D44 axleshaft ??
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Senior User
Joined: Mar 2009
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From: Washington County, Penna
D44 axleshaft ??
ok guys im doing the balljoints on my 89 f250 4wd D44 IFS.. balljoints arent the issue.. i discovered that the u joint on the drivers side axleshaft was shot, so im replacing all 3 of them. well dirvers side went smooth.. passenger side i just tore down and i got the knuckle ready to swap balljoints and i got the outer portion of the axleshaft out waiting to do the 1 u joint... problem i am having is how do yo uremove the inner half that goes into the front diff itself.. there is no way you are supposed to change the u joint in that tight area... hopefully someone can help
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Senior User
Joined: Mar 2009
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From: Washington County, Penna
well hell... there has got to be a way of changong that u joint without tearing the whole front diff apart... hmm.... why would ford make 1 side simple and the other side you have to tear apart the whole front end.. i appreciate the bad news Lazy K, but i hope someone will chime in with them saying of another way that they know to do it with it in the truck if im lucky
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 1,716
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The driver's side shaft goes to the driver's side wheel assembly, which is on the SAME traction beam. So that side's shaft stays the same length no matter how far up/down the driver's side wheel travels.
But on the passenger side, it's different. The diff is integral with the driver's side traction beam. The passenger's side shaft comes out of the diff, through the U-joint, then goes to the passenger's side wheel, which is on the passenger's side traction beam. So when the passenger's side wheel goes up/down, the effective shaft length needs to change. It does that via the splined slip-joint in the passenger's side shaft.
The passenger's side stub shaft is restrained in the diff so the change in effective shaft length occurs at the splined slip-joint, rather than trying to yank the stub shaft out of the diff and ramming it back in again each time wheels go up or down.
Elder User
Joined: Nov 2006
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From: Texas
There are some people that claim that it can be done without removing the pumpkin. It would require a c clamp that is big enough to fit around the u-joint but small enough to fit between the arms.
I had a terrible time doing mine. I ended up bending a couple yokes, they were so rusted a 50-ton press wasn't budging them. It was terrifying. I was waiting for something to give and it shoot a socket out and cause some serious injury. I ended up using alot of PB blaster and a huge shop hammer. which bent one of the yokes.
If you do remove the pumpkin, i would suggest taking some bolts that fit into the holes on the gasket surface of the pumpkin and cutting the head off to make guide pins. It is no fun to try to hold the pumpkin up to the arm and get a bolt started.
Good luck
I had a terrible time doing mine. I ended up bending a couple yokes, they were so rusted a 50-ton press wasn't budging them. It was terrifying. I was waiting for something to give and it shoot a socket out and cause some serious injury. I ended up using alot of PB blaster and a huge shop hammer. which bent one of the yokes.
If you do remove the pumpkin, i would suggest taking some bolts that fit into the holes on the gasket surface of the pumpkin and cutting the head off to make guide pins. It is no fun to try to hold the pumpkin up to the arm and get a bolt started.
Good luck
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From: Washington County, Penna
Torky2.. that does make sense in the point of thinking about it.. i was just irritated as all &%*# yesterday when i found out what i had to fight with..
BUT on the bright side i did the technique that fordman spoke of... and yes it was a pain in the rear.. would it have been quicker just to have done it properly... maybe... but the way i am it woulda cost me more money... i woulda seen the gears and all and decided i need to replace em beings that i have it torn apart ( impulse buyer here lol ) but it is feesable to do the stubby shaft u joint with it still on the truck... and what i used was a everyday balljoint press with no adapters... just the clamp peice.. worked really nice, the opening on the other end is just slightly bigger than the u joint caps so it kept it nicely centered/ spread the pressure nicely
BUT on the bright side i did the technique that fordman spoke of... and yes it was a pain in the rear.. would it have been quicker just to have done it properly... maybe... but the way i am it woulda cost me more money... i woulda seen the gears and all and decided i need to replace em beings that i have it torn apart ( impulse buyer here lol ) but it is feesable to do the stubby shaft u joint with it still on the truck... and what i used was a everyday balljoint press with no adapters... just the clamp peice.. worked really nice, the opening on the other end is just slightly bigger than the u joint caps so it kept it nicely centered/ spread the pressure nicely
Elder User
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 690
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From: Madison Ohio
Torky2.. that does make sense in the point of thinking about it.. i was just irritated as all &%*# yesterday when i found out what i had to fight with..
BUT on the bright side i did the technique that fordman spoke of... and yes it was a pain in the rear.. would it have been quicker just to have done it properly... maybe... but the way i am it woulda cost me more money... i woulda seen the gears and all and decided i need to replace em beings that i have it torn apart ( impulse buyer here lol ) but it is feesable to do the stubby shaft u joint with it still on the truck... and what i used was a everyday balljoint press with no adapters... just the clamp peice.. worked really nice, the opening on the other end is just slightly bigger than the u joint caps so it kept it nicely centered/ spread the pressure nicely
BUT on the bright side i did the technique that fordman spoke of... and yes it was a pain in the rear.. would it have been quicker just to have done it properly... maybe... but the way i am it woulda cost me more money... i woulda seen the gears and all and decided i need to replace em beings that i have it torn apart ( impulse buyer here lol ) but it is feesable to do the stubby shaft u joint with it still on the truck... and what i used was a everyday balljoint press with no adapters... just the clamp peice.. worked really nice, the opening on the other end is just slightly bigger than the u joint caps so it kept it nicely centered/ spread the pressure nicely
