Another Dana 44 Question

[Tonka]

Doing the axle seals on my '77. 10 bolt in the rear went smoothly and is all back together. Started the work on the front axle D44 and had questions

Do I need to remove the whole kingpin to get the axles out?

Any other tricks or tips for servicing a Dana 44 front?

The Warn locking hubs had completely destroyed Springs (twisted, mangled and in several pieces) when I disassembled them. Will I have trouble finding those at a local auto parts store?


Thank you for your help guys!!

[HAULIN IT]

Tonka, I'm not sure what your referring to as "kingpin", but a '77 axle has normal balljoints where some vehicles have kingpins. You do not have to do anything with the balljoints to remove the axleshaft...just remove the spindle tube & slide them out.
Since your working on front axle seals, I'm wondering if your referring to the pin in the differential that the spider gears are on as a "kingpin", if so...no you don't have to remove that either. Sorry Tonka...You do not get to play with any Kingpins on this job, He He
As mentioned...the axles just slide out, then clean the ring & pinion with parts cleaner & mark the one pinion tooth & the two ring teeth that are contacting (this may not be needed, but without researching Danas, your ratio, ect. I can't give you a definite answer as some gears...non-hunting, only touch the same 4 or so teeth their whole life & wear to that pattern so they should be put back exactly the same), mark the bearing caps so you know where they go & remove the 4 bolts...you will likely have to gently pry the carrier out...keeping track of which side the bearing race is on. Now you can get to the seals.

I made a tool in an hour to remove & install them out of scraps...seems kinda silly for one set, but I knew I'd be changing more over the years & just did it. I think I've lent it out more than I've used it! Basically it's a tube that you slide in from the opposite side, slide on the seal driver through the gear case area & tap the end.
Reverse the procedure to install. Good Luck, Hope this helps! Lorne

[Engineer]

GMs don't use any "non-hunting" gear ratios, so marking the r+p isn't needed.

[Tonka]

Thanks for the help you guys. I know very little about these trucks even 90% done with the full resto mod.  I wound up going ahead and pulling the axle shafts and am in the middle of replacing the ball joints as well. Previous owner that that it was cool to take this truck muddin" and the front dana had about 4 pounds of fine east Carolina black/grey sand in the axles. No lie.

It needs:

new Warn locking hub springs  They were completely destroyed

All new seals and rubber doohickeys

Spindles

This turned into a serious job!!! Lots of hammering and blow torching 37 year old parts. But the hardest part, the disassembly, is over. Now to press in those new Moog ball joints and reassemble this old girl.

[Tonka]

The spindles aint too bad after all so I'm gonna reuse them. Got the ball joints and the then rusty but brand new rotors turned.
Wonder if you guys could help me with this-

When I pulled the Warn premium hubs off at the start of this job there was an obliterated large spring behind each hub. Each one was broken into many pieces. Obviously had been that way for a while.
Someone on here had said that that was indeed a Warn part and to look up a Warn dealer to get a new set.
I called the local Warn authorized dealer here in Seneca and the guy there said it was unnecessary and did not have to be there.
Who is right?

Thank ye!

[Captkaos]

Is your kit here:
http://www.gowarn.com/partlists.aspx?plID=4621

[Tonka]

No sir but thank you for responding. All of those parts were ok.

 The two springs I am referring to, I believe were on the hub before it had been converted to manual lockers.
What I think happened, and I very well could be wrong, was that that individual had squished those springs in, underneath the Warn Hub assemblies and tightened up the bolts. Unless it is a necessary part for a Dana 44 front axle off a '77 I am going to try and just reassemble it without them.

Anyone else pulled their manual hubs apart? Did you have a large spring behind your Warn hub?

[Captkaos]

Of the ones I have had none of them had a spring that I remeber.  What transfer case was in this truck?

[Tonka]

It has a 203 kaos

[Irish_Alley]

which hub?

[Tonka]

#2 Warn Premium

[Edemich]

Did 77' have automatic locking hubs.  Don't they have the big spring? Curious.   

Install the hubs and individually lock each wheel while off the ground and spin it to see if the driveshaft turns. One wheel at a time.

[Tonka]

Thanks for your help Edemich! No as far as I know all '77's came with a full time locked front axle. The manual hubs had to be added later. What I am thinking is the broken, twisted and mangled springs I removed were part of the original axle. The person installing the hubs didn't know any better and reinstalled that large spring from the original GM hub setup.

But that is just a guess. I can't find much info on it.

[HAULIN IT]

No as far as I know all '77's came with a full time locked front axle. The manual hubs had to be added later. What I am thinking is the broken, twisted and mangled springs I removed were part of the original axle. The person installing the hubs didn't know any better and reinstalled that large spring from the original GM hub setup.

But that is just a guess. I can't find much info on it.

Any year could be purchased with lock out hubs, however in the mid '70's MANY of the trucks had the 203 case & full time hubs...go figure, in the middle of a gas crisis.
You are on the right track. The original hubs, if lock outs were Spicer & were a series of parts...the big spring to push the gear out of the cogs when disengaged. The Warn setup like you have is a "self contained" unit that pulls the gear out, so no spring is used. I think you hit the nail on the head in thinking the person didnt know any better. Good Luck, Lorne

[Tonka]

Thanks a lot Lorne! Hubs are back together, truck is just about complete. Took it for a spin in the yard yesterday (it got some mud on it…;) ) after we found the last parts needed to get it back on the road at a junkyard. I needed a steering shaft and a top radiator support. Both parts were hard to find. To purchase the shaft Jegs wanted $300. And the upper rad support is not even made in the aftermarket (has a 90 degree bend in it, runs lengthwise across the top of the rad).

But truck's together. Axle's working great so far with no leaks etc. Looking forward to installing the 73-87chevytrucks.com one piece glass kit.

Thanks for all your help guys. I do appreciate you sharing your knowledge.