Rear Axle Issues?

I thought I was simply going to change the seal but maybe more?
The shaft here moves around a bit after I got the outer part off. Maybe 1/8” or more in/out and almost the same amount of wobble.


The yoke is scared pretty bad.





Do I need to change bearings. Can I get to bearing here from front? If I have to take differential apart will I need any special tools? Have to set lash? Newbie questions I know. Thanks.


This end looks good from here. No visible large damage.

 

The pinion will move quite a bit without the yoke on. The grooves in the seal surface on the yoke are going to be really hard to seal. Probably best to put on a new yoke.

 

Does the yoke ride on one of the bearings?

 

Reinstall the yoke and snug down the nut. This may take the "wobble" out of the pinion shaft. There are two tapered roller bearings for the pinion and the yoke is needed to take up the slack in the bearings.
With the yoke snugged in place, see how much slack there is. You should only feel a little backlash if all is good.
-Donny

 

The new yoke is over $60. I guess I'll replace the seal, fill'er up and see what happens.

 

How about one of those sleeves to slip over the worn part of yolk? If $60 isn't in budget at least try that. Speedy Sleeve?

 

I’m sure I spend $60 on parts 3X a week. This jeep was stripped and the rest was worn out!
I did read about those. If this new seal doesn’t work we’ll Look at doing that. Thanks

 

But then youll need to buy another seal, gear lube, a gasket, and spend your time. That yoke is pretty deeply rutted. There wont be much seal tension.

 

Good idea.

 

Outer pinion bearings are interference fit, albeit less so than the inner. If that bearing was in decent shape, and pressed on, even with the yoke off, it shouldn’t move all that much, 1/8th is a lot, unless you were really wobbling it rough.

These axles, complete and working, are very common and very affordable. I’d snag one and swap your brakes over if they are good.

 

The speedy sleeve will be at least $30 and will not fix that yoke. Get another one. The grooves are simply too deep. Don't waste putting a seal in and running that yoke. You are wasting time and money.
Put a wtb in classifieds. Someone probably has a good one that will be less expensive in the long run. These Dana 44's use solid spacers/shims so no wiggle should be present when things are tightened properly. If you want to check it reinstall the yoke and torque the nut properly using a torque wrench then check preload of the bearings. Iirc the nut torque is around 220 lbs. ft. (Foot pounds). Pinion preload is in the neighborhood of 10-19 lbs. inch (inch pounds) going from memory without the seal but double check that. A simple search should bring up that info. Randy's Ring and Pinion has all that on their website.

 

The Ring gear doesn't look good either, looks like it is or was rusty, the pinion is probably worse. I would look for a replacement axel.