D44 Dana 44 & 14BFF 14 Bolt Full Floating Rebuild (Complete!)

[mr.smartass]

Finally got my hands on a set of 3/4 ton axles from a '73 K20 and boy am I excited! I'm first concentrating on the Dana 44 front end, going through it very thoroughly and replacing everything! This is my first time to rebuild axles and I don't know to much about them. I'm also planning on regearing to 5.13's and have no experience with differentials, so I'm definately going to need some help guys!

Snapped some pics of the first step, dismantling! (hopefully they aren't to big)

Laying parts out and trying to figure out everything I need to replace... Yep looks like I'll need to replace everything...

A little rusty, but nothing a littl TLC won't fix!

Woah, that doesn't look like grease to me!

This is the reason the P.O. went ahead and ordered new spindles

Nothing but us cores here! At $20 a pop I'm glad they were included!

Noobs! Pretty new spindles, a little surface rust but that'll come right off.

I'm even thinking about replacing these... the P.O. decided using a screw driver and a hammer was the proper way to remove these...

Kinda blurry... Just wanted to show how the inside of the hub is scared up... what would cause this? I think I can still use them though.

I don't remember taking this picture... I think I was blacked out...

I'm no gear specialist but... that don't look good...

Showing the steering arm how I feel about it... UNLEASH THE BEAST!

Celebrate the victory with a feast! (The specs all over my face are splattered PB Blaster )

Once again, I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure chipped teeth are a bad thing...

Nice blury shot of the axles waiting on a nice clean up and some new U-joints.

Apparently you can lube bearings with mud, who knew?

Note to self... Don't leave plastic things in carb dip... (note the knobs on the locking hub)

2 cone washers down, 1 to go and it's getting ugly!

This is your spindle locknut, this is your spindle locknut on screw driver and hammer...

Well I've got everything off of the axle, only thing left is the differential, guess I'll start working on it tonight, is there anything I need to mark before I start tearing into it?? I'm regearing and posibbly replacing everything in there so I figured it wouldn't matter...

I also emailed MAD4WD, to see if they are gonna make some outer axle seals for the D44 like the ones Manny instead in his D60. They said they should start offering them shortly, awesome!

I've already started collecting parts, but I need a good place to order gears, install kit, locking hubs, spindle locknut kits, and the spindle seal seats (axle oil slinger).

Does anyone know what the going rate to get stuff hot tanked is? I would love to be able to take stuff to a shop and have it dipped, it would save me so much time and would make it alot easier.

Thanks for looking guys, any suggestions or tips you've got let me know! I can use all the help I can get.

 

[thatK30guy]

Yep, all that stuff looks like it needs replacing. Looks like neglect from the PO.

I've got the spindle nuts and washers. Yours if you PM me a shipping address.

Why not save money and take the housing somewhere you can use a high pressure wash that runs on diesel this way you can get the HOT water benefits? A bottle of Simple Green hooked up to the pressure washer will save you lots of quarters.

Another tip is to get a ball honing device like they use in cylinders to fit inside the long and short tubes. This will break down the rust and scale inside of it. Just find one that will fit inside the tubes, not tight as it will burn your drill up.

Last, sandblast the whole thing. Epoxy primer and then your color coat of your choice.

 

[MuddinManny]

Okay Mr. Smartass!

I love it! I see you didn't get your daily dose of Iron. Tell me, how does a steering arm taste?

Here's what I would do:

Strip that D44 all the way down. Have the axle sand blasted. See if you can find a place near you that acid baths and take the knuckles, caliper brackets, and hubs for a dip. The two of these shouldn't cost you more than $125.00 tops! Oh, and disassemble the axle shafts and dip those too! New u-joints for sure!

I'd go all new bearing, races, seals, slingers, splindle lock nuts, ball joints, calipers, rotors, wheel studs, Warn hubs. Everything new! A lot of that stuff looks abused and trashed. Kinda like what my D60 looked like. Remember?

Give her a good paint job. Put her back together, torquing everything, and she'll give you good service.

Wish I was closer, I'd drive on down and give you a hand. I had fun rebuilding my D60. You'll enjoy the 44 too!

Best wishes. Remember, I'm only a PM away!

Manny

 

[big dan]

so what exactly was chewing on your carrier? that thing looks terrible.

 

[76zimmer]

so what exactly was chewing on your carrier? that thing looks terrible.

Nah....just a flesh wound, do a paintjob rebuild...and run it.

 

[mr.smartass]

so what exactly was chewing on your carrier? that thing looks terrible.

Had to be the pinion gear, I'm pretty sure that's the only thing that could hit it like that... but as stated I have no experience inside a differential

Manny, I'm having fun so far, just gets lonely... I only have one friend who enjoys working on vehicles (his is a '99 explorer... loads of fun to wrench on... ) but he, like everyone else was gone all week for spring break. So it's just been me and the radio. But hopes are high!

It's completely disassembled now, every seal, race, and bearing has been removed. Just gotta clean now, I guess I'll try to save some cash and clean the housing myself. I've got a pressure washer, and a sand blaster.

For the other items has anyone tried any of this stuff? http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=196916&highlight=acid+bathing

Any ideas on buiding a large metal tank, heating it, and filling with N-terpinal?
That would be awesome. Make it big enough to do engine blocks and axles. Heat it with propane or electrically. You guys got any ideas?? I could charge people to use it when I get done.

 

[Dudge]

I'll be watching this thread. I'll have to re-gear and convert my front 44 to 8 lug when I get the 14 bolt. Looks like you're having fun.

