Dana 41 Issues - need help

[JeepsterJim]

real long shot but seen it happen......check the spring U-bolts for tightness.   Diff might be shifting back and forth.   Or a broken spring center pin.

[LKap]

UPDATE - new pinion bearing and carrier bearings installed. Put it all back together and NO CHANGE. After staring at it for an hour moving the hubs back and forth, double checking the U-joints, driveshafts, wheel bearings, etc. I'm convinced it's the spider gears. There's a ton of play in the shaft so something has to be worn. Good news is I have all new bearings, bad news is that I have to take the hubs, brakes and axles all back out!😫😖.  Can I replace the spider assembly without removing the carrier again?

[Rus Curtis]

More bad news.  The case will have to come out.  There's a description on how to do this in the Service Manual.  The side gears fit in holes and mesh with the axle splines, the spiders (Pinion Mate gears) have a cross shaft (Pinion Mate Shaft) that's held in by a pin.  Here's an illustration from the 3B Page (this may be a D44 but this and the 41 are virtually the same - I have a 41 in my 3B).

I won't attempt setting a pinion and ring gear but this was relatively easy.



The SM talks about measuring the tolerance on the side gears and if it's too large, shims can be added.  I had to get shims cut but it's very snug now.

[LKap]

Thanks for the info Russ. I did check the side gear clearance when I had the carrier out before. Tolerances were within spec. Hopefully it’s a quick swap. Just ordered the spider gear kit from Walcks with the 10% holiday discount.

[OnlyOneDR]

Tightened the outer bearing down with the yolk in place using a impact. It was very tight and I could barely turn the yolk. Obviously WAY more than the recommended 10-25 inch-pounds in the manual.  Could I have over tightened it? Is that possible with the same thickness of shims? I backed the pinion nut off and gave the shaft a couple solid whacks with a punch and it loosened up to what feels about right. Not sure this is good though. Need advice

Yes, that was over-tightened. The pinion shaft was essentially stretched under tension and putting too much preload on the bearings.  A dial-type in-lb torque wrench is best for checking preload but you can use a much-less expensive beam type and just repeat the measurement a few times to be sure you are close.  I recommend having one or the other and not going by "feel."

[LKap]

Success!  New spider gears installed. When I took out the old Pinion Mate Shaft there was quite a bit of wear. All back together now and no more clunk. Thanks to all for the help.