HELP! Identify this Dana 44 component

[jeep_boss]

That's the standard shim that comes in all TJ Rubicon Dana 44 axles, all come with that exact same shim for the Rubicon's carrier/locker. There's one on the other side too.

When the carrier bearings are in good condition, it takes quite a bit to seat the shim as you can see from the BFH I'm using below. This shows the driver's side shim which is similar to the your loose fitting passenger-side shim.

View attachment 36385

I didn't see the edit to your post yesterday. Thanks for additional info.

Again, I may not have described the situation in my original post very well. When I said that i could move it freely, it was not just dangling - I did have to exert pressure to move it up the 1/4th of an inch that it was out of place. I did take a brass drift and BFH to it and it took a lot of work to get it in. It does sit in there snug, just over time it will sag a little as if it is off by 0.001-0.002".

I wasn't in a position to pry out the carrier yesterday, but with both axle shafts removed - it was in there snug enough that I could not pull it straight back (I did use a wratcheting strap to prevent it from flopping out, just in case - when I had the diff cover open and removed both rear axle shafts).

The bearings and R&P are about ~23K odometer miles old (my odometer is greedy wih larger tires, adding .15-.16 miles per a tual mile driven due to larger wheels).

I had decided to let the gear oil go longer, since the last couple of changes when I saw that surface rust issue was under control. I only Royal Purple 75w140 in my diffs, sonif there is a leak - I can spot it easier. That shit isn't cheap though, and neither are Lube Lockers (which I jave only reused once between 1500 mile gear oil changes, I don't like taking chances).

There was just a little faint metalflake paint-like content stuck to my drain plug, and a tiny fragment of the drain plug threading that chipped off (that's another story).

The wear marks on my R&P look nice, perfect even according to my guy. There wasn't any signs of bearing damage that merrited taking it out.

IF things were to go south, I am anxious to swap the R&P, bearings, and probably axle tube seals (because why not) myself. I can probably get the former ARB guy to help if I were to plan it ahead of time, I don't know him well, he is a friend and former coworker of my Jeep buddy and he helpd him get an ARB in the front of his YJ (so I don't want to burden the guy right now). My area is pretty sad for shops that would be able to do this job anyhow, like damn near everything else that I have done on my own - I'd have spent $50K in labor alone.

I will keep driving on it as I have.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

...Again, I may not have described the situation in my original post very well. When I said that i could move it freely, it was not just dangling - I did have to exert pressure to move it up the 1/4th of an inch that it was out of place. I did take a brass drift and BFH to it and it took a lot of work to get it in. .

Are you sure you're describing the same problem as you did originally? Now you're saying you required a brass punch and BFH to seat it as I showed in my photo, but you first said the spacer was loose and it pushed freely back into place.

...When i opened the diff case, the first thing that I saw was a loose ring on the far right side nearest the axle tube / to the right of the bearing cap (that bears the stamp on the right side with the tube going in)!

I was able to push it freely back into place, but this is terrifying me.

I'm confused.

 

[jeep_boss]

Are you sure you're describing the same problem as you did originally? Now you're saying you required a brass punch and BFH to seat it as I showed in my photo, but you first said the spacer was loose and it pushed freely back into place.

I'm confused.

I was able to move it 1/8" by hand. When I took a brass punch and hammer to it, I was able to work it back into place another 1/8" or so, maybe as much as 1/4". There is no way to push it all that way by hand, you would have to bang it in there to stuff it as far as it can go.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

I was able to move it 1/8" by hand. When I took a brass punch and hammer to it, I was able to work it back into place another 1/8" or so, maybe as much as 1/4". There is no way to push it all that way by hand, you would have to bang it in there to stuff it as far as it can go.

You didn't say the below?

As far as PROPERLY getting back in place, I pushed it by hand and it sat barely snug where it seemed to belong.7

I'm calling shenanigans.

 

[jeep_boss]

You didn't say the below?

I'm calling shenanigans.

Jerry, I saw the thing misaligned and opened this thread to get identification of the part. The FSM did not show what this part was - nor did anything that I could find (both now and then). It wasn't until I knocked the bastard with the brass punch on the advice if Rob, that I saw that it could move further i to place.

Please know that I truly do not care what you think or your call of shennanigans. Very childish of you to say that, and for a guy that won't touch his own differential you seem to have a LOT of opinions on what I should do.

Let's leave it at that.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

... and for a guy that won't touch his own differential you seem to have a LOT of opinions on what I should do.

Removing my carrier bearings for my recent regear to 5.38.

 

[jeep_boss]

Removing my carrier bearings for my recent regear to 5.38.

View attachment 36469

And the video of you reinstalling? Setting pinion depth / preload / backlash / carrier preload? If not, I call shennanigans.