Basic Mechanics 101

I need to pull my rear dana 44 for a complete rebuild. Elvis is up on jack stands placed immediately forward of the rear axle springs. Tires, shocks, brake lines and driveshaft are disconnected. Floor jack is ready, willing and able. I'd like to unbolt the springs at each shackle and pull everything out as an assembly.

I'm hesitant and mechanically challenged as you can tell and all my rowdy wrench friends are off working for a living. How do i know when the tension is off the springs where I can remove the four bolts AND know the leaf springs arn't going to slap me upside the head? PO replaced springs and shackles to raise it, probably 3" but it's not a spring over.

I know what your're thinking. "If he can't do this, how is he going to rebuild the Dana 44?" We''ll address that later please. I first need to get the darn thing out.

 

I am going to assume you have a floor jack.

Put the jack under the diff, and jack it up just enough to take the weight off the shackles.

Remove the nuts on the shackles, and work them out of the spring eyes and hangers. You might need to move the jack up or down a bit, you will know when things loosen up.

Let the jack down all the way, and the rear end should be on the brake drums---if not, put a block of wood under each one, to get the jack out.

Now remove the nuts from the other end of the spring, and take the bolt out of the hanger. Use the floor jack to keep the end of the spring up so as to not bind the other side.

Now, do the other side, and you are--------

Done.

 

put a jack under the pumpkin an just hold it where it naturally is suspended then take out the back shackle bolts and let the jack down untill the springs rest on the ground. not as easy as it sounds the bolts could be rusted in. so it may take some knocker loose,heat, a large punch and hammer, some cussin.

 

I like to loosen the u bolt nuts before hand as they can be a hassle to wrench off when the whole works is on the ground. Just get them started. You don't want to have the rear end sloppy on the springs as you let the jack down. It's no big deal. Like Chuck said, just kiss the pumpkin with the floor jack. There should be no tension on anything at that point. Or, you could put one jack stand under each spring (just touching), near the rear of the spring. Totally remove the u bolts. Then, take out the shackle bolts. The spring will rest on the jack stand. Then have a buddy help you. Each of you grabs one spring, remove the jack stand from under your spring. Lower the everything to the ground together and the rear comes right out.

 

Thanks guys, I think it's not as tricky as i first thought. I've got the cussin part down pat.

 

How do you know the rearend needs to be rebuilt?

 

i replace the ubolts so dont wrench them off, grind or torch em off is easiest.

 

Good point. The u bolts should not be reused. Be prepared. They will POP when cut.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EdNatOFR_U

This isn't too bad.

 

The ubolts are fairly new from the PO,,,still replace? Rebuilding the axle to install some type of locker and new 11" brakes and figured I'd make sure everything else is tip-top. This will make it easier to paint as well. Once the axle is done, it's on to the transfer case/tranny, then a front axle swap to a Dana 30 w/discs, then the dreaded steering conversion.

I'm hoping a 1980 CJ7 Dana 30 front axle will work as I've found a complete unit w/all linkage, disc, steering box etc. It appears undamaged and totally complete. It's just been sitting for 5-10 years and will need to be regeared and probably rebuilt. Lots of questions about that swap but those can wait.

 

Ubolts stretch when properly torqued, so I'd advice against using them. They only stretch properly once. I've reused them in the past, but if you can afford it, it's a cheap way of doing it right. The 1980 dana 30 should bolt in, but it's going to be an inch or so wider in the front. This is a good thing, IMHO. Better turning radius and slightly wider front axles seem to track better, look at most chevy trucks. They did it for a reason.

 

yup sounds like this will be the last time its off for awhile I would use new ubolts.

 

You only need to replace the u-bolts if you take them off so if you don’t need to remove the springs for your rebuild leave the u-bolts alone.

 

He has to remove the u-bolts to remove the axle from the Jeep.

 

Why not just disconnect the springs from the frame and shackle and leave them attached to the axle?

 

A LOT harder to rebuild the complete axle assembly with the springs attached. I charge double when someone wants me to do it that way out of the vehicle. I would assume he wants to clean and paint it as well. Won't work well with the springs still on there. U-bolts are relatively cheap.

 

Good points, thanks for the explanation.

 

Slick as snot, out she came. One man + 2 jack stands + floor jack + wood blocks + hammer + punch = Done. An hour of work plus 30 minutes harrasing you guys.

Based on your input, I loosened the u-bolts and will replace. It will be a lot easier to rebuild and paint as you state. Now off to drain stinky stuff, pull axles and cover. No puller, gotta look for a thread on this.

 

Got it from Don's post, yeah! - You can use your brake drums as the slide hammer weight, take the drums off the hubs, put the hubs back on the axles (lightly) and put the drums back on the hubs turned backwards with the lug nuts only on a few turns. If you can move the drums in and out 1/2 or 3/4 inch on the hub studs you can get enough impact to pull the bearing races out of the axle housing.

 

Let us know if this works the same way on a flanged axle. I wrote this based on the assumption of working on a tapered axle.

Don