I have a 2001 Ram 2500. Cummins 5.9 turbo diesel. It has a Dana 60 Front axle. My axle seals started to leak so i am attempting to replace them however i am running into problems taking the axle apart. I have removed all of the wheel hardware... the wheels, calipers, caliper mounts, wheel bearing, as well as the axles and differential cover and gear oil. I have removed the 4 wheel drive actuator and this is where i run into the problem. Once i removed the actuator there is the midshaft that goes from the actuator into the diff. The ring gear that locks the midshaft and outer axle together will not come out. It is loose and i am able to almost get it out but it gets hung up on the end of the midshaft and axle housing. I need this out to remove the diff. Any ideas or info? Im stumped and quite frankly very frustrated. Thanks lots!

 

on my dana 44, you slide the passenger side out axle half outwards about 6 inches, then slide the inner half (mid-shaft) outwards about 6 inches.

then the differential assembly should come out.

no?

 

Yea the problem is that the ring gear that sits on the midshaft is bigger then the axle tube and the splines on the shaft only range about 2-3 inchs. there isnt enough room to move the axle and midshaft far enough to get the diff out. i watched a couple videos online and it looks like once you take the outer axle out you are supposed to be able to slide the gear right off the midshaft and out the opening from the actuator.

 

i'm confused by "ring gear on the midshaft". my d44 axle had splines on each end. the inner half simply slide into (and out of) the side gears in the differential assembly. the outer half was splined for the CAD collar.

if you slide the outer half all the way out of the cad opening.
remove the collar and note which side has the chamfer,
then the inner half should slide all the way to the outer edge of the cad opening.
on my d44, the seal stopped it from sliding any further out.

when you say the ring gear on the mid-shaft, are you referring to the side gears. they should say in the diff assembly, in the carrier as part of the spider gear assembly. i think, but mine's not a dana 60 so i may not know...

 

I was referring to the CAD collar as the ring gear i suppose. i wasnt sure if everyone would know what the CAD collar was. So my problem is that i cant get the CAD collar to come out of the opening for the actuator. The video i watched for the dana 60 axle showed that the CAD collar was supposed to be removed. I cant get that inner axle to slide far enough to the passenger side. It gets caught on the seal and just isnt quite far enough to allow the gear assembly to come out.

 

I can get the CAD collar to come off the splines but when i try to remove it, it gets caught on the end of the spindle and jams between the spindle and where the outer axle tube joins with the CAD opening

 

its a tight squeeze.

with the outer axle completely out of the cad opening,
and the inner axle pushed all the way in...
the cad collar should slide off the end of the inner axle,
and with just the right amount of wiggling, rocking, and twisting, it should come out of the hole.

 

i guess ill have to try some more. ive been messing around with it for a while and just cant seem to get it. Thanks much for your help. atleast i know im on the right track!

 

i just re-read your first post... if you plan to replace the axle seals, you could go ahead and remove the passenger side seal in order to slide the axle out farther.

and if you are replacing one, you might as well do them both. use a good National brand or SFK/napa seal, not a damn timkin.

when reinstalling axles, treat the seals like glass.