Dana 20 Shift Rods And Forks

I am in the process of tearing down a Dana 20 on my 74 and I am having a bear of a time getting the shift rods separate from the case. I unbolted the allen screw from the rear(?) shift fork - the first one you are supposed to unbolt. Once you unbolt the shift fork my understanding is you tap the rod from the back and it comes out the front of the case. The rod is coming out of the case the way it should but my issue is that once I get the rod about halfway out, I try to slide the fork off the rod and remove it but I can't. I can move the fork to about 1/4" from the end of the rod it does not go any further and is keeping me from removing the rod from the case. Shouldn't the fork slide right off the rod? Could my shift rod be tweaked?

I hope this makes sense. Thanks.

 

Sounds like the shift rod has a burr or is mushroomed on the end. I've run into this before when someone had it apart before and used excessive force to remove. The fork should normally slide right off the rod.

 

Yep that's what it turned out to be, it mushroomed a bit. Thanks Nick. Since it is only the last 1/4" and it's the part that sits in the end cap, I'm just going to try and work around it. I really don't want to try a source a new one or pay the likely exorbitant price. I just hope I don't ruin the new oil seal by pushing the front of the rod through the seal instead of the rear.

 

Can you make the mushroomed rod protrude from the housing? If so, I would remove the mushroomed material with a fine file.

 

Glad you suggested that because I was considering doing that but was on the fence.