I have a Dana 44 rear axle assembly I’m certain is not original to my 52 M38. The yoke is grooved badly from the seal and has a pinion seal shield with no felt. The replacement yoke does not have the shield, but has a grooved spacer for felt. The felt is considerably larger than the grooved spacer. To make things a little more complicated the base diameter on the new yoke where the spacer rides is slightly larger than the original yoke. Making me have to enlarge the shield to use it on the new yoke.
Questions:
1) Should I install the shield on the new yoke and use it with the felt?
2) If I use the new yoke as it came, is the large felt correct or should it be smaller to fit in the groove on the spacer?
Finding parts to replace original 50+ year old parts is getting harder and harder to do. Original parts are getting harder to source and quality replacements tend to be pricey. Either way, your in for some time to search these parts out. There are several vendors who may be able to supply you with with a new old stock (NOS) yolk.
I have used Speedi Sleeves which is a thin stainless steel sleeve which will renew the wear area for your new seal. When you have a groove worn in the yolk you will need to use Locite 660 compound to fill in the groove which will prevent the thin sleeve from forming down into the groove from the pressure applied by the seal. I have used this system years ago and the yolk is still in service today. If you can't source a NOS yolk, this will keep an original correctly fitting part in service.
The parts you will need to repair your original yolk:
National 99156 Speedi Sleeve (Other venders make them but the part number tend to be the same) Size 1.559 - 1.565
Locite 660 Compound
Below is a link to the Locite 660 so you know what you need to be looking for if you choose this route.
I believe the axle is not original to my m38 because it had a coat of lime yellow paint similar to that used on fire apparatus and no other components or body parts has it. It did have the light green/ dark green primer paint described in the M 38 reference guide under the lime yellow.
I can’t seem to be able to figure out how to attach a photo of the two yokes.