Dana 44 Rebuild Options

Doing some quick searching at Randy's (thanks for that lead), I tend to agree. There's the "out of stock" consideration as well.

I'm less concerned about the ring gear than I am the overall wear and "ticking time bomb" of the Trac-Lok. My eyes are peeled for an open carrier or complete (open) axle. The latter would certainly be easier, provided it is in decent condition.

 

AH, than

Ah, thank you.

 

Sorry Lane , sometimes I am too eager to help. Besides, from the other's opinions , I had better hang onto the open case that I've got. Apparently my Trash Lock is going to grenade at any second . I've often wondered though ; Did the others catastrophically explode 'cuz " they sat in the water at the bottom of the differential for a LONG time " ????
Not your case though , timgr.

 

No problem on my end Lockman. I just believe in getting accurate as possible info out there. If the trac-lok works for you and your use, then use it since it is already installed.

Powertrax, original maker of the Lock-Rite used to make a limited slip or locker that fit in the trac-lok case. Not sure if they still do but might be an easier solution IF your case is still in good shape.

 

No problem or apology needed! I'm just trying to make sense of all of this. I don't think I'd be too concerned with a decent condition trac-lok. Mine has what seems to be a lot of wear though. I can see the cross pin shifting around in its bore when rolling the wheels back and forth. I don't think that's normal.

 

That's Cool, Nick . I saw that info , awhile back , & checked . They Do Not.

 

I worked in a 4X4 shop for a number of years and we did a LOT of drivetrain work. This exposed me to a ton of broken diff's.
I've seen a lot of broken trac lok's. None of the failures seem to have been caused by sitting or moisture.

My experience found that there are three main causes for failure.
1 Broken keepers. The clutch ears begin to slap back and forth and beat the keepers out. They then get ingested into the R&P and BLAM.

2 Broken clutches. The steel clutches will break up. I believe it is caused by the bending force of the belleville washer, but I could be wrong. They fall apart and are ingested into the R&P.

3 Center pins falling out. Early cases used a roll pin to keep the center pin in the housing, just like an open casing. The center pin will begin to wallow out the carrier hole, I assume caused by the added stresses of the LS, the roll pin will break, and allow the center pin to slide out and hit the pinion ( this is how I lost my original diff in my 71). Sometimes the gears will survive this, other times not. Dana seems to have addressed this issue by switching to the use of C clips on the center pin.

Being in a position where most of the units I saw were failures may have tainted my outlook ( I have a very low opinion of the Ford 9" trac lok and the GM gov lok as well) but if given the option, I will always opt for anything but the trac lok unit, including an open diff.

 

" None of the failures seem to have been caused by sitting or moisture. " Really ? That's nice , I do appreciate your experienced opinion ...... From my years in the various " Mechanical " Trades , LACK of regular maintenance & inspection, IE : sitting in water , is like in anything mechanically man made, the primary reason for failures....
. Then, of course, there are other variables. The Trac Lok has been discovered to have been designed & produced with a somewhat weaker case.
That being said, in my view , there are very few mechanical things that are ' Set it & Forget it ' applications.