Sunday, July 14, 2013

Ah ha!  Success!

I really had to bear down on that jack handle in the press, though.  And when the hubs separated, they were like gunshots going off!

The funny thing is that that was just a point of pride.  I needed to get either the shafts out or the hub off--either one would allow me to get the brake backing plates, which I need for the 11" brake upgrade.  And the shafts were pulled days ago.  But I couldn't just let it go, either...

Anyway, I've also been pulling the seals on the 25 and 41 axles (the ones off my Jeep, which I will be reinstalling.  I need to order new seals, and decide which (if any) bearings I need to order.  In the meantime, I will be cleaning and prepping those two axles for painting.

Friday, July 12, 2013

The other day, I took the D44 to a mechanic to see if they could pull the shafts and/or hubs.

The shafts came out fairly easily with a slide hammer.  (Need to get one of those!)

The hubs, OTOH, still won't come off.  The mechanics broke their puller (stripped the threads) trying.  (It wasn't one of the heavy duty $375 pullers, though.)

But with the shafts out, I can put them in my 20 ton shop press...  First attempt--no joy.  I probably didn't pull hard enough on the jack handle, though.  Instead, I left the shafts sitting with ATF/Acetone.  Out of the axle tube, I can have them both sitting vertically, so the ATF/Acetone can seep into the joint instead of just dripping away like when the axle was horizontal.  I'll try again this weekend now that they've been soaking for a few days.