Flanged Dana 44 With Odd Brake Backing Plate - Acts As Retainer Also

Years ago I removed a flanged axle Dana 44 rear from '74 CJ-5. The 11" brake backing plate is between the hub and bearing. (the bearing would have to be pressed off, in order to remove the brake backing plate) There is no separate retainer plate, this brake plate acts also as retainer.

All the '71-'75 Dana 44's photos and info I have found seems to indicate that there is normally a separate plate, and that the brake plate can be removed without pressing off the bearing

My brake backing plate "pinches" the bearing against the axle housing, as shown in my sketch below. The plate also supports a seal.



The reason this has come up for me, is that I am tried to convert to disc brakes, and not sure how to hold the bearing and seal, once I remove the backing plate on this oddball axle.

 

I'm fairly sure you're looking for adapter plates like these.


Here's an installed view:


Regardless, there are plenty of these conversion kits available. Study those and you should be able to move forward.
There's a parts photo and short video at Summit:
Summit Racing SUM-BK1629 Summit Racing™ Rear Drum-to-Disc Brake Conversion Kits | Summit Racing

 

Thanks for reply! I actually already have the conversion kit, but the problem is that with a flat plate like shown above (and in the one I have) -> the bearing (and axle shaft) would be allowed to slop in and out about 1/8" . . . that is visible in the sketch I provided above, inside that red circle.

The brake backing plate on my axle has a curved lip, that goes about 1/8" into the axle housing tube, to pinch the bearing tight.

The more I come across, the more it seems I have some kind of odd-ball version of the 30 spline flanged axle Dana 44.

 

My D44 is a 30 spline flanged used 1970-71 and I sure don't remember anything like the backing plate holding the bearing in. In fact I sure of it because to have the setup your showing I would have had to have the Backing plate on the axle when I had the bearings pressed on and I know that was not the case. The bearing passed through the backing plate.

My axle is setup as in this diagram with part #23 being the bearing retainer. The backing plate would allow the bearing to pass through it. So you would put the backing plate on then slide the axle in bolting the bearing retainer plate on the outside of the backing plate

https://www.crownauto.es/en/catalog/jeep/35/sj-grand-wagoneer/157/axles/diagram/1284/

 

You confirm what I seem to be finding . . . that in this series of Dana 44's, the brake backing plate should come out, without removing bearing. I wonder where my odd-ball axle came from?

In this setup, what keeps the bearing tight against the axle tube? Maybe the retainer plate (23) pushes into the seal (22), which pushes against the bearing (21)?

edit: oh wait, does that retainer (23) have the curved lip that presses directly against the bearing? Looks like it does. I need to find a more detailed photo.



Does anyone know where to find a cross-section view of a normal '71-'75 axle? (similar to my sketch) I could not find one.

 

I found some photos of Bearing Retainers for these axles, some have lips, some don't. All of them I found had 4 bolt holes. Mine has 6 holes. This might be a clue to where my axle came from. I looked at Broncos and IH Scouts from similar years, but the ones I looked at all have 4 bolts. The mystery continues.

 

that's how I remember 10 bolts.
Hole in the flange because you can't get to the backing plate bolts, and the bolts have to come out to get the shaft out.

Are you thinking it should be a c-clip axle?

 

Post pictures of what you have.
We can guess all day long.

 

The number of bolts that I am referring to are in the end of axle tube:







Not all the holes are visible below, but there are 6 of them. This photo also shows the lip that I have been referring to.



Do these photos help, or are there others I should take?

 

I have a 75 rear Dana 44, and when I pulled the axles, the backing plate was left hanging on the axle housing, and the Axle, bearing retaining plate, seal, bearing, and lock ring all came out, as a unit.

Conversely on the AMC Model 20 axle housing, the backing plate has to come out with the axle shaft, and the bearing has to be cut off to remove the backing plate.

BTW my bearing retaining plate is the flat kind, but the kind you mentioned is also out there.

 

Maybe it's an illusion, I keep thinking I'm looking at the retainer in that pic. My gut tells me someone assembled things in the wrong order, the retainer is rust welded to the backing plate. The retainer should be on the opposite side of the backing plate.
Found a pic of mine.

 

Thanks for photo. I think this is more proof that mine is odd-ball. If my brake backing plate was to the right of bearing in your photo, I would be screwed, because the ID of brake plate would be too small to slide left of bearing.

In my axle, the brake plate and the bearing retaining plate are all one piece.



Ie. the two pieces are not rusted together, they are definitely one piece of steel . . . and the seal is pressing into the backing plate, not floating like in your photo.

 

Do these photos help, or are there others I should take?

any of the other side of the backing plate?

 

I'm totally uninformed on this subject, and not clear on the question.

But - wondering if your axle bearing is the key. Is it a different depth than "normal" to require the turned in retainer? Would a bearing swap eliminate the issue?

 

Every flanged D44 that I have taken apart has a retainer plate and the backing plate can be removed without removing the bearing from the shaft.

 

x2, and not saying they don't exist but I never seen one with a 6 bolt flange either. Probably a dumb idea, I don't now if it is even possible but could this be a two piece axle housing(that had a 6 bolt flange) with some sort of flanged axle conversion kit installed, never heard of such a conversion but you never know what JC Whitney might of came up with. On the other hand I never heard of a retaining ring with a lip on it either.

 

I checked a centered Scout 44 I have in the barn. Same as my 71 flanged ( backing plates a little different) If you are converting to disc just cut around that thick flange and use it as your retainer. Chuck the rest of the backing plate. A retainer would be easy enough to fab also.

 

Those are 11" backing plates with parking brakes. You will make money selling them and getting a new bearing even if you need to pay a bit for the bearings to be pressed on and off.

 

Thanks guys for all the help!!

Not sure what my question is either. haha Basically I was just trying to figure out how to secure the bearing in my setup, (after removing brake backing plate) which seems different than any other I could find.

The counter bore on my axle is approx .95" What is this depth on a normal 1-piece flanged axle?

That seems to be the consensus

This axle came out of a '74 CJ-5, but who know what mods a previous PO had done.

That is what I ended up doing.

My first thought in all this was to cut out the centers, but knew that 11" backing plates are getting hard to find, and did not want to mess up a good set. I cringed when I first started cutting, but want to start moving forward with this project. My Jeep is clogging up the garage. haha

I actually considered maybe get new stronger axle shafts, and building all new to the common setup, but could not find shafts in stock anywhere.

 

Dutchman or Moser will make you anything you want. I've found Dutchman to be really prompt with delivery and you can get a lot stronger axle than stock.