Replace Axles

Sep/Oct 1997

Background | Axles | Installation | Cost | Postscript

Background

After pricing the various options for rebuilding scrap yard Dana 44s, I realized that I might as well buy new ones. By the time you have cut them to fit, added gears, lockers, brakes, and new shafts, the price is not that far off from buying a complete setup that will bolt in. Thus, I began the process by calling several shops to get prices and options.

The lowest price option was through a local shop that would build to suit. They would use used parts for most of it, and there would be no warantee to speak of. The highest price option was from Dynatrac. They build custom setups for most any application. While their product looks great and comes with a one year warantee, their price is quite high.

As a good price/quality compromise, I am buying from Foothill Four Wheel Drive. They also provide compete solutions, but their prices are more affordable. They use all new parts except for the housing, and each axle comes with a 1 year warantee.

Axles

I chose to go with 4.56:1 gears. This seems to be a good compromise between street use and rock crawling. Any taller and my poor engine would really whine at highway speeds on the way to the wheeling sites. Any lower and I would be wasting the chance to have a decent crawl-ratio.

The rear will use 11" drum brakes. The cost of upgrading to discs was more than I was willing to pay, and my current rear uses drums, so I can install the new axle without modification to my brakes.

The front will use the knuckles from a Dana 30, so the steering will attach without modification. The brakes will be standard Ford discs to provide better stopping ability. And the hubs will be Super Winch Premium Hubs.

Finding spring-plates and ubolts to fit a D44 front in a CJ5 was proving difficult, so I have also ordered the custom spring-plates and U-bolts that Foothill sells. They are made to fit and come with integrated skidplates.

Installation

The next step was disconnecting the brake lines. My parking brake has not been connected for some time and the parts are missing or rusted. New parts are on order. I first removed the brass tee that is connected to the old axle. It held the two steel lines that went to each wheel and the rubber line that goes to the frame. The rubber hose is too short for full axle droop, so I will need to replace it. The hex head on one of the steel lines is stripped, so I had to use Vise-grips to get it off. I will probably replace it while I'm at it. As I removed each line, I covered the end with plastic and wired it up to the frame to get it out of the way.

Next came the U-bolts. With a little WD40 and some elbow grease, I managed to get them all loose except one nut. I finally had to cut that U-bolt in half to get it out. Not a big deal since I ordered new U-bolts with the axles. When the axles were loose, I lifted each end up onto jack stands.

Next I began removing the springs so I could get the old axle out and so I could clean, grease, and paint them before putting them back in. The front bolts came out easily, but the ones holding the rear shackles in place were tough. One came out, and I finally quit for dinner with one still in place. The nut is off, but the bolt won't come out. There is not enough room between it and the gas tank to get a hammer on it.

9/30/97 (2.5 hours) - Well, the new axles were sitting in my driveway when I got home. I looked them over to make sure everything looked in order, then I opened the box of extras to see what I got. All of the ARB stuff was packaged together, so I saved that for another time. The spring plates with the built-in skids look great. The only possible problem is that they don't have mount for the shocks like the old ones do. I will have to look at them again, but I think there are several holes that will hold a long bolt, so I should be able to put a mount where it needs to go.

After playing with the new stuff for a bit, I got back to work on removing the old stuff. First order of business was that d*mn stuck bolt on the rear shackle. I got a cut-off wheel and removed as much of the head as possible without damaging the shackle. I then drilled out the rest. Once the head was gone, I took a slightly smaller diameter bolt and used it to drive the stuck one out. I didn't really mind ruining the bolt, because I had already decided that I would replace all of the bolts on the shackles and spring hangers. They were all pretty stuck and rusted. With that step done, the rear was complete.

Next I started on the front. First I went for the brake lines. No real issue here until I tried to wrap the ends to keep them from leaking. Due to their possition close to the frame, I couldn't get a good seal. I finally discovered that the right sized machine screw will fit perfectly in the end and when screwed all the way in, seals quite nicely.