 

[BulldogK5]

I'll check around up here for the dip for ya. Nice work. I told ya the pics I had didi not do justice to the condition they were in.

 

[mr.smartass]

I'll check around up here for the dip for ya. Nice work. I told ya the pics I had didi not do justice to the condition they were in.

Yeah but I like cleaning stuff! I'm seriously looking into making my own dip. I just want to find a pot or tank large enough to fit a BBC block and deep enough for my axle, I'm thinking I can do half the axle at a time, and then rotate, this should keep costs down on fluid. Then I can use my propane cooker to heat it.

Does anyone have an idea on a container? Ward do you have any large metal containers lying around? If it's to big, I can always cut it down.

 

[mr.smartass]

Here are some exploded views of a D44 that I found and have been using as a reference. I thought maybe some others could use this, here ya go. Sorry all the pics are so big! I hate scrolling side ways, I'll fix it when I get home if I have time.

 

[mr.smartass]

Well I started sand blasting the housing and snagged some more pics. I think I'm going to order a 5 gallon bucket of N-Terpinal and a turkey frier this weekend. The review I read was quite impressive.

Questions:

So should I replace the carrier or what? The spider gears have chipped teeth and it is pretty marked up, what are you guys' opinion?

The pinion kits do not contain #50 on the first exploded view, it's a washer, I think I have one of the orginal ones from the axle and it appears to be plastic, does anyone know where to get another one?

The Pics:


Sorry it's blury, I'm no good with a camera and it's a cheapy, Just some goodies I picked up at the store, some gloves, a seal puller, a cylinder hone, and some drill extensions

I only got half way done sand blasting (ran out of sand), but I'll finish it soon, and prime and paint it.

Pic is sort of dark, but I look like a ghetto Darth Vader/Bee Keeper.

Getting it ready for blasting, beautiful Mississippi day!

Another prep shot, here you can see my cheap sand blasting kit, best thing ever!

If you have any ideas on the questions I asked, feel free to post up! Thanks guys.

 

[Dudge]

I got quoted a great price on Pirate(don't get on there much anymore) a couple of months ago for a set of Yukon 4.10's and Yukon master install kit. $230 shipped to my door. http://www.fourwheelsupply.net/ was the site. They also have pretty good deals on Yukon axles. The guy is a super nice dude. Maybe you can e-mail him, or if you have an account over at Pirate: http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=456952&page=8 Post number 187 and 188.
http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=172854&page=4 You might check with this guy. He might have pretty good prices. I'm going to pm him too.

 

[BigBen]

Where did you pick up your sand blaster?

 

[mr.smartass]

The one I have, came from a locally owned and operated tool store, but I'm pretty sure most parts stores carry cheap ones like that, between $15-$20 or Harbor Freight.

Comes with a couple of different tips, and pickup tube and hose, I had to supply my own air chuck. Just get a 5 gallon bucket a compressor and some sand, cover up, and get to work. I used play sand from Lowes, $3.28 for a 50lb bag.

 

[gmc4cw]

So should I replace the carrier or what? The spider gears have chipped teeth and it is pretty marked up, what are you guys' opinion?

Its junk. a replacement can be found cheap either in a junkyard or Ebay.

 

[Dudge]

Got my quote back from CCOR. PM them they are pretty cheap.

 

[85mudbogger]

if u was sellin it after u built it haha, then keep that carrier lmao, aslong as the pin will come out, but yeah it had mud in it and a pinion bearing went to sheot, and the pinion started walkin on the carrier, not good, when this happend to me i broke my carrier in half then the housin cracked, well it might have cracked from the sling shot out of the mud hole i encountered that resulted in about 6ft of air under the front tires. you deff need everything there, nice funny pics, i like seeing pics from a comedian hahahhaha

 

[mr.smartass]

Well I stayed up a little later then I should have... but she's all painted and looking pretty! Check it out!

What would you guys expect to pay for a carrier for a D44? And please check out the last pic, and tell me where I can find one. It's #50 on the exploded view... and it doesn't come in the SBK-1 kit.

Now for the pics!

I've used this stuff on a few of my metal painting projects and it's pretty tough stuff, usually outlasts the paint I put on top of it.

Well I didn't get a shot of the axle right after finishing up the blasting because it started rusting... so here it is all primed up, that's pretty right there.

Another primer shot, stock rims are for sell in the backround....

First coat of Glossy Black has been laid down, oooohhhh shiny.

Well it's sitting in it's resting place for the night after recieving it's 2nd coat of high gloss black... that's BLINGTASTIC!

This is the little guy I'm looking for, I only have one, but it's the washer that goes behind the smaller seal on the spindle, any ideas where to find one?

That's it for today, hopefully I'll get more done tomorrow, waiting on my tools to get here, plus I'm gonna try to order some N-Terpinal to clean up the knuckles and hubs, I'm so pumped!

 

[mostwanted]

I am pretty much doing the same thing as you are. I would have used interpnal, but couldn't afford the cost of 5 gallons plus shipping = over $130. Instead I bought por-15 and painted over the surface rust. Turned out awsome. I am just going to wire wheel my axle shafts a paint them. Sound like you are heading in the right direction tho.

 

[Goose]

When removing the carrier you want to mark the bearing caps to keep them in the exact same place.

I just tore my D44 apart and mine were already marked. Mine's in a little better shape, but still ruff.

Here's a couple links I found for parts:

http://www.quad4x4.com/common%20front%20axle%20parts.htm

http://www.drivetrain.com/dana44.html#DANA%2044%20Differential%20Parts

Happy building