Dana 35 non c-clip spider gear/axle shaft problem

I've got an 88 MJ that I'm replacing the spider gears in the rear on, they were gone when I bought it. I can't seem to get the spider gears to drop out and off of the axle shafts inside the carrier. I was under the impression from some of the other searching that I did that they should slide right out. Well, mine don't, I need about an 1/8" more clearance to get them to slide out. How can I get those little bastards out? Do I need to pull one of my axle shafts in order to get the clearance I need? And if I'm going to do that, do I need to replace the bearings and seals on that side?

To make sure that I am clear, if I try to remove one(the right side) of the spider gears from the axle shaft inside the carrier, it will hit the left spider gear before it becomes clear of the right axle shaft splines. I need about 1/8" more room, how can I get that without an entire axle rebuild? Any ideas?

You do need to pull the axles but the seals should not need to be replaces but should anyway along with new bearings.

pull both axle shafts, that should solve the problem.

langer1 said:

You do need to pull the axles but the seals should not need to be replaces but should anyway along with new bearings.

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Yeah, probably need to pull an axle out. I would at least inspect the bearing. Replacing the wheel bearing on a non-clip axle means cutting it off and pressing a new one on. The good news is that if the bearing roaches, it doesn't have a tendency to tear up the axle shaft like the c-clip setup does.