shops charge $150.00 to $600.00 labor depending on what diff. they are setting up. This is a fairly typical Dana install, and I had to remove and install the pinion gear assy. 4 times, and remove and install the carrier assy. 6 times before I was done. I cleaned everything off each time. And I used some fairly expensive tools that are pretty much only used on differentials. Not to mention the shop has to now warranty the differential on a vehicle that is likely going to get abused. The shop now has it’s reputation on the line, for a failure prone assembly, and if it does fail, the vehicle owner is probably never going to admit what really happened. He’s just going to start posting on the web about how he got screwed by the shop.
End rant

Now for final assembly I will install the new inner pinion bearing race, into the housing. It can be put in using the set-up race held against the new race and tapping evenly around the race edges with a hammer and a large round punch, until it seats in the housing. I must remember to keep the same shims under this race as were in place with the set-up race.

I will also now, press the new carrier bearings onto the carrier and take out the set-up carrier bearings. Of course I will be making sure that all the shims are placed under the new bearings, exactly as they are now with the set-up bearings.

I will clean everything off, lube all the bearings with 90w, then re-install everything and I will now put in the new pinion seal and the new pinion nut.

After everything is installed and torqued to spec., I will then re-check the backlash. As long as it stays the same (as it should), I will not re-check the pattern.

Follow the manufacturers recommendations for break in. Break in is very important!! Do not skip any of the steps. You don’t want to do this again.

good work

will be using this in the future

Kick ass... thank you for this.

Would the steps be pretty much the same for a D30 front?

Would you also list all the specialized tools that are needed for a job like this?


Thank you.

Yes the dana 30 sets up almost exactly the same. The one dana 30 that I did, did not have a crush sleeve so shimming of the pinion gear was the same procedure.

Special tools

Dial indicator with either a magnetic base or a clamp style base.
They are all available at harbor freight pretty cheap.

A swing style inch lb. torgue wrench. Mine is a Maatco.
Most of these are 3/8" drive, so I use an adapter that is 3/8" female to 1/2" male, so I can use a 1/2" drive 1 1/8" socket on it.

A press with different plates and some different size pipes that can be cut to length and use to press on the inner carrier bearing. (old bearings and races are perfect for using against the new bearings when pressing them on). Bearings can also be carefully driven on with the right fittings or homemade pipes. Or have a machine shop press on your bearings.

A grinder and a metal cut off disc for the grinder, or a cut off wheel.

A die grinder with a round carbide. If you had the patience, you could use a rotary tool also.

Long punch with a good clean edge, and a large standard chisel.

Dead blow hammer and standard hammer.

87xjco said:

Yes the dana 30 sets up almost exactly the same. The one dana 30 that I did, did not have a crush sleeve so shimming of the pinion gear was the same procedure.

Special tools

Dial indicator with either a magnetic base or a clamp style base.
They are all available at harbor freight pretty cheap.

A swing style inch lb. torgue wrench. Mine is a Maatco.
Most of these are 3/8" drive, so I use an adapter that is 3/8" female to 1/2" male, so I can use a 1/2" drive 1 1/8" socket on it.

A press with different plates and some different size pipes that can be cut to length and use to press on the inner carrier bearing. (old bearings and races are perfect for using against the new bearings when pressing them on). Bearings can also be carefully driven on with the right fittings or homemade pipes. Or have a machine shop press on your bearings.

A grinder and a metal cut off disc for the grinder, or a cut off wheel.

A die grinder with a round carbide. If you had the patience, you could use a rotary tool also.

Long punch with a good clean edge, and a large standard chisel.

Dead blow hammer and standard hammer.

Click to expand...

Nice, I got everything listed above minus the swing style torque wrench.

Need to pick up some quality carbide bits tho as the ones at HF are trash.

Thanks again.

Thank you! I'll be regearing my 30/35 soon, and this will be very helpful.

87xjco said:

Next I mark the carrier bearing caps so that I’m sure they will go back on the same way. There's a lot of ways this can be done. I use a center punch and mark one side with 1 mark on the cap next to 1 mark on the housing and the other with 2 marks each. I do this instead of marking parts left or right, which can easily get confused, I mark and refer to everything as “1” or “2”.

and the other side like this

Click to expand...

not really necessary since spicer already marked them for you. those R's in your picture are there so you get it put back together properly

Actually that's a perfect example of why it's a good procedure to mark every cap before removal. With "R" stamped on both sides, one could easily get confused on which cap goes where. Also the orientation of the inner side of the cap to the outer side can easily get switched. May not make a difference if the caps were switched around on the Dana 44. But many diff's it would make a difference on. And many differentials have no markings.

