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Dana 44 pinion bearing question-

J

joshv98xj

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Bozeman, MT
Dana 44 questions seem to be the forte lately.....I just finished putting in a D44 into the rear of my XJ. It had factory 4.10's in it, so I didn't touch anything in the case, except to clean it out and fill it up. Nothing seemed to be out of place, but now I'm done and I've got a bit of a groaning noise on acceleration that changes in tone when I'm on and off the gas.

I put the XJ up on jackstands and crawled under it to place the noise and it seems to be coming from the rear diff. So I came back inside, sat down at my CPU and did some searching. From what I read it sounds like this is probably my pinion bearing, but I could be wrong.

Here's my questions: what happens if I don't replace this ASAP? There's nearly as much labor involved in replacing the pinion bearing as in replacing a set of gears right? Am I probably best off to get a full rebuild kit and do everything in the case at one time? I haven't much experience inside a differential, except to replace a set of spider gears in a D35, but I've done a million other things to my Jeep, should I even bother touching this myself? Thanks in advance-
 
joshv98xj said:
Dana 44 questions seem to be the forte lately.....I just finished putting in a D44 into the rear of my XJ. It had factory 4.10's in it, so I didn't touch anything in the case, except to clean it out and fill it up. Nothing seemed to be out of place, but now I'm done and I've got a bit of a groaning noise on acceleration that changes in tone when I'm on and off the gas.

I put the XJ up on jackstands and crawled under it to place the noise and it seems to be coming from the rear diff. So I came back inside, sat down at my CPU and did some searching. From what I read it sounds like this is probably my pinion bearing, but I could be wrong.

Here's my questions: what happens if I don't replace this ASAP? There's nearly as much labor involved in replacing the pinion bearing as in replacing a set of gears right? Am I probably best off to get a full rebuild kit and do everything in the case at one time? I haven't much experience inside a differential, except to replace a set of spider gears in a D35, but I've done a million other things to my Jeep, should I even bother touching this myself? Thanks in advance-
Click to expand...

first question.. is there any movement in the pinion if you turn/push/pull by hand? if yes.. stop driving it before you really waste the axle. if its tight you "may" have some time before its an emergency but rather than wear everything out its time to have the axle overhauled.. in-theory.. if you are simply replacing the bearings you shouldnt have to "re-set" the gears but unless you have access to the proper press to work with the bearings you are probably better off having it done for you. also though its certainly possible i've never heard of "factory" 4.10s in an XJ D44.. you may be dealing with a case of used gears having been set-up in the housing. used gears are often noisy..
i'd go ahead and have the whole thing overhauled including the axle shaft bearings.. then you'll be good as new..
 
There doesn't seem to be any movement in the pinion, but I didn't pull the driveshaft to check for sure. I don't have access to a press, let alone any of the other tools I might need for working on the case except your average sockets and wrenches. I'm assuming the gears are factory, because I pulled it from an otherwise stock 87 XJ, but you're correct in that someone else could have set them up- the axle is 20 years old. I did replace the axle bearings when I dropped it in, so at least I can avoid that. Here and I thought I was saving a boatload of cash by finding a D44 with 4.10's already in it!! Oh well......
 
i'm not sure if i've heard of a D44 from an 87 with 4.10s. However, there's always those odd ball runs they do at the factory to make them "Limited Editions" right? haha. Ya, getting the bearing done should only cost you around 3-4 hours, while getting the gear job done might cost you 8 - 10, so it is cheaper to just change the pinion bearings.
 
The 4:10's may have been in a 4 cyl model. Was there any metal in the gear oil? Was it sparkling if you hold a light to it? If not it may be the set up or a bearing. If it had much wear it would seem like it would have metal in the oil or laying in the bottom of the housing. Like he said, its cheapest to go through it while the gears are still good. If a good shop looks at it and sets it up, it should be quiet
 
Hi:

I may be experiencing something similar. Did you ever get your pinion bearing swapped? Did it quite things down? Did you do it yourself?
 
For the heck of it remove your driveshaft and make sure that your pinion nut is tight. I had one get loose on the front all the time and it defiantly make some noise
 
magimerlin said:
For the heck of it remove your driveshaft and make sure that your pinion nut is tight. I had one get loose on the front all the time and it defiantly make some noise
Click to expand...

Hi Magimerlin:
Ya, I know that it's an old thread, just happened to be similar to what I'm experiencing.
First thing I checked was the pinion nut. I removed the driveshaft to ensure that there was no excessive free play of the pinion (there wasn't) then I loosened and re-torqued the nut. Everything moves freely and smoothly.
 
I have a factory 4.10 44 that came out of a metric ton 2.5 5 speed 2wd comanche. I bought from a local salvage yard complete for 100 buck about a year ago. I bought the leaf springs from it also. Made for a cheap gear upgrade for my 89 longbox MJ beater.
 
I would definitely check into it, and soon. I had the same problem on a D44 I got second hand, and I found out that every bearing in the axle needed to be replaced, as well as the fact that there was no preload on the carrier. The pinion was also hitting the locking ring on my OX carrier.

The pinion. You can kind of see how bad the bearing is right there. This is with the pinion nut still tight.
DSC_0559.jpg


The amount of play in the pinion, before I even removed the nut. (yes, the pinion nut was tight)
 
Begster said:
I would definitely check into it, and soon. I had the same problem on a D44 I got second hand, and I found out that every bearing in the axle needed to be replaced, as well as the fact that there was no preload on the carrier. The pinion was also hitting the locking ring on my OX carrier.

The pinion. You can kind of see how bad the bearing is right there. This is with the pinion nut still tight.
DSC_0559.jpg


The amount of play in the pinion, before I even removed the nut. (yes, the pinion nut was tight)
Click to expand...

Thats from a bad install,most likely didn't make sure that the races were fully seated before starting the set-up.
 
RCP Phx said:
Thats from a bad install,most likely didn't make sure that the races were fully seated before starting the set-up.
Click to expand...
I agree. That's the only way I can see there being that much play unless it has a crush sleeve and the installer just torqued the pinion nut to a certain spec and called it good.
 
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