Rear Dana 44 Axle Shaft Removal
11-19-2012, 03:11 PM
#21
JK Junkie
Yeah the ABS/ESP system will bitch about having no tone ring.
You can purchase from most of the gear/axle vendors if the OEM refuses to come off.
You can purchase from most of the gear/axle vendors if the OEM refuses to come off.
Last edited by OH9JK; 11-19-2012 at 03:15 PM.
11-20-2012, 11:36 AM
#22
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So...
axle shaft came out easily once I reversed the disc brake and used it as a hammer to pull it out....
The replacement shaft doesn't have a wheel sensor tone ring on it. Made the mistake of not realizing that these axles have a tone ring and already pressed the bearing and lock onto stock replacement shaft. Tried my hand in building a puller with 1/4" plate. I welded chain on four corners on the top plate, and the bottom plate was cut in half to surround the bottomside of the bearing. That was locked in place by 2 grade 8 bolts. Suffice to say, the lock and bearing didn't budge with the jack beyond maxed out (used a carpet to wrap the entire thing in fear of getting whipped by the chain). Used a dremel to cut the lock, and tried pulling the bearing off - no go. Just damaged the bearing beyond use.
Laugh away hahaah I tried the concept anyway...
So all I discovered after all of that...cheaper to upgrade your axle shafts if you ever damage them.
....now i'm gonna go to a punching bag to vent out all my failed experiments...
axle shaft came out easily once I reversed the disc brake and used it as a hammer to pull it out....
The replacement shaft doesn't have a wheel sensor tone ring on it. Made the mistake of not realizing that these axles have a tone ring and already pressed the bearing and lock onto stock replacement shaft. Tried my hand in building a puller with 1/4" plate. I welded chain on four corners on the top plate, and the bottom plate was cut in half to surround the bottomside of the bearing. That was locked in place by 2 grade 8 bolts. Suffice to say, the lock and bearing didn't budge with the jack beyond maxed out (used a carpet to wrap the entire thing in fear of getting whipped by the chain). Used a dremel to cut the lock, and tried pulling the bearing off - no go. Just damaged the bearing beyond use.
Laugh away hahaah I tried the concept anyway...
So all I discovered after all of that...cheaper to upgrade your axle shafts if you ever damage them.
....now i'm gonna go to a punching bag to vent out all my failed experiments...
Last edited by Miknov; 11-20-2012 at 03:50 PM.
11-20-2012, 11:42 AM
#23
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Originally Posted by Miknov
So...
axle shaft came out easily once I reversed the disc brake and used it as a hammer to pull it out....
The shaft is wheel sensor tone ring-less and so I tried saving the brand new bearing and lock by building a puller (1/4' plates with chain welded on fourpoints using the JK's stock jacklift on top to try and pull out the lock; didn't work. Dremel cut the lock off, tried to pull the bearing but that also failed, bearing is now fubar)
So all in all, I'm throwing the damaged shaft that has the tone ring on it back in, and I'm seriously contemplating saving up and buying a chromoly shaft kit....already 250 bucks in replacing with a stock shaft...seems illogical to commit money on polishing a turd.
So...lesson learned here....there's no inexpensive way to replace an axle shaft. A stock shaft might be 200-300 bucks cheaper (if you're lucky and get a generous fellow forum member to sell you his spare axle shaft, otherwise 550 at the dealership), but you're just investing in another turd in the end. I've exhausted all avenues to keep this repair inexpensive, and in the end, the best thing to do is spend 500 bucks and be done with it.
....now i'm gonna go to a punching bag to vent out all my failed experiments...
axle shaft came out easily once I reversed the disc brake and used it as a hammer to pull it out....
The shaft is wheel sensor tone ring-less and so I tried saving the brand new bearing and lock by building a puller (1/4' plates with chain welded on fourpoints using the JK's stock jacklift on top to try and pull out the lock; didn't work. Dremel cut the lock off, tried to pull the bearing but that also failed, bearing is now fubar)
So all in all, I'm throwing the damaged shaft that has the tone ring on it back in, and I'm seriously contemplating saving up and buying a chromoly shaft kit....already 250 bucks in replacing with a stock shaft...seems illogical to commit money on polishing a turd.
So...lesson learned here....there's no inexpensive way to replace an axle shaft. A stock shaft might be 200-300 bucks cheaper (if you're lucky and get a generous fellow forum member to sell you his spare axle shaft, otherwise 550 at the dealership), but you're just investing in another turd in the end. I've exhausted all avenues to keep this repair inexpensive, and in the end, the best thing to do is spend 500 bucks and be done with it.
....now i'm gonna go to a punching bag to vent out all my failed experiments...
11-20-2012, 02:15 PM
#24
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Suffice for me to say, I dun wanna do that...
Where'd you pick up your kit Hammerstein? She come with the bearings, seals and tone ring
11-20-2012, 02:18 PM
#25
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Originally Posted by Miknov
Yea....$250 and 8 hours later, I'm right back where I started; a wobbly jeep haha...so $50 for another bearing, $45 (with shipping) for another tone ring, $15 for a bearing lock and 15 bucks-ish to get it all pressed. ...close to 400 bucks and all I get out of it is a stock axle shaft replacement lol
Suffice for me to say, I dun wanna do that...
Where'd you pick up your kit Hammerstein? She come with the bearings, seals and tone ring
11-20-2012, 02:38 PM
#26
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I went with ten factory shafts mainly because of the price and the ten year no questions asked warranty. They include tone rings, bearings, stops, studs, and seal. The only thing I bought additionally was new bearing retainers for $24 so that I could keep my stock ones as fully assembled trail spares.
There is a website out there that sells them for $275 for non Rubi and $349 for Rubi rears with free shipping.
There is a website out there that sells them for $275 for non Rubi and $349 for Rubi rears with free shipping.
11-20-2012, 03:56 PM
#27
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I ended up going with the Alloy USA at Morris 4x4. The service guy gave me free shipping for 430 so I just took it.
11-20-2012, 03:57 PM
#28
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I went with ten factory shafts mainly because of the price and the ten year no questions asked warranty. They include tone rings, bearings, stops, studs, and seal. The only thing I bought additionally was new bearing retainers for $24 so that I could keep my stock ones as fully assembled trail spares.
There is a website out there that sells them for $275 for non Rubi and $349 for Rubi rears with free shipping.
There is a website out there that sells them for $275 for non Rubi and $349 for Rubi rears with free shipping.
