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If I were to build a front axle from scratch that would best suite my current and future needs, I would love to build a stout Diamond LC/Toy, or maybe a Dana 60 since parts are easily available and most stock parts are decently strong.
Since I do not have the luxury or time of rebuilding and reengineering a whole new axle, I have to upgrade what I got.
Like usual, I decided to go big on the replacement parts so it should just be practically a bolt-on... so I thought.
I decided on the RCV front shafts, with 30 spline outers, along with their 30-spline drive flanges. My thought is hopefully these will be last shafts I buy for this axle and find out what else is week in my drivetrain!
Ultimate Dana 44 CV Axle Set for Jeep Wagoneer ('80-'92)
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Yeah I could have went with chromo shafts, some Longfield u-joints and Warn hubs.. but since I had to sell the quad for parts, I knew I would not have this opportunity for a long time.
My setup:
1986 Wagoneer Dana 44, DS diff, high steer, leaf sprung, Ox Locker.. basically old school SAS, because it was, done initially back in 2003. I broke both inner and outer ears as well as both U-joints. The premium MileMarker hubs were also found to be trashed upon disassembly.
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Well I knew the install were going to kick my ass, but more of a complete bare knuckles knocked-out ass whoopin is what I got. This whine-session is to provide light for anyone thinking of going with the same shafts, with some tips of what worked and what didn't that I found out on my own. There were no instructions in my box, and the You Tube videos and a few right ups were read, but did not seem to have the same problems as I had.
Of all the research, I knew you have to grind down the lower ball joint to be flush with the nut.
But what I wasn't expecting is how much clearancing was necessary to get the knuckle to open up as much as possible and to squeeze the CV onto the the inner shaft with the boot in the way.
Starting with the Pass-side I fought, and pushed, and squeezed, and grinded, and grinded, and grinded and fought and could not get that CV into the knuckle. I kept hitting. Well what I can tell you NOT TO DO is warm up the boot to temporarily soften it. Needless to say I ripped the dam boot and it permanently distorted it. Cost for a new boot is $60 and at least a week delay. :banghead:
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I just couldnt make it fit, it almost seemed like it wasnt the right kit for the axle... so I started on the driver-side hoping to get one side done and for better luck.
More of the same... grind a crap load. But it's in! And this is how:
-After grinding the ball joint, I re-torqued the nut, painted it to match the knuckle, and painted an alignment line to easily check for loosening.
-I removed the steering stops,
-Shaved the backside of the inner C and knuckle lightly where they contacted at full left turn as much as I felt comfortable doing. Then did more when it wouldnt fit, until it did.
-You also have to grind the inside of the knuckle where the casting makes a V to the stock tie-rod mount. I smoothed it out bit by bit all the way to the backside of the spindle bolts using a die grinder and few wedge stones. This really helped but was time consuming since you had to pull out the CV you just fought to get in to that point, so you can grind again. Be sure to cover the inner stub and orange boot if you have to do more grinding.
-I finally got the CV mostly in, then it hit the spindle bolts.. so I marked the heads and threads with paint to try to get them in the same position, and knocked out the two front facing spindle bolts with a dead-blow.
Fighting the Boot. I did this several times until I finally got it in:
-I coated the inside of the boot with the supplied grease for lube.
-Once the CV is starting to go in, you are pressing it against the orange boot "seal". I found by NOT heating it up, I could use an old dull Toyota tire iron to stick in the boot and gently pry out out from being smashed. This really helped to align the CV and kept it from popping back at you. You have to keep pressure on the CV while doing this.
-I used a rubber dead-blow hammer to convince the CV it wanted to go in.
Pop... I got the CV to get past the knuckle!! Now the knuckled the turn again and you can align the splines of the inner shaft and CV.
-I pulled the boot outward so I could fit a pair of needle-noted locking pliers to old the shaft inside the axle tube. Do this so the boot will stay put while pressing in the CV, otherwise it goes into the tube.
-I used the stub shaft, though the knuckle, to help push the CV into the boot. Unfortunately for the install, good for the CV, air does not escape when pushing in the CV, so it pops back out.
-I used dull pick and stuck it through the now empty spindle bolt hole and into the boot, while pushing the CV/stub shaft. I then used an angled pick on the opposite side to gently-forcefully opening the boot and somehow it went in and stayed. If you counted, thats 3 things at once and it was only me. Today I used my stomach for more than eating... used it to push on the stub/CV while my hands did the prying... Reminded me of the time.... haha
Finishing:
-I used 3 washers on the outside of the knuckle and the spindle nut to pull the spindle bolt back into the knuckle, after aligning with the marks I made.
I reinstalled the caliper mounting plate and test fit the spindle for test fit and check knuckle rotation.
So why did the pass-side give me so much crap?
Well I believe its because I have a chevy flat-top knuckle for my high-steer. On the pass-side knuckle there is some extra casting inside the factory tie-rod 'V', making it look more like a sideways 'A'. I didn't realize this until I compared it after finishing the driver-side. The CV kept hitting that support filler and wasn't getting anywhere close to going in the knuckle.
Today I regretfully grinded out the filler to get a matching 'V' and smoothed out the inside with a 4" grinder as much as I could and will have to wait for the new boot to arrive to get at it again. I am sure more grinding will be necessary, but I will only grind the least amount necessary.
