I was looking through my shop manual and noticed the exploded diagram for the lock outs on the Big Knuckle Dana 44 looked kind of hairy, lots of snap rings and such. Am I going to have to deal with all this just to check the brake pads? I didn't see a proceedure for just accessing the brakes.
Also, what about lubrication? How is the knuckle lubricated? Do I remove the lower plate to drain it and fill it from the top plate? Kinda sketchy on that also.
Brakes & Maintenance on a Big Knuckle Dana 44?
Re: Brakes & Maintenance on a Big Knuckle Dana 44?
Remove the lock-out assembly from the hub first. Younfury8 wrote:I was looking through my shop manual and noticed the exploded diagram for the lock outs on the Big Knuckle Dana 44 looked kind of hairy, lots of snap rings and such. Am I going to have to deal with all this just to check the brake pads? I didn't see a proceedure for just accessing the brakes.
Also, what about lubrication? How is the knuckle lubricated? Do I remove the lower plate to drain it and fill it from the top plate? Kinda sketchy on that also.
will then remove the two 2 3/8"[?] nuts with tabbed
lock washer in between them and then the hub/drum
should slide off. You might have to lightly wrap on
the drum with a mallet. Unless you're going to take
apart your lock-outs, I'd just clean them up a bit
as they do get sludged up which will cause them to
be difficult to lock/unlock. I'd also suggest putting
new axle seals on the back of your hub/drum assembly
since you have them off of the truck. Seals run
about $12/ea.. Be sure to clean off the bearings and
repack them before putting everything back together.
You should replace the tabbed lock washer that goes
between the 2 3/8" nuts. Don't re-bend any previously
bent tabs as they may break off and wind up in the
wheel bearings.
I believe the recommended lubricant for the knuckles
is 140w oil. I didn't have to drain mine as I bought
new [large] knuckle seals. You'll probably find a
lot of sludge in the knuckles.... sometimes people
will shoot grease into this area when the knuckle
seals begin to fail and leak the 140w oil that should
be in there.... both knuckles on my '68 W200 were
jammed with grease & sludge.... but everything is as
it should be now. If you need the knuckle seals,
Dave Cirillo can help you out.... he goes by "DC"
on this site
This knuckle seal is held onby the "C" shaped plates. Once they begin to leak,
they're shot.
John
PS.... there are NPT plugs on the knuckles to use
when filling them.... scrape all the crud off the
knuckles and you'll find them. They come off with a
3/8" drive ratchet [no socket req'd]