Next I decided to drain the front diff. To make it easier to get to all the bolts, I first removed all of the steering linkages. The one that goes from side-to-side, I removed completely. The one that goes to the pitman arm I wired up to the frame to get it out of the way. With that all out of the way, I removed the diff cover and let it start draining.

Next came the shocks. Removing the nuts was easy. Once they were off, I was having trouble getting the shocks off. I realized that the weight of the axle/springs was putting pressure on the mounts, so I jacked them up with a bottle jack and the shocks came right off. When I released the jack, it went all the way down and still had a lot of weight on it. I had to get the high-lift on the hub mount to get the bottle jack out. It turns our that the shockes were limiting the travel by quite a bit. Looks like new shock are in order. The old ones were in pretty bad shape, but I was hoping to wait until the lift to replace them. If I can get the springs cleaned up, I may not need a new lift after all. The current springs have some already, and they seem to have quite a bit of travel when not stopped by the shocks.

10/1/97 (2 hours) - I had made arrangements to get the springs worked on by a local auto-spring shop, so I want to get them out and ready to take in. This time I didn't waste any time on the U-bolt nuts. The bottom of the bolts were badly bent, so I just cut the U-bolts off; much easier and no skinned knuckles. ;-) Now that the front axle was free, I set it up on jack stands to get it out of the way. I then removed the shackle bolts and the spring hanger bolts. This was easier than the ones on the rear since they were in better shape and had more room around them to weild a hammer. I then loaded up the springs and Susan agreed to take them in to the shop on her way to work tomorrow. The Con-ferr shackles that I have on all four corners are bent, so I will have to try to straighten them out before I reassemble. I will also have to clean up the bushings that are still in the shackle mounts.

With all of the springs out of the way, I decided it was time to get the new axles into the garage and the old ones outside. It would have been nice to have some help for this part, but with a little ingenuity and the use of a dolly, they exchanged places. With them roughly in place, I was able to check out the fit. The only obvious problem that I will have to deal with is the brake lines. The setup for the rear will need a complete change. The location of the brake line tee is different on the new ones, and I want a longer line from from the frame to allow more travel. In the front, the lines will match up, but the new ones are quite a bit shorter than the old ones which were already too short. Since I specified that I wanted the axles setup for a 2.5" lift, I think I should have received longer lines. I will call Foothill in the morning and talk to them about it.

10/2/97 (1.5 hours) - Today I picked up new bolts for all of the spring and shackle mounts. I used grade 5 everywhere. I also got long bolts to go through the new spring plates to use for shock mounts. I couldn't find 1/2x7 in grade 5 so I got grade 8. Once I got home, I realized that I need 9/16 instead, so I will be exchanging them tomorrow. I also called Foothill about the front brake lines, and they said that they should work with the lift, but if not they will make it right. Since I don't have the springs in right now, I can't really measure, so I will return to this issue when I get the axles in place.

My new parking brake cables arived today, so I removed the old ones and started installing the new ones. I noticed that the mount on the backing plate is different on the D44 than on the AMC 20, so I will have to modify the cables to work. I think I can just remove the mount that came on the cables and use hose clamps to hold it in place.

I also spent a little time cleaning up the shackle hanger bushings with a file. They were in pretty good shape but a little scored and bulged out where the bolt goes though. Now they are smooth and reasonably flat.

10/3/97 (3 hours) - Well, I took today (Friday) off to spend some time with the family.

10/4/97 (3 hours) - Much of today was spent with a fellow BushHacker getting my engine running better. Some carb adjustments and retarding the timing worked wonders. Thanks Dan!

Today I got my springs back from the shop and they look much better. They rearched them, put in new bushings where I didn't already have poly ones, and installed new teflon inserts. With a bit of grunting, pounding and bending, I got the old shackles back on. I will have to replace the shackles at some point, but for now they will work. I then set the axles up on jack stands so they would be in about the right place before I installed the springs. Once the spings were in place, I lowered the axles onto them. Everything lined up perfectly, but the hole for the center bolt of the front-right corner was too small. This is the corner that does not have a normal spring mount on the axle. It is built into the D44 housing. I used a drill bit and opened it up just a bit, and then it fit fine.

