[ihc] RE: Mitch's axle

["Jim Grammer" <jgrammer@xxxxxxxxxx>]

>Date: Mon, 26 Jul 2004 17:03:06 -0500
>From: "Mitch and Jena Carl" <mjcarl@domain.elided>
>Subject: [ihc] Rear axle

>Hi all, I have a '77 scout that started to make a loud clunking noise from
>the rear yesterday while driving home.  I pulled the axle shaft off both
>sides.  The driver side wheel had alot of play in it and you could pull it
>back and forth about an inch.  When I pulled that shaft out, the outer seal
>was missing.  Would that cause the excessive play in the wheel?

2 bits keep the axle in place, the rear wheel bearing and the retainer
plate. It's hard to imagine losing the outer seal unless the retainer plate
had loosened up, but you'd know from pulling the axle if that was the case.
Perhaps the outer seal was left out during a previous assembly?

>I then pulled the passenger side shaft out and that had a totally different
>wheel bearing.  It was a roller type bearing, while the driver side was
>smooth all around and had the bearing on the inside of it.  Which one is
>correct, or are they both and one is just a later modification?

The correct bearing(and OEM installation) is a Timken Set10. I will allow
that Greg H swears by a Link Belt bearing, but IH used the Timken and it's
readily available at AZ. In IH land, there are no reported cases of a
properly installed, adequately lubed Set10 failing in service. There *are*
reported failures(Greg's L-B bearing aside) of the
straight(non-tapered)roller bearings. The inner races(pressed onto the axle
shaft) actually separated from the rest of the bearing, allowing the axle
shaft to depart the housing :( Whatever you end up doing about the diff, a
new set of Set10's on both axles is cheap insurance, and you've already been
lucky once.

>And lastly, I pulled the cover off the differential to make sure the
>spindles weren't spun out from the shaft being loose.  When I pulled it I
>found a couple of teeth had broken off.  One or two were from the spider
>gears and one chunk was from the pinion gear.  Should I buy all new gears
or
>try to find another axle?  Where do you look for a Dana 44 axle?

In practice, lots of folks have run diffs with the odd chunk missing for
many miles without further ado. OTOH, there could be other teeth fractured
and when they let go a piece might find its way into a *really* unfortunate
spot. Your call, I would be real tempted to just run it. New r/p are
relatively inexpensive, and then you know the parts are new. The labor may
well be the deciding factor, depending on your access to a reasonably priced
shop. Another D44 should be relatively easy to find, depending on your
location. I could set you up in central CA, for example. Hit the BB
classifieds if you decide to go that route.

Jim