pulling dana 44 tapered shafts

I'm trying to remove the tapered shafts from my dana 44. I've got the hub puller on and cranked all the way down. i can't seem to get it to pull the shaft.

I've removed the nut and cotter pin from the end of the axle shaft. is there something else I'm missing?

- evan

 

probably need a little persuasion.R)

 

well that finally came out-- after much persuasion.. haha
now i can't the axle shaft out. i've been using a 32oz slide hammer and its not budging... 50 years of stuck is making this a blast..

- evan

 

I hate to ask the obvious, but did you remove the 6 bolts and nuts that hold the brake backing plate to the axle housing? That's what holds the bearing and shaft in the housing. The brake assy. has to come off, there's a bearing retainer plate under it.

If it's apart this far, the shaft and bearing should pop right out.

 

Just loking at that picture brings back memories. Gawd, am I glad I chucked those tapered axles years ago.

 

I found a nut that will fit the axle threads, welded it to a piece of scrap steel, and drilled two holes in the steel to fit my slide hammer. Took about three whacks each to yank each axle out, worked great!

 

Man, all those fancy gadgets! Just put your purse down and pull it outta there!!!! LOL

 

And this from a guy who fishes in his swimming pool!

 

Wow Ron..... I took a simpler, but similar approach. I welded a castle nut that fits the axle shaft directly to another nut that matches the slide-hammer threads. Your basic double nut approach

 

That was my original plan, but I couldn't find a nut that would fit the slide hammer!!! It's not American, not metric, seems to be some kind of proprietary threads to the slide hammer manufacturer. Sho' did pizz me off. The scrap bar was the second plan.

 

thanks for the advice everyone. i finally got 'em out. they just took a whole bunch of tuggin and cursin.

thanks again,
evan

 

Im going to pull the axle shafts sometime this week to replace the old bearings and seals. My question was: (1) Do I need to remove anything in the pumpkin? My father inlaw says there may be some snaprings or bolts I may have to undo before attempting to pull them. and (2) Do the bearings come out with the shaft? If not, what kind of puller would work best? Many thanks in advance!

 

What kind of puller did you use for the bearing races and inner seals?

 

I used a cobbled slide hammer I made 20something years ago w/ a torch-bent hook on the end to remove the axle and seal. I used a hammer and pipe to get the bearing off and press on the new bearing. Caution is advised

 

Ill give it a shot, thanks for the help.

 

The way I just removed it was notching through most of the bearing with a dremel. Stop way before you think you have to, you can't nick the shaft. After that, an air chiesel took it off in about 3 seconds.

 

I've had to do that with axles w/ flanged "hubs" many years ago ... though I did it as you described but w/ a chisel and precision-controled hammer ... I enjoyed NOT having to do that with TAPERED axles

 

Got them out some time ago, Just wanted to say thanks for all the information. Tried an airhammer, but that just chewed up the hubbs. Tried the reverse brake drums over the hubs technique, and that worked great! Thank guys!