Carrier Confusion

I was reading the tech section today about the differences between a Dana 25 & Dana 27 front axle. I states that the 25 is weaker because it uses 8 bolts to hold the ring in place vs. 10 for the 27 but it has a larger ring diameter. I had gone there because I was trying to trial fit a powerloc unit in a housing with "27A" cast into it. The 10 spline powerloc has provisions for 10 ring bolts and the carrier seems to large for the housing. My 4.88 ring gear has 8 bolts to hold it in place and the open carrier it came off of fits into the housing nicely. Am I missing something or am I miss informed (nothing new)? The powerloc unit is date stamped 3-18-67A and it also has 25773X stamped into the case as well. Any ideas?

 

I did some research on the web and my personal books but couldn't find much. When you say the carrier is to large for the housing do you mean the carrier bearings? Seems I remember that the 25 and 27 use different size carrier bearings, but my memory ain't what it used to be.

Could you possibly have a powerloc for a D44??

I just looked at some old pics of a D44 powerloc I had, and the part number was 23209X. That was a 3.92 and down case.

 

Doesn't R&P out west convert 27 powerlocks to fit in 25's? They would be the guys to ask.

 

It is definitley not a 44 carrier and the bearing cups are the same diameter. The cups from the carrier that fits in the axle housing are slightly thicker / taller. I was thinking that maybe it was for a Dana 30 but I don't think they were made for 10 spline axles or even that early. Maybe these pictures will help. I also notice that the date stamp on the 4.88 ring gear is date stamped 6-17-73 which would suggest to me that the stock carrier ring is not original.

 

seems we've had 8/10 bolt 27 ring gear discussions before
10 spline has to be for 25 or 27 axle
and the carrier bearings/races between the 2 axles are different
can't recall the specifics

 

I probably won't be using it at this point unless I can find a 4.88 r&p (10 bolt) and figure out why it won't fit in the housing. I would like to ID if I can just to know what I have. I got the powerloc off E-Bay a couple of years ago for future use. I was waiting to break something to give reason to install. Now Roman is broke and I think I am at a dead end with this unit.

 

I just checked out my '68 27 A front axle on my Utah jeep and discovered that it has 8 ring bolts. Are there 27A axles out there with 10 ring bolt carriers as mentioned in the Tech section? I am still trying to figure out this powerloc unit's application.

 

When you say "too large for the housing" do you mean width? The shims are between the unit and the bearings. They are supposed to be a tight fit. By looking at the pictures they seem to be the same size. Did you measure them?
I put a powerlock in my 27 this winter. Carrier bearings: LM501349, Carrier Race: LM501311 (a little thicker). BTW, I think the bearings are the same as a Dana 30 but different races, the shim packs was for a 30.

 

I am switching another D27 into Roman to get my 4WD working again. I thought I would check the ring bolt count on Roman's D27. 8 bolts. Roman is a 1970. The other axles I have checked are from a '68 and '69 (2). Where is the elusive 10 bolt D27?
Regarding the powerloc, I can't see the bearing # because they are pressed on right now but the cup # is LM501314. There is another number cast into the carrier which I didn't mention in previous threads which is C34005. By to big, I mean it is roughly 1/4" to 3/8" to wide to fit into the housing. There isn't that kind of thickness made up in shims on this carrier.

 

here's an old thread talking through some of this:

http://www.earlycj5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8587

 

I originally tried to install my carrier with a matched bearing/race set. Mine was too small by 3/8" to 1/4". I looked at the races and sure enough I had LM501310 with the set. The original was the LM501311. Wondering if you could try the 501311 or 501312?

 

Thinking about this last night, what is the original race P/N on the open carrier? Might be a good place to start.

 

Update:
I picked up another 27A front axle yesterday and the first thing I did was check out the ring to see if it was a 10 bolt ring. Nope! This is the fifth 27A I have looked at and all of them had 8 bolt rings. I looked in the Randy's R&P catalog and they spec 10 bolts for the 27 rings they sell. I read linckeil's thread and believe that D27 carriers came in both 8 & 10 bolt versions but I can't believe I only find 8 bolt. As previously stated, these axles are across the board in age ( '66 to '70). The owner of the one yesterday thought his was a '70 or '71 because it came with a matching offset D44 rear. Any ideas?

 

all pre 1972 cj5's had an offset dana 44 rear axle. i think you mean to say an offset FLANGED dana 44 rear - which would be stock in a 70-71 cj. you would think that a 70/71 dana 27 would be 10 bolt as it was the last years of production for the axle. out of the 8 or so dana 27s that i've opened up, i've never seen ine with 10 bolts, all had 8. the majority is 8 bolts, at least in my experience - and in yours. but all tech sites will tell you the dana 27s had 10 bolts, regardless what your experience is.
pickup a dana 30 and they'll be less mystery to worry about

 

I did leave out that minor detail that it was a flanged axle. My bad. I do have a D30 but it needs a total rebuild and I have too many other jeep projects that need my dollars. I just would like to use the fresh powerloc I have without buying a gear set seeing I have 3 or 4 spare sets sitting around here.