A few lesson I learned rebuilding my
Dana 300 .
REBUILD GUIDES:
No one rebuild guide is the key, I used a combination of three. The AutoZone guide available free online, the Moses Ludel Jeep Rebuilder’s Guide and the guide that came with my kit from Novak. There were little tricks in each that once I got to a sticking point one or the other would clarify with a picture or explanation.
The Jeep Rebuilder’s guide goes into great detail about the sealants and lubricants so I recommend using this and purchasing them before starting the reassembly to that they are all on hand.
END PLAY:
None of the guides allude to this, but it just makes sense to check end-play on the output shafts prior to sealing the bearing caps. The guides just tell you to apply the gasket or sealant and torque down the bolts and yokes and check end-play. Makes it kind of hard to re-adjust if the cap is already sealed. I did notice however, that in each case where I needed to used shims, the original number that came out was where I needed up.
A HUGE lesson learned; I didn’t have one of the bearing races driven in all the way and couldn’t get the end-play (in fact I got NO end play) on the rear output shaft once I put the cap on. I took me forever to figure this out, so don’t be dumb like me and make sure your races are all the way home. Another helpful tip for the rear output was I took the old conical roller bearing and honed out the center with a dremel tool so I could easily slide it on an off while setting the endplay. Once set, I then put the bearing cap on and drove the new bearing on.
SHIFT RAILS:
Again, the rebuild guides are not aligned here, but I found I needed to have the front bearing cap off and locked in a vise to allow access to the back end of the shift rail openings with a flat tip screwdriver to hold the poppet ball and spring down with sliding the shift rail into place. I found with as tight as the new springs were there would have been no way to do this with the cap installed. Someone on this forum was kind enough to send me this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8Imuc37mAw (notice the dude has a finger lopped off).
I also had a hell of a time getting the front shift rail in and then couldn’t get it back out. Once I did, I noticed a small blemish on the end of the shaft. I sanded and polished it down, but word to the wise, check, any blemish with cause trouble getting this thing back in.
Hope this helps!
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