Differential Difficulties

[Nielcoop]

2002 sport trac with a 8.8 rear-end. Pulled the rear differential cover to pull the axles. There is a pin that holds the axles in place to allow the C-clips to stay in and then there is a bolt that holds that pin in. Well the bolt is broke off inside. What would cause this and how do I get it out?

 

[Mbrooks420]

Cross pin. Unfortunately, you’ll need to extract it like any other broken “bolt”.

 

[MrQ]

Depending on where it broke you may be able to get it out with a magnet. Only half of it is threaded, the remainder is a thin pin. If just the pin part is in there, try tapping the cross pin back and forth to loosen it up and see of you can draw it out. Otherwise you will have to drill and try to extract. It's gonna be a PTIA because of how little space there is and how small the bolt is. Those threads are pretty fine and you could damage them if you don't get straight on the bolt.

Patience is key here, forcing it will only damage the carrier. Cross pins are easy to remove and replace, pulling a whole gear set is a little harder.

I think why these break is because the cross pin still has pressure on it from the spider gears and it creates a lot tension on the bolt causing it to snap when you try to remove it. Also, I think Ford may have put a form of Loctite on the threads.

I have only had one break on me, but it was at a junkyard, so no loss there other than not getting to the part I wanted.

 

[Nielcoop]

Depending on where it broke you may be able to get it out with a magnet. Only half of it is threaded, the remainder is a thin pin. If just the pin part is in there, try tapping the cross pin back and forth to loosen it up and see of you can draw it out. Otherwise you will have to drill and try to extract. It's gonna be a PTIA because of how little space there is and how small the bolt is. Those threads are pretty fine and you could damage them if you don't get straight on the bolt.

Patience is key here, forcing it will only damage the carrier. Cross pins are easy to remove and replace, pulling a whole gear set is a little harder.

I think why these break is because the cross pin still has pressure on it from the spider gears and it creates a lot tension on the bolt causing it to snap when you try to remove it. Also, I think Ford may have put a form of Loctite on the threads.

I have only had one break on me, but it was at a junkyard, so no loss there other than not getting to the part I wanted.

Thanks for the info

 

[Nielcoop]

Cross pin. Unfortunately, you’ll need to extract it like any other broken “bolt”.

Thanks for the info that’s what I figured

 

[donalds]

This is how I got past this problem

 

[N2FORD]

I bought an extractor kit I found on line. It guides you to center the drill bit and the has a tool to remove. It was a pain!!