Dana 44 question

[GRUNT]

I bought a 75 J-20. The front end is a dana 44 open knuckle. When I examined mu U joints at the knuckle, I noticed I can move the left up and down in the axle housing about 1/4 of an inch. Obviously this is bad, but my question is how bad? Obviously a axle bearing of some type but what is involved in getting to the bearing to replace it, and can I do it myself? or do I need to remove the front axle to have pressed in or something crazy to fix it?

[River Beast]

There is no outer axle bearing on the 44 open knuckle.

The inner shaft rides on the carrier...
the stub shaft rides on the needle bearings within the spindle. The axle shaft joint actually just 'floats' a bit.

now if you can visually see 'play' where the joint caps are moving or looseness in the workings of the joint.... you have a bad joint.

No special tools are needed to remove the axle shaft...except a 4x4 hub wrench.

1. remove wheel, brake caliper
2. remove hub assy, bearing lock nut, lock washer and bearing retaining nut
3. pull on rotor and remove (don't drop the outer bearing)
4. Remove the 6 bolts holding on the sprindle to the knuckle.
** it may be 'stuck' so use a soft blow mallet to dislodge the spindle fromt he knuckle working it up and down***
5. slowly extract your axle shafts...

See.... not hard

[GRUNT]

Thanks I would have never guessed it just floated like that. The u joint is fine. Thanks. Dimitri

[River Beast]

no problem... ;)

[Bridge]

That sounds easy. I was just asking these questions on the General Forum. Can I visually inspect the wheel bearings with only the one tire jacked?

[Brown Bear]

should be no prob bridge, just pull that wheel off the ground, give it a couple good tugs in each directions. If you were as big and strong as Riverbeast, you would just pick the corner up with one hand, and shake the tire with the other, but we can't all be so lucky, so we must use lowly bumper jacks ;)

[River Beast]

LMAO!!! :D Originally posted by Brown Bear:
If you were as big and strong as Riverbeast, you would just pick the corner up with one hand, and shake the tire with the other, but we can't all be so lucky, so we must use lowly bumper jacks ;) I use a forklift!!!! ;) (j/k)

[GRUNT]

Thanks a lot. I was used to the old closed knuckle frontends on my previous Kaiser FSJs. I checked my wheel bearings they are good. I don't plan on doing nothing radical with mine. I think it's fine the way it is. STOCK! Ofcourse I don't go out in the mud to 4X. Mine is Just a Truck.

[Bridge]

I jacked up ONE back tire AT A TIME (do both of them need to be off the ground?) and turn them for sound. I hear a minor abrasion sound, minor. Almost like I am paranoid and hearing things. There is a hair of play in-and-out. Enough to hear each side hit something, but not enough to move the tire a quarter of a millimeter.

Grabbing the front drive shaft while all four wheels on the ground, I have a back-and-forth play of about two millimeters. And the back drive shaft, while all four wheels were off the ground (during my engine rebuild) was able to rotate some. Need a new U-joint back there?

Have yet to inspected the wheel bearing visually. Now can I inspect by just jacking up one tire? And I do not have to take off any plates under the jeep in order to see the bearings? Just the tire, the brake-drum (no clue) and the four bolts, right? And if everything goes back on like I took it apart, I will still have brakes?
But to actually LOOK at the bearings, what do I look for?