I ordered a Spartan today. It should be here next week.

I was trying to find a good writeup for what all I need to do to get my carrier out. Most lockker instructions just say "pull your carrier out". I assume that means I have to disassemble both sides and pull my axle shafts out far enough to free the carrier.

What I have so far for removing the locking hubs

1) Remove 6 bolts holding locking hub in place
2) Loosen and remove hub
3) Remove lock ring around the outer edge of the the hub
4) Some steps vary depending on the type of hub, mine is the original Ford hub (72ish) remove any washers or other parts
5) Remove the lockring on the shaft itself
6) Using 2 of the bolts removed in step 1 re-inserted, remove the gears & the spring behind it
7) Using axle nut socket, loosen and remove locking axle nut
8) Remove locking washer (with evenly spaced holes)
9) Using axle nut socket, loosen and remove axle nut

I also need to remove the drum brakes and backing plate.

Once that's all out of the way, do I just pull the axle shaft barely far enough to disengage? Or should I change seals, bearings, etc?

Yep, just pull the axles out. It's a good time to replace the inner seals because you would have to pull all that stuff out to do it. Outer bearings and seals can be done easily anytime.

Sounds like a good procedure. Just play close attention to the order in which things come out and put them back in that way. There is a little stud of the inner axle nut that needs to line up with the washer that goes on top of it. Upon reassembly, you may need to loosen or tighten this nut to get that stud to align with one of the holes in the washer. You DON'T crank this nut down...you just snug it down to get the right amount of drag.

As Viper said, replacing the seals on a D44 requires pulling the carrier out, so you might as well do it now. When reinstalling the axle shafts, be very careful when pushing the shaft back thru your seal. You can damage it pretty easily.

Another piece of advice is to mark which carrier bearing retainer goes to what side. Those need to stay the same with the same end at the top.

Diagram:
http://broncograveyard.com/dia/6/d44diaaxle.jpg

So are these the 3 things I should replace on each side?

I would add the outer wheel bearings and the the hub seals (already circled with the inner wheel bearings, just doesn't show up well) to that list. Also, while you've got it apart, check your ball joints. It'd be an easy time to replace them if you've got a bad one.

I'm having trouble trying to pull my front hubs. I removed the cover & knob, the 2 lock rings, and the actuating mechanism.

But I can't get the clutch to come off. It's part# 1A028 in the diagram

Here is a video showing my trouble.

I'm having the same trouble on both passenger and driver's sides.

I got them both off by filing down a ridge on the splines, then hitting the axle with a rubber mallet (and Newton's laws of motion) to get them to come off.

Next problem, getting the spindle off of the knuckle. It's stuck tight. I've been whacking it with a rubber mallet, but no movement yet. Just soaked it with PB Blaster and letting it sit for a bit.

Spindles off and axles hanging out a bit. Now it's time to pull the carrier. I'm not sure how much more I'll get done tonight though, I'm not that young idiot that used to stay up all night writing programs, finishing a video game, woodworking, reading a book, or any number of other things I used to do. I'm old and get tired.

I tried a bunch of ways to pull the carrier. Various pry bars, but being under the bronco never gave me a long enough lever to swing. Either the floor was in the way, the tie rod, or the motor. I could see where a specially built, perfect measurement pry bar might work, but I didn't have that, I just had what was hanging around my house.

I also tried the rag in the gears trick. You feed a rag beneath the ring gear while turning it and let it get caught between the ring and pinion. Then you either put a wrench on the ring gear bolt and start tightening. I didn't like that because I could feel the bolt actually tighten a bit and I SURE didn't want to warp my ring gear. Or you put something in the U joint of the drive shaft and twist which will continue sucking the rag in and thus forcing the carrier out. Again, it was hard to get something the right width and length to do much good, but I did actually feel the passenger side of the carrier start to move.

One guy even said he just put the truck in gear and popped the clutch to get the carrier out with a rag. I wasn't about to try that.

I had read about 20 different posts, all with different ways. Pry bars, Rag, Chains and come-a-longs, case spreaders.

I finally decided to make up my own way. One I was comfortable with.

1) Grab some 2" square tubing, about 3 foot long that I got from Dan last year.

2) Grab about 8' of nylon cord, about 1/4 diameter.

3) Feed the nylon cord behind the carrier just inside the driver's side bearing. Loop it back through 4 times and tie with a bowline. This gave me a very strong loop that wouldn't mar the carrier like a chain or cable might. I think 4 loops was overkill, but I didn't want too much stretching.

4) Pass that long ass pry bar through the loop and rest the end against the axle right by the knuckle. This gave me about a 5 to 1 leverage, but more importantly, lots of room to swing the lever directly in line with the direction the carrier needed to move. I could have even braced my foot against the D44 and pulled to put masses of force on that sucker. But it took only a moderate pull and it moved.

5) I switched to the passenger side (but only used a single loop and a trucker's knot).

6) I went back and forth a bit only moving it 1/2" or so at a time, mostly because I didn't want to damage the ends or bearings

7) Pulled the carrier out the last bit by hand. Rotated it clockwise 90 degrees to get past the steering bar (wish I knew all the proper names for things).

Here's what I found for torque specs on classicbroncos.com

From the JBG catalog.
D44 Differential Bearing Cap Bolts 70-90
D44 Ring Gear Attaching Bolts 40-65
Cover to housing bolts 30-40
pinion shaft nut 175-225

Clay, I think I recall you saying you ended up with a Spartan, is that true?

I think I am due for a replacement for my lock-right, so I am doing some research. Randy's R&P said the Spartan has a little more tooth contact than a lock-right, but when I read the description, it said for 32" size tires and smaller. :YIKES: Been really happy with my lock-right. It's done fine by me for years, so if the Spartan is nearly the same, maybe I'll have the same luck?

J.D.

Yes, I did a spartan. But since I'm only running 30" tires I didn't care about any warnings on tire size.