2003 Ford Explorer Rear Differential Rebuild

[William Lawson]

New Member looking for some input.....how difficult is this thing?:

 

[imp]

New Member looking for some input.....how difficult is this thing?:

@William Lawson
Asking that way lends thought to whether this is a new thing for you. If so, very difficult. If you have worked on drive axles before, not terribly difficult. The center section is "hung" under the vehicle, stationary, as the suspension is independent type. Consequently it is higher off the ground than in a solid axle type, and the mountings are somewhat difficult to work with. Beyond that, a rebuild is typical, involving a pinion gear supported by two tapered roller bearings, a ring gear mounted on a differential carrier supported by two tapered roller bearings, the carrier containing the means for differential action, 4 small gears in constant mesh, which may have the added complication of a "locking" option involving clutch discs. Does this help? imp

 

[20EddieBauer02]

Pretty simple as long as you have the general concept of it and a friend with some tools.

What I have found on these rear ends is nothing is wrong with the gears or bearings themselves (depending on how long you've ran it) but only the crush sleeve gets weak and takes the pre load off the pinion bearing allowing it to get tight against the ring gear.

I've done mine once at 60k (warranty), second time at 110k (myself with a 130 dollar spicer rebuild kit) and I'm now at 180k needing it again.
Also had to do my father in laws 05' twice in 200k.

This time around I'm doing another rebuild kit which is just new bearings and seals and crush sleeve, I'm going to put only 18-20 in lbs of preload on the pinion bearing (25 new-10-12 used) and pull it back apart and take the crush sleeve to the machine shop to have a steel insert made just to see how it holds up.

Good friend said he used to do it in old 10 bolt chevys in drag cars years ago as the torque would eat them up and would burn up the rear end.

 

[imp]

@20EddieBauer02
All Ford High Performance Options at one time came with solid pinion bearing spacers, instead of "Crush" Sleeves. If you have appropriate pinion bearing preload existing, and the torque prevailing on the pinion yoke nut is acceptable, removal of the crush sleeve and accurately measuring it's thickness should get you pretty close, but not exactly, to the distance needed separating the bearings. In reality, spring rate of the sleeve material causes it to increase thickness a bit upon release of the load placed by the nut. How much? A guess, couple thousandths of an inch. If you go with the measured sleeve thickness, assemble, and find insufficient preload, make up a washer of appropriate ID/OD and about 0.002" thickness, and include it in the stack.

See, there's no real way of knowing exactly the installed thickness of the crush sleeve. imp

 

[Number Twelve]

.how difficult is this thing?:

I've seen it done. A teacher was trying to teach me, but if you never do it in the next 40 years, you forget. Like most other things, it's easy, right after you know how. Your biggest job is to find a reliable source of knowledge and understand every step. (I guess that's why you're here.) Second biggest job: gather the tools and the parts. Third, do the procedure.

 

[TechGuru]

Watch both of these in their entirety...

 

[imp]

Watch both of these in their entirety...
@TechGuru
Watching these videos brought to mind the old Ford 9-inch axle, many of which are still used by enthusiasts because of their stoutness as well as ease of set-up. As noted, the guy in the vid ran into trouble, but at least explained it, with pinion bearings. Also, the hassle of trying a shim, finding poor contact pattern, or backlash, pull bearing(s), change shim, reassemble, is completely absent building a 9". Pinion location is determined by a shim located under a removable pinion carrier, held in place at the front of the center section by 5 bolts. So, the pinion assembly, bearings and all, can be pulled right out of the front of the carrier, the shim changed, and plugged right back in. Further, the differential bearings have NO shims, and are adjusted for preload and tooth clearance (backlash) by big nuts.

I'll try to find something with pics. imp