Anyone overhaul a front Dana44?

[spincast375]

I need help. It leaks at the seal at the driveshaft, won't hold much fluid. Local shop says they get a complete overhaul kit for $ 80.00, and five hours work, total cost to me ~$ 400.00. Ouch!

Any suggestions? Is this something a DIY could do? Once I pull the front axles and driveshaft, can it be that hard? Any special tools required? Any suggestions on where to buy the rebuild kit? If have looked in the local, usual places and don't see it. The chassis is a 1979. When I popped the cover, it was packed with sand. I cleaned it all out but am leery about taking it out in 4wd.

 

[BobK]

I replaced the inner seals on my 44 about 6 months back.I had never had my hubs off before then.
It's easy,do it yourself.Just do one side at a time so you have an example of how it goes back together.(just in case)

No special tools needed.
To get the spool out,take the bearing caps off and SLOWY turn the driveshaft.The carrier will slowly walk out of the housing with no need for a diff. speader.
RyanB told me that trick,worked like a charm.

Then replaceing the seals is just like replacing any other seal.

I bought the seals needed at my local Napa.

 

[TrcksR4ME]

Which seal are you talking about, you said driveshaft but do you mean the axle shaft? If its the inner seals they are easy enough to replace, just take some time. You literally will have your axle stripped down to about nothing...the hard part (IMO) was actually getting the old seals out, I used a old wood closet rod I had in the garage and stuck it down the axle tubes from the knuckles and hammered them out. They push out into the diff, so you have to removed the carrier.

 

[Hossbaby50]

He is probably talking about the pinion seal at the driveshaft yoke.

Harley

 

[K5er4Life]

I just rebuilt my 60 from the bare housing out and it wasnt bad at all to do any work on it. The hardest part was getting the pinion nut off the pinion, that sucker has got some torque on it. The second hardest was taking off those king pin cones that are screwed into the housing with a million foot pounds of toque. Everything goes together easy and fast. For parts 4 wheel parts carried all my rebuild parts and were pretty cheap, you just have to direct those guys down there to make sure you get the right parts. Or if you want to make sure you get the right parts the first time hit up 84_Chevy_K10, Tim can get you dana/spicer part you would need also.

 

[elacruze]

If you have sand in it, plan ahead to replace the ring and pinion (if they're obviously damaged) and all four bearings and all the seals. You can do the job, but keep that $400 handy for some of the tools you should own if you intend to do work like this yourself. Begin by purchasing a service manual, preferably a factory manual. Educate yourself about the process before you begin and get stuck Saturday night without some part or tool you can't buy on Sunday.

 

[hd-10]

if you are talking about the pinion yoke the outer seal takes about 10 min. if you have a impact wrench. count the number of threads in front of your yoke nut mark your yoke to nut with a scribe use your impact gun to unscrew the nut pull your yoke off use a flat head and hammer to get the old seal out and put the new one in. i just did it last weekend took about 10-15min. the seal cost 15 bucks no more leaking.