dana 44 carrier spider gears not turning

I'm replacing my dana 44's carrier in the process of regearing and have swapped the spider gears over to the new carrier. The original carrier is a 3.55 carrier and the new carrier is a 4.56 carrier. When I installed the spider gears and crossbolt the spider and side gears freeze up.

Also, when I pulled off the original spider gears there was a shim on one of the side gears (larger ones), but none on the other side. This seemed a bit odd to me.

I've always thought that the carrier gear break didn't have any effect on the spider gears, and that they should just swap over to the new carrier without any problems.

- evan

 

The CASE break has no effect on the side gears and pinion gears. There should be one thrust washer underneith each side gear and one underneath each pinion (spider) gear. Sounds like there may be some burrs or mis-machining somewhere causing the lock up. Especially if using a brand new case. Make sure there is lube on the side gears where they fit in the case also or they can stick. Nickmil