Finally got my Currie RockJock 44 axle installed!
- Thread starter Old Pueblo
- Start date
It took a day and a half? Hmm, I’ve got a front and rear Dana 44 set to put in, what took that long? Seems like a 4 to 6 hour job for the front I was estimating?
Never had a friend that comes by for a visit on Friday, next thing you know its Sunday night, place is a mess, junk food and beer bottles everywhere, car parts are all over the front yard. Work in the morning, and you are clueless cant figure out where did entire weekend go?
Im surprised it took him that fast.
Well,……. My buddy lives in the country and we did the job at his place since he has a 4 car garage with a covered carport, and I live in an apartment… (ex-wife got the house, I got the payment)
I had bought a 36mm socket from Amazon and when I opened the box in was 56mm or something like that, so off to O’Reilly, an hour there and back.. got the old knuckles off, sandblasted , painted with self etching primer, then silver…. I had Jack stands under the frame and the Dana 30 while removing the shocks and brakes, axles, etc… when it was time to lower the axle housing to pull the springs, it drooped to the ground and the spring were still in their seats!!! Funny, I don’t remember them being that long when we installed them 2 years ago!!! (ZJ with acos) ….. off to O’Reilly….. 2 spring compressors later the Dana 30! Was out. . At this point we ate some lunch and had a couple beers and Gatorade…. It was about 98* with 100% humidity, been raining on and off all day. All of the above turned out to be the EZ part.. did I mention beer!!!, the heat? Plus, I’m old!!!
I had bought a 36mm socket from Amazon and when I opened the box in was 56mm or something like that, so off to O’Reilly, an hour there and back.. got the old knuckles off, sandblasted , painted with self etching primer, then silver…. I had Jack stands under the frame and the Dana 30 while removing the shocks and brakes, axles, etc… when it was time to lower the axle housing to pull the springs, it drooped to the ground and the spring were still in their seats!!! Funny, I don’t remember them being that long when we installed them 2 years ago!!! (ZJ with acos) ….. off to O’Reilly….. 2 spring compressors later the Dana 30! Was out. . At this point we ate some lunch and had a couple beers and Gatorade…. It was about 98* with 100% humidity, been raining on and off all day. All of the above turned out to be the EZ part.. did I mention beer!!!, the heat? Plus, I’m old!!!
As you can see from the above picture Currie’s 44 is much bigger than the tiny 30, as it turns out, that mean’s heavier too. A LOT heavier!!! Getting it under the Jeep and on Jack stands somewhat near a useful position took some effort, so another break was in order…… hurray beer!!!!
It turns out the threaded holes in the Currie housing for the bump stops are much larger than the bolts I used to install them on my Dana 30, ….. off to the hardware store….. hit the liquor store too…. The rest was mostly smooth sailing except where the track bar bolts to the axle. The opening behind the mount where you access to get the nut started, was too small . It took some work with a cutoff wheel and die grinder to be able to get the nut and a box wrench in there…
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I know the generalities of this story well. Shoot, it took me a week to replace my fender flares…
joniki
TJ Enthusiast
Thank you. My goal in life is to be worthy enough to get “Ride of the Month” someday.
Nice axle, you can't beat a Currie. It's filled with a conventional gear lube, not a synthetic, right?
Yes Sir! When I bought the axle, I went ahead and got a couple qts from Currie. I’ll use that oil when I. Change it at 500 miles. I picked up a couple qts of castrol conventional on my trip to get the spring compressors, that’s what’s in it now.
On my rear axle, I changed the cover to one from Dana spicer. It has a drain plug. Curries doesn’t so I’m debating whether to pull the cover to drain it or siphon the break in oil out, what’s your opinion Jerry?
I know you asked Jerry but I think you’ve made a rather large investment that deserves a quick check of the gears when changing the oil to make sure there aren’t any issues.
That kinda what I was thinking but wanted to ask others options. I’ll get another lube locker.
I'd pull the cover to inspect and drain the break-in oil and siphon it later.
wish you were closer, i could have helped with the beer breaks. seriously good job!
I'm installing the Currie 44 front axle on my 2004 TJ and ran into the same issues you did. What's the thread size for the bump stop hole? The track bar bolt is the last bolt I have to tighten...once I figure out how to get the nut behind the bracket.
I am not sure about the bump stop bolt thread as I did mine a few years ago. However, for the track bar nut I highly suggest grinding out that slot to allow for use of a thread locking nut and also get a wrench in there. The flag nut they provide does not have locking threads and can come loose and fall out...ask me how I know!
I dont remember what size the hole is. Sorry im no help!!
Its a great axle. That and the Dana 60 I put in the back are some of my favorite mods.
The flag nut is more than fine when torqued correctly and if you can't, use some Loctite 271 on it and that will help overcome some mechanical ineptitude. I've used many without them coming loose.
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