Bad Day For My Dana 44

Yes.

Check car-part.com and look for a 3.73 rear axle from a '72-75 CJ-5.

 

Right? Part of me is kicking myself for not checking, but then I ask myself who does? It's not like you routinely check the fluids, belts, hoses, tires, and the pinion nuts regularly...

Yes, according to my research and running the casting numbers, its a D20 transfer case.

 

It's at least 100 according to my research. Definitely a failure on some level. Whether it was from somebody messing with it, or simple failure of a part, I can't say for sure.

 

Here are a couple more pictures of underneath. I put the diff cover back on to keep out dirt. When I pull it apart again, I shoot some more pictures.

Judging by the fact that someone had to have a chrome diff cover put on, leads me to believe it's been messed with at some point...

 

I can't see ppls signatures on my phone for some reason. But thanks for clearing it up for me.

 

Was able to rotate it enough to see the stamping. Confirmed 3.73s. Also looks like the spider gears are in good shape, but large chunks are missing out of the ring and pinion gears. Could probably salvage the carrier if I wanted to save money, but makes sense to just replace it. Currently trolling CL and FB marketplace for either an entire axle, or at least the a differential housing that I can pull everything out of.

 

Turn your phone 90°

 

This better?

 

It's a series 3 Trac-loc with 3.73 gears , 30 spline. Just like I've got in mine . Check out my media picture's . Series 3 may be a little difficult to find.... I dunno ? I did mine last winter, that's why I am offering my support.
Rotate the ring gear alittle more to the right & you'll see the Date of make. Looks like maybe a '74 ?

 

Thanks for the advice Tim! Looks like there's a complete axle only a couple of hours from me.

 

Yep, it's a TracLock. You might consider replacing it with something other than another TracLock. They are considered weak (they break - BTDT), they wear out pretty fast and they are not aggressive. In their favor, they are hardly noticeable on pavement, and work quite well on loose surfaces like sand and mud IME. What's the favorite limited slip now, a Detroit TrueTrac? Think so - Detroit Truetrac | differential | limited slip | Eaton

 

Glad I could help. At J&W? A well-known source. Not the cheapest but they have a lot of parts.

 

Here's the ring gear rotated a little farther. Is 67 the year? Or is it 6/7/81? Either date wasn't what I was expecting. I appreciate all the help everyone has been giving me.

 

Yeah, part of me just wants to upgrade and have a better built rear-end if I'm going to go through all this trouble of having to pull it out and replace it anyways...

Yes. Been to other similar businesses in that area of the state, but never there. Looks like you're correct on the prices, but still, if they have it I guess that's the biggest thing.

 

That's a 1981 Trac loc. 6/7/81 . I may have wrong about the Series ??????
And.....From the pic's so far, Your ring gear looks re-usable.

 

Cool. If you look at it ..........make sure to look under it's cover, my Friend.

 

Unfortunately there are a few teeth with very large chunks missing from them on both the ring and pinion gears. I just wasn't able to get a good picture of it on my phone.

Excellent advice.

 

Well, found a D44 with 3.73s on FB marketplace for cheap, so I grabbed it. Was halfway hoping for a simple bolt-in replacement, but this one is actually about 2 inches shorter than my current one (PO said it came out of an old DJ mail jeep). I didn't realize they ran shorter axles. No worries though, since all I really needed was the ring and pinion gears and the carrier. At least this will allow me to get my hands dirty and learn while I'm swapping gears.

 

......But we don't see the cover Off now, do We ? BTW, the carrier is the big pumpkin thing that holds the gears & fluid. That's gonna have a open case., Not a Trac-Loc like you have now. Good Luck & have fun.

 

Lol, well if I was spending several hundred dollars on it, then yes I would’ve been very critical of it and pulled it apart before I spend the money on it. However, since the thing was pretty darn close to free, I figured I wouldn’t split it open and make a mess in the poor guy’s garage. I just took the stamping of the metal tag at its word that it’s in fact a 3.73, and just made sure it turned smoothly and freely. Even if I ended up with an oblong boat anchor, I won’t be out too much effort.

Interesting. I always knew of the “carrier” as the part the ring gear bolts to, and the pumpkin as simply the “housing.” Yeah, I was guessing it won’t have a Trac-Loc, but I was considering taking Tim’s advice and upgrading to a newer limited slip.