Several months ago I did the sas dana 44 on my 92 F150 and just now getting around to installing 4.56 gears.
On these D44 the pinion depth is shimmed behind the inner pinion bearing.
I was wondering how do i remove the oil slinger and shims with out damage if I need to re-shim the pinion bearing?
This is my first gear install and have all the proper tools minus the housing spreader but i can work around that, so any pros wish to chime in I'm all ears.

 

You buy an extra inner pinion bearing and make a setup bearing out of it by grinding the inside out so it will slide on and off the pinion easily so you can change your shims, then when you get it right you press the good bearing on, it is also a good idea to do that with the carrier bearings since the Dana 44 uses inboard carrier shims.

 

I have the carrier setup bearings already.
My issue that I'm trying to avoid is, if I have to remove the inner pinion race(pinion depth shims go between it and the housing)how to remove the race without damaging the oil slinger and shims.

I wonder if i made a setup race that i can pop out easy so it wont damage the shims. The kit I ordered only has so many shims.

 

You can usually use a hammer and a brass punch and not damage anything.

 

I may try to find some longer brass punches.
What I have now are only 3-4 inches long not long enough to tap out the inner race.

 

I have a ~15" brass drift I bought from Jeff's Bronco Graveyard years ago. It's very handy for driving bearing races.
I'm not familiar with the d44 diff design, so I'm no help on the other questions.

 

Like mentioned fab up a set up bearing, it'll make things much easier.

 

When I ordered all my parts from JBG I seen that punch, now I'm kicking myself for not ordering it.
Checked the local stores couldn't find any long brass punches.

 

I think I'll just sand down the OD of the inner pinion race so i can remove it if need be.
Anybody know if you can shim behind the pinion head as compared to the race?