CJ7 Dana 30 and Dana 44 Differential Service

Decided to change the gear oil in the, Dana 30 front and Dana 44 rear, differentials.

Procedure:

1. Place floor jack on differential and lift to get wheels just off the ground.
2. Place jack stands just inward of frame/leaf spring pivots.
3. Remove differential cover bolts (leaving the top bolt loosely threaded into bell housing).
4. Gently tap the cover to the left and right to break the seal.  Cover will hang on bolt.
5. Have an oil pan ready.  The gear oil will drop when the seal is broken.
6. Slightly jack up each axle, one at a time to drain the oil into the differential.
7. Clean both faces of housing and cover with acetone.
8. Spray liberal amounts of brake cleaner in the differential and all of it gears.  Spin the tires to rotate the gears.
9. Mop up any debris and cleaner from the bottom of the differential with a towel.  Allow to completely dry.
10. Glue down some 80 grit sandpaper on a flat surface and lap the face of the cover flat.
11. Paint the bell housing face and one side of the gasket (Fel-Pro RDS-55019-Dana 30)(Fel-Pro RDS-6629_Dana 44) with Indian Head Gasket Shellac and apply gasket to housing being careful to align bolt holes.  Press the gasket down flat.
12. Apply the shellac to the exposed side of the gasket and the cover, then place the cover on the housing being careful to align bolt holes.
13. Finger tighten bolts in a criss-cross pattern, then snug them with a torque wrench to 15 ft/lbs., again in a criss cross pattern.
14. Wait overnight and torque them to 20-25 ft/lbs.

Front • Dana 30

Rear • Dana 44
Jacked it up onto a couple of stands, removed the cover, and green slime poured out.  Took four cans of brake clean to clean up the gears.  The cover was rusted outside and part of the inside was pitted.

Wire wheeled the cover and lapped the mounting surface flat, then painted with Dupli-Color Cast Coat Aluminum #DE1650 engine enamel like I did the front cover.  I'll paint the bolts black.  They are currently soaking in Evap-O-Rust.

Cover mounted and filled with gear oil.