Dana 44 rear wheel bearing woes....

I have been in need of replacing the driver side rear wheel bearing in my 69 as it had a 1/2" of slop in it. When I tore it down and removed the hub and backing plate I was able to remove the axle, bearing and race by hand. Right out of the axle tube. The race had some sort of plastic wrapped around the ID that fell off as I removed the axle further out the axle tube. Now that it is all cleaned up for inspection. It appears that the axle housing is larger than then race part # 25821. Someone in the past had shimmed with plastic to send it on Down the road to be someone else's problem. There is a solid .030" gap between the OD of the race and ID of the axle tube.

Question is short of having a bushing made or welding and machining the tube back down to spec or replacing it completely. Is there any other options for this?

 

The condition of your axle tube does not sound good to me.

Locktite makes a product that is designed to compensate for slightly loose roller cups.
It basically glues the bearing cup into place.
.030 sounds like an awful lot of clearance to me.
Seems like that would be way too much for the Locktite filler/ adhesive.
I forget the Locktite number.
Search: Locktite products.

I really suggest that you find a different axle assembly or housing.

 

I have never seen any Locktite products that can take up clearance anywhere near .030"........a few tenths yes and some others will maybe go to a few thousands...........If the axle is worth anything to you I would cut the ends off and weld new ones on , of course a rear end narrowing jig would be required to get it back on straight.....................Or if you had a large enough lathe one might be able to bore them out and make a step sleeve of sorts and weld them in?.............the axle splines and spiders at the carrier may also be worn out due to the excessive clearance at the axle ends.............

 

It looks like i'm leaning towards a FF kit, but will have to have a custom spindle turned to take up any slop that is in the axle tube. Or I wonder if the spindle could be drilled and pinned?

 

Pretty sure the spindle for the FF kit bolts to the axle flange, and the new bearings ride on the spindle. The old bearing cup would be empty.

 

I guess my question would be is it important that the back machined flange of the spindle fit tight into the opening of (where the race used to be) or will the bolts themselves be enough support..

 

The step on the spindle needs to fit snug in the housing end as that is what centers the spindle to the housing. This is critical with a full float setup. The bolts cannot adequately hold the spindle centered.

 

When I replaced the kingpin bearings/races on my Dana 25, one of the races was loose. It didn't have any side to side play, but it did spin in the housing- the result of poor maintenance by POs. Rather than replace the whole axle housing, I used Loctite Green to seat the new race- local bike shop gave me some. It's worked fine for several years now, but the kingpin has very little stress on it compared to a tapered Dana 44 bearing. I would guess that Tarry is correct that no Loctite product would work.

As Tim says, you shouldn't have to worry about the wallowed out race if you want to go FF, you don't use the original bearings/races. The new bearings ride on the spindle- just like your front axle hub.

True, but if the spindle is not held centered it side loads the differential side gear, drive gear on the locking hub or splines on the drive flange depending on which is used. If the spindle is not held dead center then when the axle housing tube flexes (they ALL do) there is danger of the axleshaft contacting the inside of the spindle. I've seen the shaft and spindle weld themselves together when this happens and it's ugly. I reiterate, the spindle MUST be centered to the axle tube. If it's just the area where the bearing race is pressed in that is damaged and the outer portion of the housing end is ok then probably no issue going full float. If the outer end is damaged as well then going full float is a recipe for disaster.

 

Nick- I understand the function of the step on the spindle as you do- it needs to center the spindle. The bolts should never be depended on to do that. I took the original poster's point to be the race was bad only and the the area for the spindle to bolt up for a FF was not affected. I'm sure the OP appreciates the clarification all the same. By the way, how did you manage to edit my post?8)

Like this lol
It wasn't intentional, just what happened since I can't use Tapatalk. I'm on a learning curve

I know you know Gunner but I was just clarifying for other folks or for future searches

I would not have considered the spindle design up until the time I began researching full floaters, so clarification and reminders are all good!

 

The tapered wheel bearings normally are a "light press fit".
The Locktite was only mentioned as a possability in case the bearing cup was actually found to be a "slide fit" or a "loose slide fit".
No Locktite is certainly not a fix for anything near .030 total gap or .015 gap all the way around.

 

It looks like I will be on the hunt for a replacement housing. The juice isn't worth the squeeze to try and patch this back together. Its not a DD but is often used far from civilization and not worth the risk.

Just curious..... What are folks getting in everyone's neck of the woods for R&P set up? The unit has a 19 spline Power loc in it that I would need to swap.

 

Out here it runs $250 labor, not counting new R&P, bearings and shim kit.

Don

 

Have you decided against a full floater? If it is still an option, you could probably keep the axle, power lock and all, and get the kit from Herm or have some made by an outfit like Dutchman. Either can do 19 spline shafts.

 

Ring and Pinion value depends.
Myself I'll only use NOS or used OEM Dana gear sets that are in VGC.
I typically pay about $100 for very good used gear sets and $150 for the NOS Dana gear sets.
You can often get a complete used axle nearly for the cost of the ring/pinion alone.

 

Gunner I would still like to go towards a FF setup but not so sure if I want to install it this messed up housing. After loolking a little deeper into my problem, the area where the race is suposed to light press into the axle housing is ovaled out not just enlarged. It looks as if someone and ran this thing for 100's of miles before looking at the problem.

 

#1. oldtime is correct that you can usually pick up a complete axle for the cost of a new R&P

2. I have not yet done the FF on my A1, but others here have done the FF and they'll correct me if I'm wrong. The original tapered axle wheel bearing is not used nor is the race so the fact the race and its seating area are shot has no effect on a FF set up. Pretty sure you would still use the inside seal and it would ride on a new FF axle shaft as it did on the original tapered axle shaft. Otherwise the bearings are part of the wheel hub and spindle set up that the FF uses and incorporates. Entirely separate arrangement than the original tapered axle. The FF uses 2 large wheel bearings, riding on the spindle (not the axle shaft) whereas the tapered axle uses a single bearing riding directly on the tapered axle shaft. Research it on the forum and you'll get plenty of info on the conversion.