So I do it automatically on all teardowns, engines, diff's, etc..

I feel it's a good, fool proof procedural method.

87xjco said:

Actually that's a perfect example of why it's a good procedure to mark every cap before removal. With "R" stamped on both sides, one could easily get confused on which cap goes where. Also the orientation of the inner side of the cap to the outer side can easily get switched. May not make a difference if the caps were switched around on the Dana 44. But many diff's it would make a difference on. And many differentials have no markings.

Click to expand...

the R's are rotated differently on each side so they cannot be confused

Consider adding these tools as well,

Case spreader

brass punch and brass hammer

Thank you for sharing all of this info.

IntrepidXJ said:

the R's are rotated differently on each side so they cannot be confused

Click to expand...

Nothing wrong at all with keeping that same method of marking items that you touch to keep their same orientation, regardless if the factory did the same thing. No room for error when you KNOW that YOUR marks are there and you put them back in the same place.

The 2 seconds that it takes is worth the effort.

If your confident that you are the first one to tear down the diff then marking is a good thing. If there was someone in there before you and they replaced the carrier caps incorrectly then you will be reinstalling them incorrectly as well. If the factory has already marked them, its a good idea to make sure that they are installed the way the factory istalled them originally before you make the same mistake as the last guy.

just my opinion.
Aaron

BTW, this is a great thread with excellent pics and direction. Thanks

99xjache said:

If your confident that you are the first one to tear down the diff then marking is a good thing. If there was someone in there before you and they replaced the carrier caps incorrectly then you will be reinstalling them incorrectly as well. If the factory has already marked them, its a good idea to make sure that they are installed the way the factory istalled them originally before you make the same mistake as the last guy.

just my opinion.
Aaron

BTW, this is a great thread with excellent pics and direction. Thanks

Click to expand...

Your opinion is very valid and correct. I agree with it. There may be a chance that they were installed incorrectly by the last guy. Knowing if there were factory markings only makes you that much better with the install.

Very good point.


I for one am very grateful for this thread even existing. There are a lot of us that have had very little to no experience with gear installations and to have someone spell it out for us like this is something that I'm sure we all would like to see more here in Naxja.

I just didn't want to see people nit pick his post in fear of the OP closing up and not wanting to share his knowledge in the future, because it is obvious that he has a lot to share, thats all.

Yep, good point that who knows if they were mis-installed before. So the factory markings help confirm the proper placement.

This write-up was very helpful in my XJ dana 44 build. I completed the job 2 nights ago with a detriot locker and 4.88 gears. This is not my first XJ 44 build (or xj 44 with detroit & 4.88's) but it's always nice to have a guide for a refresher, especially since it's been awhile.

However, there is one monumental mistake in this write-up. On several occasions, every time it's mentioned, the instructions have you keep the pinion preload the same during pinion depth changes by subtracting the same amount you added or visa versa between the pinion depth shims and the pinion preload shims. I found this to be incorrect.

WHATEVER CHANGES YOU MAKE TO THE PINION DEPTH SHIMS, say add 0.010"...YOU NEED TO DO THE SAME WITH THE PINION PRELOAD SHIMS (NOT THE OPPOSITE). I.E. Also add 0.010".

This can very frustrating losing the correct pinion preload and setting up the pinion preload more than once. Here's a sketch to help visualize.....no it's not to scale, lol. Or 100% accurate..




Correct me if I'm wrong and I will edit/delete the post...If not, the OP should edit the write-up.

ChuckD said:

Consider adding these tools as well,

Case spreader

brass punch and brass hammer

Click to expand...

Agreed on the brass punch, brass hammer isn't bad idea either

A case spreader is a good idea/not entirely necessary, if used improperly or spreading the case passed spec (.010" for the D30 IIRC) for it will ruin the case...good addition tho

Outlander560 said:

Agreed on the brass punch, brass hammer isn't bad idea either

A case spreader is a good idea/not entirely necessary, if used improperly or spreading the case passed spec (.010" for the D30 IIRC) for it will ruin the case...good addition tho

Click to expand...

I find a case spreader is only required for applications where the carrier shims must be installed outside of the bearings, such as in the installation of a selectable locker. It can help removing the carrier if the thing is stuck in the housing but I don't use it if the shims go on inside of the carrier bearings.