D27 Power Lock/axle Issue..

Still working on this ^$#(& thing. The left side axle shaft went in fine. Bolted the spindle and backing plate down. The right side axle needs to go in like another 1/4" and won't go.

2 piece cross shafts with the pin that holds them together. Could the cross shafts be misaligned? It sort of looks like the shafts aren't touching each other at the center where the pin goes through. But not 1/4" apart.

I'm totally lost and totally disgusted with this whole front axle project. I'll never do this again. I want to go break something if I haven't already.

Nick....how about I buy you a round trip ticket or send this thing to you?

PLEASE don't tell me I have to take it all apart again. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

 

Did you make sure the splines were lined up in the Power Lock when you installed it. I did exactly the same thing. Once I aligned them the axles slipped right in.

 

Yes. The splines were aligned at assembly with cut off axle shaft stubs inserted into the case.

 

Got a burr on your axle shaft?

 

Do you have the thrust buttons the axles push against on that application? Could one have come out of place? Sometimes, the roll pin that holds them together isn't tight and they can slip.
-Donny

 

25/27/30 front Powerlocks don't use the thrust button. If it's in their in a front axle application it causes problems like Wheelie is experiencing. Tapered axle rear applications do use the thrust buttons so you can set axle shaft/bearing endplay.

 

Thrust button? I don't know. The cross shafts that hold the 4 spiders........it's a 2 piece design that is held together by two button type things with a roll pin holding them together. not sure I'd call it a thrust button but, what do i know.

I'll put a picture up.

I made and used stub shafts for the assembly process. Maybe I goofed that up and still failed to have everything lined up correctly.

Might have to enlarge these to see what I'm talking about but,....

In this picture, you can see the cross shafts, assembled, with the button type thing holding the two pieces together.

The buttons and roll pin.

At the top of the picture, to the left of the spray can, you can see the broken cross shafts from the first Power Lock unit I bought. You can see half of the hole at the center where the button goes through the cross shaft.

 

Your last photo shows the thrust buttons. As I have never done a front PowerLok, I wasn't sure if they were used. I defer to Nick's response where he states they are not used in front with the 25,27, and 30.
-Donny

 

Yea. i don't know. Maybe the power lock was from a Scout rear axle or something.

I thought I had pictures of all this stuff in one of my threads about working on the power lock. I don't know. This god forsaken thing has been the bane of my existence since I started with it. Should have left well enough alone.

So, after work I stuck a flash light in the axle tube along with a brazing rod that had a thin piece of metal taped to it. With it, I can feel that the splines are not lined up.

 

No buttons used in front as mentioned.
Yank it out.
Insert stub shafts both sides.
Hit shafts with deadblow hammer on all sides till shafts slide in and out easily.
Loosen and retighten case halve bolts if you have to accomplish this.

 

Just got off the horn with Nick. The thrust buttons (yea, that's what they are, I was wrong......again) should not be used in a front axle installation.

So, I'm a gonna try to get them out of there with maybe a magnet ( the one seemed loose anyway). If I get lucky and they come out, I'll try to get the shafts back in. If the right side still doesn't go in, then I'll have to take everything back apart.....again....and get the splines properly lined up.

Thanks for the input so far gang. I'll let you know how things go. Nick has talked me out of throwing the whole works into the river and, instead, sticking with it and seeing it through.

I know I'm whining about this thing but, for those of you who have seen the movie "Cool Hand Luke,"...............the part where they make Luke dig the hole and fill it in, and dig it out and fill it back in.........and he says something like 'Don't beat me no more Boss."..........well, that's how this has made me feel. Totally beaten and broken. But, i shall carry on.

 

Yup. Thanks John. Glad I got the bigger bottle of Lock-Tite. I may be doing it all over again. Oh well. Live and learn. Always the hard way but, so it is.

 

Somehow this comes to mind ...

you gotta have heart - Bing video

 

Yeah I agree, You must take the 2 thrust buttons and the spring pin out.
Perhaps you won't need to remove the carrier cover.
Try making a really long drift pin thats about 1/8" diameter at the tip.

 

Thanks Tim.

 

Got the thrust buttons out through the axle tubes. Stuck a punch into a 1/4 drive socket with an extension and tapped the roll pin out far enough to separate the 2 halves. Stuck a magnet into each axle tube to retrieve the buttons.

Then I tried to stick the right side axle in. Still no luck so, the misaligned splines are definitely the cause. Case will come out for realignment of the splines. Oh well.

 

With all the practice your having with this powerlock I'll know who to call when I go to do mine. Your bad luck has been scaring me more and more away from it.

 

I did the exact same thing when I installed mine. I had both hubs on and ended up tearing it all apart to get it corrected.

 

Geoffery, finding good used parts is the first thing. If you have or can find them, you're half way there. It's not so bad. I, personally, have run into some type of problem or another, at each and every step of this Dana 27 rebuild process. Some have been totally on me. Some is on parts availability and my having to have either good used or NOS parts. No Omix crap for me. Some has been on the schedule of others who did the work I could not. It's just been one thing or another the whole way through. Plus, the frustration of failure or whatever really gets to me.

I'll offer whatever guidance I can when you do yours. Others here are far more qualified and knowledgable than I, however. First thing is.... don't be looking for a house and thinking about putting yours on the market when you rip the front axle out of your JEEP in a garage that is too small and doesn't have your big vise set up in it.

Really....if I wasn't stuck on keeping the tires inside the body line (don't want flares and PA law stuff), the Dana 30 swap would be the sensible to do. Stronger axle and easier to get parts for, by a mile.

 

I ran into a situation years ago with the Dana 27 in the front of my Dad's M38 where I broke the long shaft IIRC.. Could have been the short shaft. We got a used Dana 27 shaft from a local parts guy and it was 1/2-1" too long. Turned out it was a commando shaft I think and was slightly longer. Mind you this was well over 15 yrs ago so the memory is spotty at this point....