Axle swaps

[TomJ]

Hey guys, haven't been on in awhile but I've gotten into action and had a situation pop up. My rear differential locked up so I've got the rear axle pulled apart and found out when I got in there that it's a Salisbury axle. I had wanted to put a Lockrite in there so now I have the perfect opportunity to get some upgrades done. I have Dana 44 components and what I'm wondering is if I can put that stuff in the axle in place of the Salisbury components without issues, or if a Dana 44 axle is a completely different setup.
I've gone back through the pages on this discussion board and searched the site and can't find anywhere this has been discussed so I don't know if way out there on this.
This is the last part of these jeeps I haven't dug into so I've been on an axle crash course the last week or so.

Set me straight on this guys, I'm really up in the air on which way to go with this.

Cheers
Tom

[TomJ]

This comparison shows the difference between the Salisbury (left) and the Dana (right).

[oldtime]

What I see in your pic are two differential assemblies.
The one on my left is a Dana 25 differential assembly the one on my right is a Dana 44 differential assembly.
Both are open differentials units.

Yes the gears on early CJ's will frequently say "SALISBURY".
That is because Dana was exclusively using Salisbury gear sets prior to the late 1950's.
Salisbury was in fact a subsiduary company of Dana Spicer.
Just like "Auburn" clutch was also owned by Dana Corporation.

So if you happen upon later gear sets simply stamped "DANA" or even a few stamped "SPiCER" then they will certainly interchange perfectly.
Remember that rings and pinions are machined separate and later they are paired together as matched sets.

PM me if you need a matching set of Genuine Dana gear sets.
I have two NOS sets.
One set for the D44 another for the D25 , however both are 4.88 ratio.

[TomJ]

So some time has gone by and I've done some work not only on the axle problem but figuring out how to get pictures posted on here without all that I had in PhotoBucket.  So here is where I am. I tore down the axle after it blew up, bought another axle to upgrade to the Dana 44, bought a LockRite locker to put in it and got everything cleaned up and assembled.  Here is the problem now.



If you look closely at this picture you can see that the outer axle bearing cup is recessed into the axle housing making it impossible to shim the axles to set the backlash.  I'm a bit stumped.  One issue I've run into on this project is the parts I'm getting.  Check this out.



What you are looking at here are two inner pi�on bearing cups from different suppliers.  Pretty obvious that they are dramatically different in size. The larger one has grinding marks on it because I trimmed it down so that I could put it in and take it out easily to find out how much shimming I needed to set rotational torque.  When I put the smaller one in (not noticing the size difference) it threw everything off and it wasn't til I pulled it apart that I noticed the difference in size.
The point of explaining all that is that I'm wondering if that might be the problem with the outer axle bearings and cups that I've installed. Have any of you guys run into an axle problem like this and also run into a problem with these aftermarket parts?
I'm trying to school myself on axle setup since I've not done this part before but its really a mind bender when the parts you get are a constant guessing game.

Anyway, here's the jeep I'm trying to get back on the road.



Thanks in advance
Tom

[oldtime]

Please verify the cups you are using.
GROUP 21-05
52799-----------------D41 / D44 (10-19 spline) wheel cone----------------25877
52800 ----------------D41 / D44 (10-19 spline) wheel cup------------------25821

I highly suggest using NOS (deep stamped) Timken bearings.

[TomJ]

Old time, here is what I put in. The numbers agree with what you asked.




??

Tom

[oldtime]

No I have  certainly never seen two bearing cups vary in size like that.

In your pic I see that the cup is still too deep so that no adjustment can be made.
Two possible causes.
First possibility is that you have yet to install the opposing axle shaft.
Installing the second axle shaft should force the "shown"
bearing cup back out from its current position.

The second issue is the "center blok spacer".
For Tapered type axle assemblies the innermost ends of axle shafts must butt up against what Jeep calls the "center blok spacer".
This center blok spacer which is located up inside the differential; takes up all slack between the axle shafts.

Not familiar with your traction device so I cannot comment further on their particular use of center blok spacers.

[Bob W]

The original center block spacer must be installed inside the Lock Right assembly.

[TomJ]

Thanks guys.
Bob I went through the instructions for the lockrite locker I put in and couldn�t find anything that refers to that. How did you find that out?
Tom

[Bob W]

This is the link to the instructions for the early Dana 41 and 44 axles....
http://api.powertrax.cartanium.com//files/parts/2415.pdf
On page 3 it states "A few differentials, such as the Jeep� AMC-20 and the older 19-tooth Spicer� 44 axle, use a thrust block between the inside ends of the axle shafts as a part of the end play adjustment. When installing a LOCK-RIGHT, this block is re-used along with the original axles so that the original end play adjustment does not change. However, if the original axles are changed to different original-type axles, the block will continue to be used but the end play must be re-adjusted (see the shop manual for the procedure). "

[TomJ]

Bob,
Thanks a lot for that. I clearly didn�t do enough digging cause I missed that completely.
It�s frustrating to have to pull that thing completely apart again but sure feels good to know for sure what the solution is and what I need to do to get it right. Once again this forum �pulls my bacon out of the fire�.

[TomJ]

And by the way, since we�re on the subject what do you guys think of these tooth patterns. Would you be happy with this?