rear dana44 pinion seal 77 cherokee

[fsjeep]

Can anyone tell me how to go about this job, torque specs, tips, etc....I went out today for a run and now its leaking, I would like to deal with it right away but my repair manual has nothing to do with diffs, it just says to take it to a shop....I know I have to change the crush sleeve after removing the pinion yoke, but is there anything I should watch for? The pinion itself, how is it held in, is it just shimmed up? Can I just leave the diff cover on the housing and pull the d-shaft off then undo the yoke nut/yoke and pop the seal out and then reinstall? Any info would be really helpful right now, thanks in advance, Dwain

[Stuka]

1: Get a BIG pipe wrench to hold pinion in place, remove nut from end of pinion

2: get a puller, and put it on the yoke, pull yoke off (its gona be on there good, me sure to get any limbs out of the way for when it flies off)

3: fanagle old seal off of the pinion

4: clean up in there, use acetone or enamle reducer to get rid of anny oils, then DONT touch the seal surace with your hands, or you have to re-clean it.

5: put new seal in, tap in if needed.

6: put yoke back on, tap on just enough to where you can get the nut started.

7: torque nut down until the pinion preload is around 13 inch pounds (i think, I would have to double check this). To check the preload you get an inch pound torque wrench, put on nut of pinion, and turn it, if you can turnt he pinion without it hitting 13 inch pounds, it needs to be tighter, if you cant turn it at all, then its to tight.. It should just want to barely move.

There is no crush sleave on D44 axles, so you dont need to worry about that. Although I kind of wish there was, would make settign one up much easier.

The pinion is held in place by the bearings.