How often do axle seals go out in a Dana 44?

Northgeorgiarider

Northgeorgiarider

Member
Joined
Sep 24, 2019
Messages
25
Location
North Georgia
How often do axle seals go out in a dana 44. I don't wheel hard but I'm on my way to doing so.
My front passenger seal is leaking, is it worth buying a seal tool or just improvising something to set the seal?
I'm doing the work myself. I have more time then money to pay someone else to do work I can do. LoL
 
CharlesHS said:
Have you changed the differential gear lube recently ?
There are times when the lube level is slightly high and you are parked on a diagonal where the fluid may leak thru the seal.
Click to expand...

Didn't know this, thanks. I'm about to refill my completely dry diff after swapping guts into a donor axle housing with all new seals etc... I would have maybe been wrongly pissed if this happened to me and I didn't know that can happen.
 
I had an aftermarket cover on my rear diff. The fill hole wasn’t at OEM height. My experience was the same. Except I wasn’t on an angle. It would seep out on flat surfaces. I replaced the cover with the same maker but newer, where they put the fill hole at the right height. It hasn’t been an issue since. It’s certainly something to look at.
 
If it’s not being over filled, then the tool doesn’t hurt, makes life easier, but absolutely not necessary. You can seat it with a large socket, or a washer the right size, many ways.
Personally I push a shop towel through, especially the side that leaked. That’s oil will gather crap and gunk, not the end of the world, but important to start clean so you can see if is leaking again.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jerry Bransford
CharlesHS said:
Not always...
Click to expand...

If the seal is good, then it shouldn't leak. If you have gear oil coming out of the tube, then either the seal is bad, there is a groove worn into the shaft so the seal can't do its job effectively, or the vent line is plugged causing a pressure issue.
 
CharlesHS said:
Have you changed the differential gear lube recently ?
There are times when the lube level is slightly high and you are parked on a diagonal where the fluid may leak thru the seal.
Click to expand...
I may have unnecessarily changed the inner seals twice because of this 🤫

I was using the fill until it comes out the fill hole method instead of the actual measurement.
 
hosejockey61 said:
Did you simply just move everything over or what did you do?
Click to expand...

I bent the inner C knuckle on my original axle when I was changing ball joints. Had everything (my original ring, pinion, etc...) swapped into a donor axle housing and got new seals + everything else in the process, used a Yukon Master Rebuild kit. I'm the only doofus in the world swapping stock 3.73 gears into a donor LP Dana 30 but whatever.

Brought it home from the shop which was an hour away and found that one of the ball joint seats was oversized and one of my Spicers just dropped right in, so that was a whole thing. Decided to run some aftermarket oversized joints and just call it a day because I wasn't trying to drag that thing an hour back to the shop to have them do it again, even though I did get them to (begrudgingly) agree to fix it since they fucked up.

So now, months later, I'm finally about to put the front axle shafts back in, put everything back together and reattach it. Still need to add gear oil though and I was already nervous about clipping the new inner seals/causing a leak when I insert the shafts. Won't know until I add the oil though.
 
  • Like
Reactions: hosejockey61
Top Bottom
Back