Full floating D44

So I bought a used full floating axle set for my narrow track 19 spline D44. I've read all the threads about these here and the stuff from Dr. Vern at JP magazine. My delema is that the outboard ends of the axles (27 spline) do not have groves cut for circlips. Since it is a full floater I don't see why they are necessary but the Warn kits and the other do it yourself systems all use the snap rings. I have a powr-lok carrier and I think I should take out the axle centering spacers. If the axles slips inward a little bit cause there'se no snap ring it should still be engaged with the Warn hubs and all should be ok. What do you guys think?

 

my early 4 Wheel Parts instructions say to the leave the buttons installed with
powerlok (I did) no snap rings included with the kit; just the flanges
I think you still need them for the axle to butt up against, rather than hitting the cross shafts
my 0.2 worth

 

My early full float with a Powr-lok ran great for 15 years. Left the Powr-lok alone and didn't have any clips at the end. Should be fine with drive flange or hubs.

 

Why do you want to pull out the spacers at the power-loc? I don't use the c-clips in the rear and have been fine. I run a detroit, don't know if that matters. A little shaft movement should be fine. A lot of movement could cause issues. The more spline engagement you have the more area there is to spread the load over.

Kevo

 

I have a detroit locker with a full floater kit that did not come with the snap ring to prevent the drive shaft from going into the differential. My question is, should I have a centering spacer in the Detroit Locker, or should I have a snap ring groove machined, or should I just assume everything is fine? My worry is that the axle has the ability on the long side to move inboard about 1/2", thus reducing the spline surface area in the hub. Any thoughts?

 

You have a good point there. 1/2" is quite a bit considering there's not much over an inch of spline in the hub to begin with. My full floater (Warn) doesn't have the c-clips either. I'm running a Detroit, my axles don't move in much at all. Maybe there is a spacer in the Detroit, I don't know.

 

I just bought the rear end with the ff kit and the detroit locker already installed. I know the previous owner was running the axle the way I found it for a while with no problems. I decided to tear everything apart to inspect my new purchase and to re-pack the wheel bearings. That is when I notices the play in the axles. Tonight I meassured between 1/4 inch and 3/8 inch side to side play, which equated to 3/4 inch and 5/8 inch of spline to spline contact in the hubs. This seems dagerous to me. Upon further inspection and finding some parts numbers posted in this forum, I learned that the ff kit is from 4 wheel part warehouse (now discontinued). I would like to know if anyone has suggestions on what I should do. Has anyone machined a snap ring groove in the end of the axles? Or is my detroit locker missing some type of spacer, as described with a power-lok instal? Thanks!

 

I wouldn't machine a groove, as it would make the axle weaker.

can you see through the detroit where the axles enter it?

 

I'd go for a snap ring, shouldn't be too much trouble. With my setup I had to deal with bigger issues like the hubs deciding to work themselves out of gear under constant load and also to the 'Free' position on washboard roads.

 

Yep, when I remove both axles and look down the axle tube, I can see that there is about a 3/8 inch to 1/2 inch hole in the center of the locker that I can see through. Is there suppose to be a centering pin or something inside this hole? Right now I am considering Jim's advice and I am thinking of taking a die grinder to cut a grove about 1/8 inch from the end of the splines for a snap ring. At least this way I can reast more easily knowing that at least 75% of the spines are in contact with the hub at all times. Any other thoughts?