dana 44 gear swap

hey guys im hopeing someone out there can help me.

im working on removeing the gears out of my rear diff and i cant seam to be able to get the axles out of the houseing i have the drums off and the end of the axle is a 6 lug with a funny cap in the center i have been looking on line all day but i cant find a break-down listing for it

any help would be great

 

Welcome, have you pulled the cap to see if there is a nut under it?
Also try a search here in the early tech section. You might find what you need.
Something like axle removel or to that effect.
Sorry I couldn't help more.

 

If the axle is flanged, it should have a hole that you can align with the bolts/nuts that are behind it that hold the axle bearing (bearing retainer) in the end of the axle. Depending on the axle type, there may be 5 or more bolts that hold the retainer. Once you have those out it may still take a mighty pull to get the bearing and axle out. A slide hammer works well and I've seen where you can bolt a length of heavy chain to the lug bolts and yank the axle out.

 

pics of the axle would be helpful.

 

i think im gona try what Posimoto is talking about takeing the bolts out cause there is a hole in the end of the flange where the lugnut's are i just thought they held the backing plate for the drum but ill try it.

also i need to take the actual differential out of both of my houseings( both dana 44 front is 4:10 gears and rear is 3:54 and putting in 4:56's if there are any tricks to this or any advise i'd like to hear it cause all i can do is end up distroying some good berings doing it

 

I would take the axles apart but leave the differential carrier and pinion in place. Take the axles to a shop that specializes in R&P work and let them setup the gears. I setup a D30 with new gears and there was nothing simple or easy about it. To get it right, that is. If you want to do it yourself you can start by buying an inch pound torqe wrench ($130-150) and a good dial indicator set ($75-100) assuming you already have a real bearing press/puller and a good ft lb torque wrench. If you don't want to ruin your new bearings, you'll need setup bearings for both axles too. I highly recommend taking them to a shop. They will probably want the old gearsets left in to take some measurements. Maybe not since you are changing ratios. Call and ask them. If they don't need them in, take them out too. You'll probably need an impact gun to break the pinion nut loose. There is plenty of work you can do on your rig yourself, but setting up axle gears is an art in itself.