Dana 27 axle help

I'm trying to get the axles out of this Dana 27 housing.  The drums are frozen onto the shafts, but if I get the axles out with the drums attached, I can put them into a press.  We broke the last drums using lots of heat, a big puller and a huge air hammer.  I can't afford to break these drums, as I've searched the country to get these.  

The spider gears don't have a bolt holding a pin like GM axles do.  Instead of a bolt, it appears to be a roll pin, and the big gear would need to be removed to press it out.  I've ground of the heads off the four bolts that hold the bearing flange onto the housing, but the axle still won't slide out. 

Any advice?  

The drum/backing plate assembly is loose and spins, so that part is free.  I'm afraid to yank too hard on the axle, but maybe that is what I need to do.  

In reply to Kramer :

What are the castle nut on the end of the axle retaining? The drum, or the entire hub?

If it were mine, I’d either try reverse electrolysis, or Evaporust, sticking each drum/hub down into a bucket one at a time. 

What is the application? I've never worked on 2 piece shaft Danas before, but I can't recall any of the early Danas having c-clips to retain the axleshafts.  I've always used my brake drrum reversed on the studs to pull the shafts on my D44, so you probably will need a slide hammer to remove your shafts.  

The castle nut only holds the drum.  Here's a pic of the other identical axle I have.  I'm trying to pull the drum and axle shaft as one, in order to put it in a press to remove the drum.  I've already removed the bolt heads on the opposite side of the drum, and the brake assembly is loose from the axle flange, but it only slides about 1/8" before meeting resistance.  

I assume a slide hammer on the studs will pull it out, but I don't want to break anything.  These drums are very hard to find, and I may have a buyer for the housing if I don't break anything. 

Broken drum, from pulling on the studs...  Three years of calling and searching the internet, so I want to be careful with what I have!  If anyone Google's Westcoaster Mailster and finds this post, I do have these drums drawn up in CAD, but they're gonna be expensive to machine (and I know a guy, but still cost-prohibitive). 

Cooter said:

What is the application? I've never worked on 2 piece shaft Danas before, but I can't recall any of the early Danas having c-clips to retain the axleshafts.  I've always used my brake drrum reversed on the studs to pull the shafts on my D44, so you probably will need a slide hammer to remove your shafts.  

Late 1950's Westcoaster Mailster.  Not a Cushman.  

I also think a slide hammer is what I need.  Thanks for the advice .  

I doubt they used a roll pin , you have no way to drive it out. likely the head is broken off, you will have to get the pin out,so the axles can be moved inward to remove the retainers that you don't see. 

GTXVette said:

I doubt they used a roll pin , you have no way to drive it out. likely the head is broken off, you will have to get the pin out,so the axles can be moved inward to remove the retainers that you don't see. 

This is why I was posting . Dana 30 and 44 axles don't use C clips, so I doubt this one does.  I was hoping someone knew if axles held on by bearing flanges definitely don't have c clips . I don't know, maybe they're in there.  I don't want to wreck the axle to find out . 

The pin doesn't go between the axle shafts like in a GM axle.  Rather, there is another piece between the spiders. I'll keep Google searching for a breakdown of a Dana axle to see how this works.  I appreciate all the advice.  

the retainers may be behind the spiders, I can see the broken end in the cross shaft pin, it is a screw in and the head is broken off. drill it out or poss. get lucky with a reverse flute Drill. once that screw  is out pull the pin and look behind the spiders , the other one is a slider for the spiders to ride on.

  I JUST LOOKED AT A DOZEN PICS, it looks like the pin is not a screw in. is that carrier the same as the old one.  in all i saw there is a snap ring on one end of an axle but i can't see a groove in the axle on either end in these pics.  but if there is not a pressed on bearing on the outer end of the axles to be held in place by a flange retainer, it must be on the inner end and a snap ring or some kind of C-clip. I can't see them letting an axle slide back and forth in the housing. the cross pin keeps the axle from coming in any farther there must be something keeping them in place. 

maybe someone hammered the retainer pin into the cross shaft there on the carrier.

The axle bearing is probably a gentle press fit in the housing.  

There is a special puller that gets the hub/drum off the shaft.  

There is no axle retainer clip in the middle of the diff.

The axle drum assembly should come out with the four bolts out of the backing plate.  Big dead blow hammer should do it.

if you look closely at the base of the lug bolts on the outside of the drum, I think you'll find they are swaged over to retain the drum on the hub. a lot of Chrysler and jeep dana axles were built that way. 

If you press the studs out of the hubs and drums without grinding or milling the swaged part of the stud away you will make the stud hole oversize, rendering it useless.

there should not be any C-clips on the inside end of the axle, use a slide hammer and gently pull the axle and bearing out.

In reply to Kramer :

Did you get drum off axle? Pain in the ass I saw you can have some drums made what is the cost of them one place told me 3400 bucks thank you and happy holidays

I've got a West Coaster mailster myself, and looking for the answer to pull the brake drums.  Did you ever solve your problems?

thanks, Dick

I deal with two-piece axles regularly at work.

You need an OTC 7394 hub puller and maybe a little heat:

For axle parts, try Kaiser-Willys: https://www.kaiserwillys.com/

They've been good at finding me oddball Dana axle bits.