build your own full float dana 44?

Heh, heh, heh, I was involved in that setup before John bought it...

 

I finished one spindle, did some real actual paying work and got the call to pick up my youngest from daycare. spewing from both ends. fun times.

 

Finished boring the spindles to death.... stuck them on the housing and dumped in the open case and spiders that I got off ebay for 50 bucks shipping included. Said it was a new take out. Has bearings too, just no cups. I don't doubt it, looks new. I need it because my case that came with this axle assembly has 19 spline spiders and the cases are not 19 to 30 spline compatible. My axle shafts are 30 spline. I still would love to get an E locker or and OX locker. Just not really in the budget this second. For now I need this case and spider set to size my axles.

The axles I have are from a Chevy blazer D44 front long side. They are too big to fit through the spindle ,aside from the 30 spline side, and I can do 2 things, 1 cut the whole length of the axle down to fit through the spindle so that its like a real floating axle or 2, cut down only the portion that fits through the spindle. This would irritate me, but I would only notice if I broke one and needed to pull the axle. I would need to cut 10~15 thousands off the entire length aside from the 30 splines where they go into the spider gears.

 

I put my D44 Chevy shaft in between centers to check runout of the shaft along its length. This really is an exercise in futility because I have no way to know if I have any twist in my lathe bed. I did bed the stand in concrete and did what I could with a carpenters level, but I do not own a starett precision level to check twist or have any test bar. My bed is also 4' between centers. Its a really long bed to get perfect. its also no newer than 1965 and it does have some wear out to 18" from the headstock. I am sure a professional could do much better with it.
here I am checking concentricity on the seal area. It was at best .0015. Thats fine.


I chucked up the shaft and indicated it in using my 4 jaw chuck. Its within .0005. I bet its better than that because where my indicator point is riding has some discoloration, but not rust. My 3 jaw chuck will not come in better than .003. It IS adjustable with wedge screws, but its beat. Replacement is 800 bucks and That is very close to what I paid for this whole lathe including a pile of tooling.

heres a pic of the shaft in the tailstock with a live center

Out at the tailstock I get no better than 15 thousndths runout where there is some preliminary machining next to the yoke. The shaft in between the ends is between 1.340 to 1.352+. I need to cut up to 20 thousandths off the length if I want to pull the axle out through the spindle. OEM axles apparently have a wide tolerance outside of the splines and seal surface.

 

Well, guys...
This is pretty much where the machine work on the axle shafts ends for me personally doing it. I do not have the rigidity in my tool post nor my apron to take the pressure of cuts needed to machine this hardened steel. My carbide insert does cut it, but to no real depth necessary to perform the required reduction in the OD of the shaft. I can watch my tool post basically rocking back and forth with the out of round of the shaft from the center point drilled in the yoke end. Its literally not going to cut it. If I keep trying, I'm going to destroy my old lathe.

The rest of the project is well within my realm of ability though. The machine work on the spindle is within anyones ability that has very basic machining abilities and a lathe with a throw big enough to hold the spindle. I will need to either have my shafts machined or buy ready made ones from Herm or another source.

 

I am going to try this. Thanks.

 

Are you saying the insert just will not take a bite? What do you have for a tool holder and is your carbide positive or negative rake? Do you know what the axles are made of?..........Have you tried dragging a fine file across the surface? Does it skip or remove metal?

 

The carbide insert is TT 321 C5C http://www.use-enco.com/1/1/58037-interstate-tin-tt321-carbide-triangle-turning-inserts.html It does scratch the surface, but there is no way I am going to be able to take off 10~15 thousandths.
This is out at the tailstock. Thats 31 inches from the headstock. The shaft is off center along its length. When I turn in the feed the whole apron and tool post rock back and forth with little to no cut. I have adjusted angle, cut level, feed rate, etc. no dice. I don't think the shaft is CrMo, but anything is possible. I have cut what i think are pins for excavator arms that were this hard. I didn't get anywhere and those would fit in the chuck.


My tool post holder is a real Aloris. Its the small one and they typically don't use negative rake tool holders until you get to the BXA or larger with high horsepower lathes. This is what i have read anyway.



Bout those pins I tried to cut... They were 2" or so in diameter. They were so hard that when I wanted to cut them, i put them in my 14" abrasive cut off and it wouldnt cut them through. I ended up running a hose and using water to try and cool the cut. still could not cut them. incredible.

 

Tooling my friend is what you need..........The one on the left is a Fixed Steady , mounts on the bed and is keyed via the V-groove............the other is a Traveling Steady that moves with the carriage...........allows pressure to be put on the shaft to apply cutting force.

 

Wow. I have never seen a traveling steady rest before. I said I got A LOT of tooling with this and I am not a machinist. So i went and looked and ...

I also have a fixed steady that i know is from something else, but i probably could modify it to work with my lathe.


I am going to bolt on the traveling steady and see if i can get a good cut on this. I won't hold my breath though.

 

Well, Tarry made me get my head out of my arse and I set up the traveling rest, indicated the axle shaft in and you all never guess what happened...



Cut just fine. I had to adjust my cut level to just below center and made it happen. The OD is around 1.290 along the whole shaft . Doesn't really matter as I just need to turn it down to be able to insert and extract the shaft without taking off the spindle.

Fits in just fine now


As you can se it fits in the spider side gear like it should


The next step is to measure the old D30 shaft that goes in the spindle to measure stickout of the 27 spline area. I will cut those oversize of the spline OD and cut back the axle shaft OD all the way to where it rides in the spindle to give me at least 15 thousandth clearance between the axle shaft and the ID of the spindle.Then I will cut to length. Don't want it to friction weld and explode.

 

Hey Chris...........Someday your the Teacher and someday your the Student............These forums are great for either............everyone get's a turn!

 

That's awesome...

 

Pretty sure I am always the student. Thank you for posting that pic of the traveling rest. It showed me my error and it worked! It didn't just work, it worked perfect.

 

Real stringy. I just let it peel off right into the trash can on a couple passes. Looks like a bad unpleasant wig.

 

Got done with work, cleaned the kitchen and before I make dinner for my sons and wife, I had some time to make some chips. This is the short side. This shaft is slightly bent. There is some slight out of roundness. I bedded and anchored my lathe stand with 1/2 all thread in epoxy and the floor vibrates. Probably vibrates the whole house. its not bad and since its going to be shorter than the other side, I'm not at all concerned.

I found my apron stop and decided it was better to use it than crash into a 10" chuck running 800RPM