Next I tried the fit on the spring plates, and found that the hole in them is too small for the center bolt as well. Also, the same corner needs larger U-bolts as well, and they do not fit the holes in the spring plate. I will take the plates to a machine shop. It shouldn't take them much time to drill them out.

With the axles roughly in place, I was able to complete the installation of the parking brake cables. The hose clamp idea sees to work and I now have a working parking brake. I also measured the front brake lines and found that they are, indeed, too short. They need at least another 4" at full droop. I will call Foothill on Monday and see what we can do. The rear brake line looks like it will work as is. I do need to fabricate a new holder for the brass tee and run new lines from it to the fittings at the wheels.

10/5/97 (2 hours) - Today was mostly a household chores day, but I did get to spend some time on the project. I concentrated on the ARB air portion. I already had the on-board-air setup in place. Today I added a regulator to bring the pressure down to 70 PSI for the ARB solonoids. I also started looking at where to run the ARB air lines. I also began the search for an electrical connector that will plug into the back of the dash switches. Since I am using my own air source, I did not get the wiring harness that ARB only sells with their compressor. The connectors that they use are not something that I have been able to find at Radio Shacke or auto parts stores.

10/6/97 (2 hours) - I sent email to ARB about the switches. We'll see if they can help me get connectors for them. I also took the spring plates into a local machine shop and had them drilled out to fit. When I went to install them, I found two more problems. The larger nuts on the one corner require a bigger socket to tighten them, and it will not fit through the holes in the bottom. I spent an hour with a file and Dremmell tool to enlarge them enough to work. I also discovered that Foothill sent me 2 sets of front U-bolts, so I will need to call them and swap them. I also picked up some new steel brake lines that I will use to re-do the rear setup. While I had driveshaft off, I decided to replace the rear output oil seal on the t-case since it was in pretty bad shape.

10/7/97 (2 hours) - Well, I got email back from ARB and they said they would send me the connectors for the dashboard switches. They also said that they suggest a minimum of 80 PSI to actuate the lockers, so I will turn up the regulator to 85 or so. I think the recommended max is about 90-95.

I also talked to Foothill and I will be sending back the front brake lines and one set of U-bolts, and they will send me the right ones.

Since the Dana 44s have longer pinion shafts, the old drive shafts are too long, so I started measuring to order new ones. For the these and the shocks, I plan to make measurements for each: full droop, normal position, and full compression. I want to make sure that these parts are not the limiting factors of my articulation. While the frame is on jack stands I can get the full droop measurment. The others will have to wait until I get the axles fully bolted down.

10/8/97 (0 hours) - Took day off from project.

10/9/97 (3 hours) - Today was ARB day. I ran the flex hose from the solonoids to the differentials. Where-ever possible, I ran through the frame. I made sure to leave enough slack to handle full travel of the axles. I also installed the switches under the dash. They are easy to reach, so I think I will skip the gear-shift mounted switch. I had planned to use it to quickly turn on or off the the lockers, but I think the stock switches will be fine. I don't have the connectors for the switches yet, but I was able to hook up everything else and I used a jumper wire instead of the switches to test the system. Everything seemed to work, and there were no leaks. I was able to lock and unlock 20 times with only a slight drop in system pressure. This is good. It means the pump will not have to run much while I am on the trail.

10/10-13/97 (0 hours) - I took some time off to deal with the rest of my life while I was waiting for parts to be exchanged.

10/14/97 (2 hours) - Today I got the electrical connectors from ARB, so I was able to finish up the wiring and test the whole system. It worked great, but I think I will be making a quick change before I hit the trail with it. One of the guys on Jeep-L suggested wiring the switches so they could be used without the ignition on. I orginally did not do this because I didn't want to risk running down the battery if I forgot to turn off the lockers. Now that I have had more time to think about it, I think he is right. How often do shut off your rig and leave it for long periods of time on the trail? Not much chance of leaving the lockers on. However, I can think of several cases where you would not want them to unlock when you did turn the key off. How about when stalled on a slippery hill?