So the shafts were the right set for my axle, but that didn't account for the non-matching pass-side knuckle.
Since I do not have the luxury or time of rebuilding and reengineering a whole new axle, I have to upgrade what I got.
Like usual, I decided to go big on the replacement parts so it should just be practically a bolt-on... so I thought.
I decided on the RCV front shafts, with 30 spline outers, along with their 30-spline drive flanges. My thought is hopefully these will be last shafts I buy for this axle and find out what else is week in my drivetrain!
Ultimate Dana 44 CV Axle Set for Jeep Wagoneer ('80-'92)
Yeah I could have went with chromo shafts, some Longfield u-joints and Warn hubs.. but since I had to sell the quad for parts, I knew I would not have this opportunity for a long time.
My setup:
1986 Wagoneer Dana 44, DS diff, high steer, leaf sprung, Ox Locker.. basically old school SAS, because it was, done initially back in 2003. I broke both inner and outer ears as well as both U-joints. The premium MileMarker hubs were also found to be trashed upon disassembly.
Well I knew the install were going to kick my ass, but more of a complete bare knuckles knocked-out ass whoopin is what I got. This whine-session is to provide light for anyone thinking of going with the same shafts, with some tips of what worked and what didn't that I found out on my own. There were no instructions in my box, and the You Tube videos and a few right ups were read, but did not seem to have the same problems as I had.
Of all the research, I knew you have to grind down the lower ball joint to be flush with the nut.
But what I wasn't expecting is how much clearancing was necessary to get the knuckle to open up as much as possible and to squeeze the CV onto the the inner shaft with the boot in the way.
Starting with the Pass-side I fought, and pushed, and squeezed, and grinded, and grinded, and grinded and fought and could not get that CV into the knuckle. I kept hitting. Well what I can tell you NOT TO DO is warm up the boot to temporarily soften it. Needless to say I ripped the dam boot and it permanently distorted it. Cost for a new boot is $60 and at least a week delay. :banghead:
I just couldnt make it fit, it almost seemed like it wasnt the right kit for the axle... so I started on the driver-side hoping to get one side done and for better luck.
More of the same... grind a crap load. But it's in! And this is how:
-After grinding the ball joint, I re-torqued the nut, painted it to match the knuckle, and painted an alignment line to easily check for loosening.
-I removed the steering stops,
-Shaved the backside of the inner C and knuckle lightly where they contacted at full left turn as much as I felt comfortable doing. Then did more when it wouldnt fit, until it did.
-You also have to grind the inside of the knuckle where the casting makes a V to the stock tie-rod mount. I smoothed it out bit by bit all the way to the backside of the spindle bolts using a die grinder and few wedge stones. This really helped but was time consuming since you had to pull out the CV you just fought to get in to that point, so you can grind again. Be sure to cover the inner stub and orange boot if you have to do more grinding.
-I finally got the CV mostly in, then it hit the spindle bolts.. so I marked the heads and threads with paint to try to get them in the same position, and knocked out the two front facing spindle bolts with a dead-blow.
Fighting the Boot. I did this several times until I finally got it in:
-I coated the inside of the boot with the supplied grease for lube.
-Once the CV is starting to go in, you are pressing it against the orange boot "seal". I found by NOT heating it up, I could use an old dull Toyota tire iron to stick in the boot and gently pry out out from being smashed. This really helped to align the CV and kept it from popping back at you. You have to keep pressure on the CV while doing this.
-I used a rubber dead-blow hammer to convince the CV it wanted to go in.
Pop... I got the CV to get past the knuckle!! Now the knuckled the turn again and you can align the splines of the inner shaft and CV.
-I pulled the boot outward so I could fit a pair of needle-noted locking pliers to old the shaft inside the axle tube. Do this so the boot will stay put while pressing in the CV, otherwise it goes into the tube.
-I used the stub shaft, though the knuckle, to help push the CV into the boot. Unfortunately for the install, good for the CV, air does not escape when pushing in the CV, so it pops back out.
-I used dull pick and stuck it through the now empty spindle bolt hole and into the boot, while pushing the CV/stub shaft. I then used an angled pick on the opposite side to gently-forcefully opening the boot and somehow it went in and stayed. If you counted, thats 3 things at once and it was only me. Today I used my stomach for more than eating... used it to push on the stub/CV while my hands did the prying... Reminded me of the time.... haha
Finishing:
-I used 3 washers on the outside of the knuckle and the spindle nut to pull the spindle bolt back into the knuckle, after aligning with the marks I made.
I reinstalled the caliper mounting plate and test fit the spindle for test fit and check knuckle rotation.
So why did the pass-side give me so much crap?
Well I believe its because I have a chevy flat-top knuckle for my high-steer. On the pass-side knuckle there is some extra casting inside the factory tie-rod 'V', making it look more like a sideways 'A'. I didn't realize this until I compared it after finishing the driver-side. The CV kept hitting that support filler and wasn't getting anywhere close to going in the knuckle.
Today I regretfully grinded out the filler to get a matching 'V' and smoothed out the inside with a 4" grinder as much as I could and will have to wait for the new boot to arrive to get at it again. I am sure more grinding will be necessary, but I will only grind the least amount necessary.
So the shafts were the right set for my axle, but that didn't account for the non-matching pass-side knuckle.
For the love of god!,why are you trying to Polish a turd..
