Axle bearing help

[Carter6]

Hey all,
I recently had an issue with my rear axle (Dana 44). My axle is currently set up with 4.56 gears, and an ox locker that was installed by the previous owner.

About 2-3 weeks ago, I was driving it, shifted from 1-2 gear, and as I was letting the clutch out I heard a really bad grinding noise coming from the rear, and it felt like my transmission wouldn’t mesh up correctly with the gears. I immediately pulled over and got it towed to my local mechanic.

After a few weeks, he told me I’d have to replace my whole axle housing, because the ring that the bearing sits on for the pinion gear for the hole leading to the driveshaft. (Sorry not a mechanic, so I don’t know all the exact terminology).

My mechanic is telling me I’ve got to replace my whole axle housing, because the bearing is going in by hand, rather than normally having to be pressed in with a hammer.

My question is, is there no fix to this issue? I would figure something could be done, but my mechanic tells me the only way to fix it is to get a whole new axle housing.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

He very well could be right. The pinion bearing's seat in the opening the pinion shaft passes through might have become so damaged the bearing will no longer stay seated where it needs to be. Perhaps your pinion shaft bearings seized and caused the outer bearing race to spin which could have damaged the seating surface inside the axle housing. @mrblaine likely has seen something like that and maybe can offer some words of advice. I don't see how it could be repaired, at least not economically.

 

[mrblaine]

Hey all,
I recently had an issue with my rear axle (Dana 44). My axle is currently set up with 4.56 gears, and an ox locker that was installed by the previous owner.

About 2-3 weeks ago, I was driving it, shifted from 1-2 gear, and as I was letting the clutch out I heard a really bad grinding noise coming from the rear, and it felt like my transmission wouldn’t mesh up correctly with the gears. I immediately pulled over and got it towed to my local mechanic.

After a few weeks, he told me I’d have to replace my whole axle housing, because the ring that the bearing sits on for the pinion gear for the hole leading to the driveshaft. (Sorry not a mechanic, so I don’t know all the exact terminology).

My mechanic is telling me I’ve got to replace my whole axle housing, because the bearing is going in by hand, rather than normally having to be pressed in with a hammer. View attachment 193843View attachment 193844

My question is, is there no fix to this issue? I would figure something could be done, but my mechanic tells me the only way to fix it is to get a whole new axle housing.

You can easily peen that with a sharp center punch in a tight pattern and restore the press fit. For additional help, set the race with one of the Loctite bearing retainer products after the peening.

 

[Carter6]

You can easily peen that with a sharp center punch in a tight pattern and restore the press fit. For additional help, set the race with one of the Loctite bearing retainer products after the peening.

Ok, interesting. My girlfriends father had a spare Dana 44 laying around, so we switched all of my useable parts over to the “new” axle housing. He was planning on selling this other axle, so maybe I’ll get a different mechanic to try to peen the shaft to allow the bearing to stay in place.