10/15/97 (2 hours) - My longer front brake lines arrived today from Foothill. They are now pleanty long and will not limit articulation. When I went to install them, I found that they have a different mount than my old ones, so I had to drill out my brackets a bit to allow them to fit.

While I was already covered in brake fluid, I decided to work on the rear as well. I make a bracket to attach the brass tee to one of the bolts that holds the diff cover in place. This places the tee above and slightly behind the rear diff and centered between the two wheels. I then shaped the new steel brake lines to follow the axle tubes out to the wheels.

10/16-20/97 (0 hours) - I took some more time off to help my father-in-law move.

10/21/97 (2.5 hours) - While I was gone, the new U-bolts arrived and they were the wrong ones again. There is no way these could be right because they weren't even the same as eachother. They sent me two different sizes. Rather than deal with shipping and waiting several more days, I went to my local NAPA and got ones to match the set that worked.

With new U-bolts ready, I cut them to length and finally was able to bolt the rear axle into place. I used the two shims that came with the axles to tip the pinion up a bit. It may be too much, but I will try it this way for now. I also installed the tie rod and drag link up front to complete the steering.

While it was still up on jack stands, I measured the full-droop distances for drive shafts and shocks. Once all this was done, I put the tires and wheels back on and lowered it until it was supporting its own weight for the first time in weeks. I then was able to take the same measurements with it at normal sitting height. For a final measurement, I jacked up one front wheel and then one rear wheel to get full compression measurements. I now should have all the info I need to order new drive shafts and shocks.

10/22/97 (0 hours) - I ordered my new drive shafts from Tom Woods at Six States. They should be here in a few days.

10/23/97 (0 hours) - Today I ordered my Rancho RS9000 shocks. Since nothing is stock anymore, I had to look through specs to find one that would work. I ended up ordering the 9116 which excededs the travel of my suspension by a 3.5 inches on the droop. This should allow me to add some lift without having to buy new shocks.

10/25/97 (5.5 hours) - I picked up the shocks today and installed them. While I was under the jeep, I also tightened all of the shackle and spring hanger bolts.

I also ran vent lines for both differentials, the transfer case, and the transmission. I used 3/8" ID fuel line for all of the vent lines. I then ran them all to a place high in the engine compartment. If water reaches them, I have more to worry about than water in my gear oil. Once they were secure, I blew into each one to test for a good seal. All were fine except for the tranny. It blew easily which suggests that may be the source of some of my oil leaks. I will need to get in and check gaskets and oil seals at some point.

I had been getting some brake fluid leaks around the point where the front lines connect to the caliper housing, so I tightened these down and bled the brakes again.

10/27/97 (2 hours) - My drive shafts arived today and they look great! I couldn't wait to install them. Once they were in place, I filled the differentials, transfer case, and transmission with new 80W-90 gear oil. Popper is now ready to motivate under her own power again.

10/28/97 (1 hour) - Today was the first short road test. No more wining of clashing gears coming from the rear diff! Could not tell much about the suspension changes yet. That will take some more driving. This round did not last very long because I found a couple of problems that I need to fix before it is safe to drive. First, the emergency brake doesn't hold on any kind of hill. I need to rework my "custom" connection to the backing plate. Second, the brakes in general don't work. The pedal is very soft and goes almost to the floor, and there is very little braking action. I have bled the brakes, so I don't think it is air in the line. While I was installing the parking brake stuff, I think I messed up the star-wheel adjustments in the rear brakes. That will be the next thing I check. I hope that is the only problem.

11/6/97 (1/2 hour) - I just got the Jeep back from a mechanic that helped me get the carb dialed in for off-roading. While he had it, I had him look at the brakes. He adjusted the rear drums and used a power bleeder on the whole system. After that, the brakes were much better, but still a little soft. On the way home, the self-adjusters kicked in, and suddenly the brakes were great.

This was my first chance to drive it any distance and at speed, and I noticed some drive-line vibration at certain speeds. When I got it home, I removed the shims that I had used on the rear axle. This changed the vibrations, but did not fix them. I will have to do some more work on this issue.

Cost

Postscript