dana 44 axle nut?

[Wildstreak]

I cant seem to find any torque specs for the dana 44 axle nut. Does anyone know what the torque specs are?

[Wildstreak]

the two nuts that hold the hub on. Ill go get a picture after lunch.

[ghettoluxury]

I always tighten down all the way then back the first nut off by 1/2 a turn put the washer in and tighten the second nut down till I feel the nub fall into one of the holes

[msgross]

I think I read to tighten the inner bearing nut to 50lbs, then back it off 1/4 turn and snug by hand (spinning the rotor of course), then install the lock ring and tighten the outer to about 75-100lbs...

[Wildstreak]

thanks guys, I found this one page that looked decent
http://www.keystonekrawlers.com/tech...ub_rebuild.htm
sounds pretty close to what you had said, ironic thing is Im using a new warn hub as well

[msgross]

this guys says 35lbs

http://128.83.80.200/taco/axle.html

[Wildstreak]

was just worried about crushing the bearings more or less lol

Ill try the 50 see how it feels then if I dont like it go to the 35ft,lbs

[msgross]

The 50 lbs is just to "seat" them, then it only tightens enough not to drag...

[Wildstreak]

hey mike when you where redoing your front end did you replace the caliper bracket disk brake shield cover, I stole a pic from your build? Mine has only one and its just a bracket no shiled, not like whats on my other dana 44 with disks, my other dana 44 has the same ones as yours. I was just going to buy new ones and was hoping you knew what to do lol

[msgross]

Mine is a corporate 10-bolt... nearly identical to the dana44 and shares a lot of parts. I think that earlier dana's only had a bracket with no shield...

which side do you need? I think that I have a spare one but the smaller inner flange might be rusted off...

[Wildstreak]

I know this one is a dana 44 because its on the housing but I should really check the other one, I know it came from a blazer. Im still trying to figure out if this front end has been replaced, did 70's come with disk brakes?

Today the guy I "like" (I say that because hes not just a young girl at the desk that doesnt give a crap, no offense to young girls some care some dont lol) to order parts from had the day off, so tomorrow morning Ill call and see what he suggests, worst case scenario Ill just steal the ones from my other front end, thanks for the offer tho

[msgross]

70 was open knuckle drum but I think 71 and up went to disk brakes... late 70's went to corp 10 bolt (which will fit) mine was an 82 but since it was 3.73 I went ahead an picked it up (plus it cost me $25!) Let me know if you need a pic of my spare cover. it should fit in a flat rate box so you can have it for the price of shipping ($15?)

[Wildstreak]

I just ran outside and grabbed the numbers off the frame now how do I tell what year it came from? there has to be away right?

edit: the numbers where 1 59331

[msgross]

the frame only has the last part of the SN, not the other VIN info... which has the year. There are a few differences in the 67-72 frames...

[Burt4x4]

Yes, 71 was the first disk brakes on a D44.
For the WB
I do this or did (D60 now)
First nut gets torqued to 50ftlbs WHILE spining the rotor as you tighten. Once you click 50flbs back it off and tq to 35ftlbs, now slide the locking washer/ring on and if you have to move the nut to get the pin into a hole move to the closest hole counter clockwise. Torque second nut to 50ftlbs.
Done

[Wildstreak]

well I started tearing the axle down to put new hubs and brakes on it and just before I was going to the parts store to pick up all the new goodies I spotted a leak under the dif, I decided to investigate and led me to find that Im pretty sure the front is seized lol. I tired moving the yoke by hand and then tried a big pry bar and nothing, so Im gonna tear into it further and see whats up, but its starting to look like I should just get another front end. I love how working on a truck can be like opening a can of worms some times

[LONGHAIR]

Originally Posted by Wildstreak

I love how working on a truck can be like opening a can of worms some times

Can Be?....when did that happen? I thought it was Always

[Wildstreak]

Originally Posted by LONGHAIR

Can Be?....when did that happen? I thought it was Always

So true!

I guess there must have been a lil water in the diff and after the weather dropping well below freezing just caused the diff not to move. But im still gonna replace it, because its been sitting for over 6-7 years with that water in there freezing and un freezing cant be good for it lol. Im goin to open it tomorrow to see what the insides look like. and Im trying hard to sell myself on buying a dana 60 lol.

On another note I found the rest of the vin and it turns out to be a 71. the cab had been swapped tho from a 2wd body at one point. which is funny because Im putting another 2wd body on it, well cab at least

[Wildstreak]

well i finally got to tear into it this morning and well Ill let the pics speak for themselves, I'd say it needs at least a rebuild

[msgross]

wow, a slushy!

was there any oil coming out of the tube near the outer knuckles or the pinion yoke? If it needs a pinion seal then that's easy, an axle seal will mean that you need to pull the diff out... I'd just fix the seals and put new oil in it... It is after all a front axles that won't be used that often, I don't see that much rust on the gears...

If none of that areas had oil leaking then it might have been submerged and the diff cover leaked...

[Wildstreak]

yea Idk if I would wanna drink that slushy tho lol

It was leaking out the front yoke seal. this is all the fluid that was in there.This truck is goin to be my dd, and probly will see its share or offroading this summer and then be out in this all winter so Im just trying to look into the future. my theory is that I can get the dana 60 when I start snapping axles(my friends got a 72 gmc with a pretty tired engine running 38''x 12'' tires and broke like 3 axles last year, Ill have a stout 383 with 16'' wide tires) but would rather just buy the 60 now and save the money that I wouldve spent on the brakes and hubs for the dana 44 and just put it towards a dana 60.

[msgross]

The yoke seal is an easy fix... pull the yoke (impact on the nut inside it), pull the seal out and put a new one in ($5). Put some flexible sealant on the splines, replace the yoke and use red loctite on the nut....

If the axle bearings and seal are fine (on the left and right of the carrier) and the pinion bearing isn't grinding then there isn't much else to rebuild, especially if you plan to upgrade to 1 tons in the future...

[Wildstreak]

I can spin everything really smoothly and hear no grinding whatsoever. how much do you think a new yoke is worth? And what do you mean by flex-able sealant on the splines? I dont know much about front end or rears for that matter lol

I wanna keep this low budget as possible right now, and the truck wont see a lift kit till spring so I could just go bananas in spring and do it all at once. Keeping the dana 44 I would be able to use the winter tires I have that are on 6 stud wheels and then just use the 44 on my shortbox that has a closed knuckle 44 when I replace it.

[msgross]

you keep the same yoke... just the pinion seal gets replaced... the sealent on the splines is so that no oil leaks through the splines once the yoke is installed.

just like this
http://www.madxj.com/MADXJ/technical...inionSeals.htm

[Wildstreak]

what would you suggest using for the sealant on the splines?