Possible Dana 44 front and rear issues?

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LJ FlexN

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I recently acquired a set of Dana 44 front and rear axles already with ARBs and 4.88s. I have the rear swapped out and it is puking diff fluid from the vent hose. I filled it with 2qt and as far as I know that should not have over filled it. It does seem to be warmer than I would expect after 20 minutes of highway driving @ 70mph, but I don't know how hot is too hot.
I am swapping all the front brake components over to WJ in the garage before swapping the axle itself. Last night I could hear and feel a noise coming from the diff when either hub is spun. Common sense tells me it should be completely smooth with no noises. This is my first set of axles with ARBs so I don't know if what I am hearing and feeling is normal.
The axles came out of a TJ from an owner of a local reputable 4x4 shop. Hopefully I wasn't just being naive to assume they would have been set up correctly and would just swap in. Any input or suggestions would be appreciated, thanks.
 
LJ FlexN said:
I recently acquired a set of Dana 44 front and rear axles already with ARBs and 4.88s. I have the rear swapped out and it is puking diff fluid from the vent hose. I filled it with 2qt and as far as I know that should not have over filled it. It does seem to be warmer than I would expect after 20 minutes of highway driving @ 70mph, but I don't know how hot is too hot.
I am swapping all the front brake components over to WJ in the garage before swapping the axle itself. Last night I could hear and feel a noise coming from the diff when either hub is spun. Common sense tells me it should be completely smooth with no noises. This is my first set of axles with ARBs so I don't know if what I am hearing and feeling is normal.
The axles came out of a TJ from an owner of a local reputable 4x4 shop. Hopefully I wasn't just being naive to assume they would have been set up correctly and would just swap in. Any input or suggestions would be appreciated, thanks.
Click to expand...

The typical method for determining if you have overfilled a rear diff is when gear oil is pumped out of the vent hose. The caveat to that is whether or not the drain back groove was cut when the ARB was installed and whether or not that is redirecting fluid into the left side axle tube.

EDIT- every diff I have ever spun by hand has a bit of clunking and what not from the spider gears meshing until it is filled with oil and then it mostly goes away but not fully. I would not expect dead silent.
 
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I paid a professional installer to do my ARBs and they didn't cut the grooves (Northridge 4x4--recommended by ARB). I called them to ask about the oil and they told me it was just overfilled and would stop when the right level was achieved. WRONG!

I have posted pictures in a previous thread. I still need to replace the ring and pinion because the pinion gears are chipping.

So, you need to check if the grooves were cut into the rear Dana 44.
 
Thanks for the quick replies. How would I go about checking for that groove? Can you see it with just the diff cover off?
 
Looks like I need to pull the carrier to make sure. Guess I will pull the front as well while it is on stands in the garage. Anything else I should be on the look out for when I pull the lockers?
 
BC Moto said:
This makes me want to check mine as i have a similar situation with the vent hose
Click to expand...

Typically on a normal overfill what happens is the spinning axle shaft picks up the fluid and slings it against the opening in the vent bolt. Capillary effect holds some in the hole in the bolt, more oil hits it and that continues until it pumps out enough that the shaft can't pick it up.

If something is affecting how much oil drains into the left axle tube, that changes it into a bigger problem.
 
LJ FlexN said:
Guess I will pull the front as well while it is on stands in the garage.
Click to expand...
The ARB problem is limited to the rear axle. The front oil seals are located inside the pumpkin and not at the end of the axle housings.

I had trouble with the copper airlines falling down into the ring gear which wore holes in them rendering the ARBs unable to lock. I'd check them. Also worth checking the air seals to make sure they're working. Air leaks are a beast in ARBs. Finally, the connection at the pumpkin should be checked. ARB updated the interface awhile back. It might be worth updating while they are out of the vehicle. (I have one old connection --rear--and one new connection--front.) Eventually, I'll replace the rear because it's more prone to leak.
 
With work, weather and time wasting holiday stuff today is the first opportunity to get the axles out if the rear end. I do see that a groove was cut but doesn't look no where near as big as most if the photos I have seen. Is this one sufficient or should I widen it?

20231209_120415.jpg
 
In my opinion, not big enough. Mine were substantially wider when I finished. I started with smaller grooves and then filled the pumpkin with an appropriate amount of gear oil. I drove it around until it was warm. If it was still puking oil then I made the grooves wider. It too several iterations to make it wide enough. I think the grooves were almost 1/2" wide when I was done. I think that information was included in my post thread about this problem.
 
Soooo... I am still spitting fluid out if the vent tube. Are both axle tube openings supposed to have these drainage cuts in them or just the passenger side?
 
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