Rear Axle: suggestions on leveraging differential cage/ring-gear assembly out of Dana44 without hurting it?

[bsrosell]

OK, marked the caps, removed them, tried prying with a crowbar and tapping a bit (carefully avoiding any contact with ring gear, yes).
Not budging.
Are those rings (under the bearing caps I removed) just sitting in there, 'stuck' and will pull straight up? Or do they happen to overlap something that I might damage if I hit the crowbar any harder (putting it under the differential gears housing, solid sides).

Manual doesn't say, just warns against prying on ring gear. But I've heard of a "spreader" somewhere, and don't want to proceed unless I'm absolutely sure those are supposed to pop right up and out of there, and are just 'stuck"......
THanks!
PS: DID check ring-gear , movement? side to side per manual, 0.002" vs <0.003" spec. Hurray! About my luck lately for THAT to have been sprung or something :-)

[Skybolt]

https://www.google.com/search?q=dana+44+case+spreader&safe=active&rlz=1C1LENN_enUS462US462&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=643&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjX8tut4ojPAhUW-mMKHQTLBXUQ_AUIBygC

Made one myself and you can get an idea from all those images.

Len

[bsrosell]

aw shucks; thanks. (why doesn't the manual say anything about spreading it if that is necessary I wonder?)
All I wanted to do was clean it good; think I'll go back to original plan of flushing out good with a gallon of mineral spirits and letting it run out each tube and out the pinion, etc....
Most people don't even take them apart from the sounds of it. Just have to make sure I don't flush any grit IN from the tubes but I can tip each way and pour, dry , tip the other and pour, and then finish with the pinion straight down. All new seals anyway.

[Flat Ernie]

And they're a bear to get back in w/o a spreader...

[TWChamp]

I used the shop's spreader to work on rear ends when I worked at the GM dealership in the 70's. The spreader doesn't have to spread the housing more than a couple thousands to slip the carrier out. A person could make a spreader by using heavy bar stock, like 1/2" x 1". Use two vertical bars with a hole near the center for the bolt going into the housing, then have a hole at the top of each bar for another bar on each side to be bolted as pivot points. Then have a hole at the bottom of each vertical bar to bolt up a spreader bar.

I just found this picture on ebay of the tool I just described making.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dana-Integral-Axle-Housing-Case-Spreader-/152224458166?hash=item237148e5b6:g:H4kAAOSwFe5Xxih-&vxp=mtr

[64studeavanti]

Put a shop rag between the ring and pinion. When you turn the pinion, the carrier will back right out. To reinstall, you can use a dead blow hammer after placing it square. If you look on Internet, you can find several instances of this being done. I did this on one of my Avantis years ago and it worked great.

[bezhawk]

I just use a nylon strap around the carrier, and support the strap with a hoist, or over the rafters.
after the weight is supported, tap the face of the gasket surface with a mallet, and it should come right out.
You don't have to lift it far enough to drop on your toes!

[bezhawk]

I just did this, again today, and it works.

[bsrosell]

You mean hang yhe whole differential from the cherry picker (In my case) , lift a bit off ground then gently tap around the BACK COVER'S gasket area, correct?
And putting it back in? Rubber mallet on bearing caps each side, or focus on the center carrier assembly? Again, after breaking my wrist today Going to be a few days before I can Try it, right hand too of course :-) thanks!

I just use a nylon strap around the carrier, and support the strap with a hoist, or over the rafters.
after the weight is supported, tap the face of the gasket surface with a mallet, and it should come right out.
You don't have to lift it far enough to drop on your toes!

[64studeavanti]

You really should try the rag method. Very easy and painless.

[BILT4ME]

I'll ask the obvious that was not explicitly asked........You did remove the axles from the housing right?

[wittsend]

I'd be a bit more careful with the gears removing them though the rag method does seem logical. Installing them I'd use greater care and use a spreader. I made one out of three bars of steel, four bolts/nuts and portions of a coil spring compressor. A short piece of tubing in the center keeps the ends together. The bolts that go into the case holes were rounded off and slightly angled to give some bite and prevent slipping out. This was on a Sunbeam Tiger, but they use the British version of a Dana 44 so the concept is the same. In this application the case spread was .007.

[BILT4ME]

What wittsend said....or:

http://www.ebay.com/bhp/differential-spreader

I used a couple of very large screwdrivers (one from the top and bottom), then slid the tip into the carrier opening and pried it out. Going back in was a challenge, but nothing some serious whacking with a deadblow soft 2 LB hammer couldn't cure.

[wittsend]

BTW, not sure why you are removing the gears, but those side shims serve two purposes. One is to pre-load the bearings properly (the total shim pack) and the side to side differences set the backlash. Don't mix them up! That is, AFTER you have set the pinion depth properly* (see image). Theoretically if the same carrier is going back in the same housing (and the gears are cut properly and or bearings ground properly - assuming replacement) then the same shims properly placed should be OK. I found setting the pinion depth the hardest. I heated the housing, put the race in the freezer, dropped it in place and took the measurement in about 10 seconds. Still it was VERY difficult to get the race back out to set the shim pack.

Regardless, you should check the backlash and wear pattern. Most everyone says to use "white lead" but in this environmentally conscience world I'm not sure where you find it. I struggled with a lot of stuff including grease, face cream, Sharpies, tooth paste but never felt confident I was getting a good reading. In my situation the gears were marked for a .007 backlash and I got .0065. Check the backlash in about four spots (90 degrees apart) as run-out on the parts can cause inaccurate readings. While I was spec-ed at .007 I believe the minimum was .004.

* The pinion depth was determined by subtracting the thickness of the block the depth mic rests on.

[bsrosell]

thanks all;
1) yes, axles and outer bearings and seals came out before I took her off the frame and removed springs

2) not intending to remove the pinion, only took off the yoke, and plan to replace the leaking seal, and while that is out, take the outer pinion bearing out and clean it up good (NOT the race).'

3) Not intending to remove pinion (rear bearing will stay put; was NOT planning on removing anything IN the differential, just flush it out with mineral spirits good and seal her back up (checked sideplay, only .002 vs .003 max so good there).

4) good question, "why are you bothering to take it out at all??" if not replacing those bearings ? (I would if they looked bad, but have been counseled by many that typically no reason to replace, and even my rear outer axle bearings looked really good, though already bought new ones and 'they're out", put in new while easy to do...
So, answer is simply that the axle-housing tubes are so cruddy, I'm worried about getting some particles back-flushing into the differential bearings, and was counseled on here to simply "take out the whole assembly" (and easier to clean everything good too). So only thing left would be pinion and it's rear bearing, which I could thoroughly flush out before starting to reassemble anything, THEN put in front bearing, new seal, axles seals and bearings, etc... and then PAINT and put her back on the freshly painted frame.

Make sense? Here is how she hangs now :-) So planning to pour the mineral spirits one way (and scrape OUTWARDS with something if I can get the assembly out; otherwise just flush and let drain and dry), then tip it the other way, do same thing; THEN finish by flushing down and out the open pinion area (bearing and pinion only things there).

I just fell and broke my wrist,and working from a walker and sitting down these days (or knee pads), so "just" making a spreader isn't as "just" easy for me if I don't really have to do it...., or I would.