Dana 44 case material specification
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Joined: Jun 2003
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From: Salt Lake Utah
Dana 44 case material specification
Does anyone know what alloy a Dana 44 case is made of? I need to repair mine (spun a pinion bearing race) I plan to heat treat it after the welding is done, and the heat treating shop won't do it unless they know what the material is.
Thanks!!
Thanks!!
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 2,765
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Get a new replacement Dana 44 case.
You will never rebore the ID correct unless you have a WATON Honizontal boring machine & good machinist to do the job for you.
A friend of mine is a Master Machinist since 1985.
That WATON hornizontal boring machine is what he operates daily in a machine shop in my home area.
I see no other way you can get the job done correct otherwise.
I used to work in the same machine shop as my friend.
How I know my way around all automotive & industrial machining operations.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 6,475
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From: Clearwater Florida
Almost all aluminum castings use 356 alloy ... if you are near a smelting operation they can assay it for you ... check to see how much of a sample they need ... you'd probably be better off $$$ buying another diff to get another housing anyway ... the Dana 44 housings are fairly flexible and additional machining might take things to the distortion zone pretty quickly .....
Thread Starter
Advanced
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 66
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From: Salt Lake Utah
Almost all aluminum castings use 356 alloy ... if you are near a smelting operation they can assay it for you ... check to see how much of a sample they need ... you'd probably be better off $$$ buying another diff to get another housing anyway ... the Dana 44 housings are fairly flexible and additional machining might take things to the distortion zone pretty quickly .....
I learned a few things working on it - thank you for your perspectives!
Pro
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 635
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I was told by Toms that when you spin a pinion bearing race like that it's better to get a new case than try to fix the old case and rebuild it.He said it was common for this to happen and He's had them go bad quite often again if you repair them and rebuild them like this. so much so that he prefers to start with a new case to begin with. I'd look into Newmans car creations Dana 44 H.D. case by the time you spent money fixing the broken old case it wouldn't be too much more for a much thicker heavy duty new case.Besides I believe the Newmans case also fixes the common problem of bearing retaining straps breaking. They use better billet bearing straps and arp studs instead of bolts for hold down.
Last edited by turbotim23; Jun 24, 2011 at 02:14 PM.
Thread Starter
Advanced
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 66
Likes: 0
From: Salt Lake Utah
I was told by Toms that when you spin a pinion bearing race like that it's better to get a new case than try to fix the old case and rebuild it.He said it was common for this to happen and He's had them go bad quite often again if you repair them and rebuild them like this. so much so that he prefers to start with a new case to begin with. I'd look into Newmans car creations Dana 44 H.D. case by the time you spent money fixing the broken old case it wouldn't be too much more for a much thicker heavy duty new case.Besides I believe the Newmans case also fixes the common problem of bearing retaining straps breaking. They use better billet bearing straps and arp studs instead of bolts for hold down.
Newman's piece is very nice - and well worth the cost. Thanks for the heads up - I was not aware of that option.
