Need some D44 luvin'

Hey fella's got the D44 stripped and got the lockrite in the new carrier with the 4.27's and I got the Summers Bros. axles ready to go (thanks Posimoto). Still cleaning the housing though, anyhow my question is; What sets preload on the pinion? There was no crush sleeve or anything.. Is it just strictly the torque on the yoke nut?


BUBBA

 

There are spacers (shims) under the inner and out pinion bearings that set the preload. That's why it's such a hassle to set up gears in a D44... Pulling the pinion bearing can be quite a task, if you don't have all the right tools.

 

IMO, do-it-yourselfers can't correctly set a preload in their garage. If it were me, I would suggest having an R&P shop set preload and backlash for a couple hundred bucks. Ask your favorite <traditional> parts store for a suggestion. Beware of off-road shops who claim "they know how to do it" and then it fails 2 years later (they say, sorry, can't hep ya). A professional set-up will provide years of reliable service and you probably won't have to go back in there again --ever.

 

I setup my front D30. It took me 5 weekends and more patience than I thought I had. I wouldn't even consider doing the rear since it's way more critical as its being used all the time. You'll spend the two hundred bucks on tools before you're done anyway. You'll need an inch pound torque wrench ($100 - $150) and setup bearings ($60 - $80) for starters. My vote, take it to a driveline shop.

 

With the info in this manual http://www.brandondempster.com/documents/Jeep Universal Service Manual.pdf & the Verco site http://www.vernco.com/rearaxle5/ you'll have all the info you need. The tools, patience, & expertise are another matter all together. It's a tedious job, which is why it's so expensive & labor intensive. I bought all the tools you see in the manual from a jeep dealer that went out of business in the late '60's & have a background in machine repair so I find this type of work somewhat theraputic..........when it goes well, which is often not the case! For the most part I agree with the previous posts, but depending on your level of experience & what tools are available to you it can be done at home. The bottom line is how the pattern looks when you're actually done; I've never had a Dana-Spicer brand ring & pinion not pattern perfectly when set to spec, but the flip side to that is that I've never had an after-market brand ring & pinion pattern well at all when set to spec (I wonder why they even bother giving you the spec's on those). The frustrating part is that you have to take it all apart, change shims & put it all together again each time to re-check the pattern. There are a few short cuts but to do one or two may not be worth the investment required.

 

took me and my buddy Steve 5 hours and that included milling the corners of the case for the Aussie locker and installing it. If you have the right tools anybody can set the gears, if they have been shown by someone in the know or someone who understands the concept behind the process, I had never done it and actually figured it out from reading a few websites and asking the right questions of my buddy, but I also use an indicator and such to build more precision stuff than this on a daily basis, timing the slides on a mold at work actually takes more know how than setting gears.
The pinion depth is the most critical, the rest in my opinion was easy. We didn't use setup bearings, we only had to remove them once to correct the setting after the initial install for readings, we then calculated the difference and changed the shim and put it back together. The back lash was easy and the preload was not that hard.

 

I have an unfair advantge having access to all sorts of dial indicators and precision tools, but I have set up several differential in no more than a few hours. I say make sure you have all the infornmation, and as long as you have access to the proper tools, go at it.

 

I have all the tools and have done other diffs.. no prob there, the only curve ball was the lack of a crush sleeve for pinion bearing pre load.. Oh and Timmy, those shims are for pinion depth in relation to the ring gear not pre load.. I think I got it alllll figgered out now though.. guess we'll see when I grenade it all over the road.. haha..


BUBBA

 

Damn.. I was wrong again.. Sorry Timmy you were right.. Thanks for the help.. I'll get it all sorted out.. good thing I got spares.. haha

BUBBA

 

Wow! I was wwwwwaaaaaaaaaayyyyyy wrong.. may the Jeep gods strike me down.. I am bound and determined to do this myself so I got some more reading to do... This is a whole different game than a ford rear..


BUBBA

 

Not to self. Make sure Scott has tow hooks @ Windrock. R)

 

Actually, they do both. The setting is in the manual & measured with a lb-in torque wrench, disregarding break-away torque. That's part of the tediousness, as you tend to take away shims when you need to add them, etc. because it all seems backwards.

 

I finally really tore into it this morning and I have finally got it all straight in my head. The shims under the forward pinion bearing are for pre load and pinion height is set by shims under the read pinion bearing race, which will of course screw up the pre load.. haha so JAB has it right.. OH and thanks for the links JAB they were immensely helpful in underatanding all this! I made myself some setup bearings from another 44 I scrapped and I have a shop full of precision measuring stuff but that inch pound torque wrench is gonna cost me.. Anyhow thanks for the help .. oh and about those tow hooks Jerry.. I'll still have front wheel drive.. haha..

BUBBA

 

you will need the inch-torque wrench to rebuild the :v6:.

 

Really? what for? I am going to rebuild the dauntless so I need to know!

BUBBA

 

Not trying to stir up trouble, but..........I've done that job several times.............where is a lb-in torque wrench used?

 

I just rebuilt mine and found no where to use an in lb torque wrench.

 

Welll I put it all back together yesterday and got .007" of backlash and I used the mathematical derivation of the inch pound torque wrench as described on the vernco site to get pre load, got it the second try, now I gotta get some prussian blue to check contact, you would think I would have tubes of the stuff around as much as I use it at work but nope.. none to be found... And pre load on the carrier bearings works out without any adjustment so if my contact comes out I am all set..


BUBBA