Front Pumpkin

[Chief Brody]

I've serviced the rear differential and replaced the pinion seal...

Now it is time to service the front pumpkin of the 74 Blazer with Dana 44.

I assume the front cover comes off fairly easily? What do I look for while I am in there?
What about checking the front pinion seal?

I've never done this before.....somebody who knows this real well give me some suggestions and best practices please

 

[sweetk30]

if you did a rear its just as easy as the front . and dana 44 is shimmed pinion bearings . . . so no crush sleave . if I remember my old dana 44 days . I have had a 60 for way to long .

 

[Chief Brody]

What's a shimmed pinion vs crush sleeve?

 

[Chief Brody]

How hard is it to replace the front pinion bearing

 

[blazinzuk]

44 has shims to set preload although if you are replacing the bearings it is best to double check it with the stock pack.

What you want to look for is obvious wear this can include any pitting in the gears or spider gears excessive backlash grab a screw driver and pry on things a touch. Your basically looking for wiggles.

 

[blazinzuk]

How hard is it to replace the front pinion bearing

Easy like has been said no crush sleeve

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

What's a shimmed pinion vs crush sleeve?

The reference there was that the 12 bolt rear uses a crush sleeve to set pinion bearing preload, as soon as you take the nut loose you lose that.

There are arguments about whether it can be put together without replacing the crush sleeve or not, but regardless, if you don't it's somewhat of a guess if it's still right or not. Especially if you didn't know that removing the yoke nut lost all the preload.

 

[Chief Brody]

What I a m thinking is that if that driveshaft was indeed never rebuilt and was sloppy, what are the odds that the bearing is still ok?

I know that the pumpkin leaked when the driveshaft was attached when I first got the Blazer, I just don't know if it was from the pinion seal....

but if the seal has never been placed you would think that it would have to be bad

AND if I am going to replace the seal, why not replace the bearing?

But, I don't have a book that tells how the front pinion comes out and I haven't found a video on Youtube or a how-to on Google for my exact Dana 44

If I don't have to replace the bearing, I am good with that too...

I just don't want any leaks...

 

[Blue85]

The reason not to replace the bearings is all the labor. The pinion must come out, which means the carrier must come out, which means the axle shafts must come out, which means the front brakes, hubs, and spindles must come out. So if there's on play in the bearing, just leave them alone, unless you're rebuilding the diff anyway. Sadly, it's the only way to inspect the pinion bearings.

The good news is that you could replace the axle tube seals while it's torn down that far. You can replace the pinion seal without teardown, but sometimes they leak because the bearings are loose, in which case the new one won't last too long. Most recommend getting a new pinion nut whenever you take the yoke off.

 

[Deuling]

Does the pinion wiggle if you pry up and down?

If not just put a new seal in and get your preload set. I use an inch lb bar style torque wrench.

 

[AV8TER]

If the pinion doesn't move up and down, pull the pinion nut, replace the seal, install yoke with new nut and torque nut to 200-220 ft lbs. It is a 44 and preload is set with shims. It won't change if you don't change the bearings. I have checked the difference in rotating torque at 175 lbs on the nut and 220 lbs and it was about 1 in-lb. So throw a seal in and torque to 200 and drink a beer.

 

[paratrooper307]

If the pinion doesn't move up and down, pull the pinion nut, replace the seal, install yoke with new nut and torque nut to 200-220 ft lbs. It is a 44 and preload is set with shims. It won't change if you don't change the bearings. I have checked the difference in rotating torque at 175 lbs on the nut and 220 lbs and it was about 1 in-lb. So throw a seal in and torque to 200 and drink a beer.

Pretty much. When using a crush sleeve, you have to be careful about preload, because it takes a LOT of torque to start crushing the sleeve, but once it starts, it crushes very easily, and the more you crush it the more preload you put on the bearings. Too little preload or too much and you can tear up new bearings. This is why the "cheater" way to do a rear end pinion seal is to mark the pinion and nut so when you replace the seal you can install the nut where it was before and hopefully keep the same preload.

If there is no crush sleeve but instead shims or a spacer, there is nothing to crush, so preload isn't going to change significantly because there's minimal "give" in the system.