FINISHED: differential, R&R halfshafts

[Number Twelve]

I'm going to obtain locally, two output bearings and two output shaft seals for $43 and take them to a local machine shop. About $40 worth of labor will save me buying a bearing remover, a bearing installer, and a seal installer. Then I'm out the door and buying a couple of quarts of 75W140. I can have this pumpkin assembled tomorrow if the parts are in stock. Later, I'll spend a day swapping pumpkins, now that I know how, thanks mostly to this website.

Then I'm going to pray that the guy who designed the output bearings with only half a load of needles should get a bad rash in a tender place.

 

[Number Twelve]

You have to open the upper CV joints in order to bop the stub ends into the new pumpkin, so I just started by cutting the upper rubber booty strap, opening the upper CV joints, and leaving the stub ends in the pumpkin when I took it out. That eliminates swinging a hammer under the car to get the half-shafts loose. Then you can put the stubs into the new pumpkin and fill it with 90W140 before you put the new one in the car. No messy trying to fill it after it's in.

The fact that I did the rear hub bearings last year meant it was easy to get the rear hubs out of the way. That must have saved 5 hours of work! The upper ball joints and the splines were not stuck in the hubs. We removed the toe links at the center of the car.

Two old guys (average age of 56), 3.5 hours, and we weren't hurrying at all. Plenty of stops for fried chicken and air conditioning.

About 90% noise reduction. Only a mechanic would notice the sound now, and most of that probably disappeared when I sealed up the bolt holes for the second and third row seats which I don't have installed.

I sure am glad to stop wondering if the Black Beast is going to last another week while I crank up the radio to cover the noise of the rear end growling. That's the last of the critical repairs. All that's left is the rear sway bar bushings, a couple of shocks, and that pesky fuel sender that keeps sticking on, "empty".

 

[imp]

@Number Twelve
Danged good idea about opening up the CV to gain access for driving the stub shaft in! I wonder how many CVs have been screwed up by hammering them. imp

 

[Hugh Janus]

I'm not sure if I understand : did you cut open the CV boot? Cause I don't understand the problem with inserting them into the pumpkin.

 

[Number Twelve]

did you cut open the CV boot?

You cut the stainless steel strap and push the bootie away from the pumpkin. Then the CV joint falls apart.

The reason to open the CV joint is that there is no place to whack the half-shaft with a hammer to get the retaining ring to snap into the pumpkin. Since you have to open the CV joint to re-assemble the half-shafts back into the pumpkin, why not open the CV joint first? That way you don't have to swing a hammer while under the car, you can install the stub ends while the pumpkin is on your work bench, and you can load the lube in before installing the pumpkin.

ps, I keep forgetting the lube specs so I posted as 75W140 and 90W140. That doesn't mean I bought the wrong lube, it just means I have to look at the book every time I go to the parts store.

 

[Hugh Janus]

Hmmm, ive never done anything more than give it a good shove.

 

[Number Twelve]

Hmmm, ive never done anything more than give it a good shove.

That's swell, but other people who posted in this Thread haven't been so lucky. My half-shafts were so hard to get out that I didn't have the courage to whack them properly until I got some confirmation on this website. If they are that difficult to get out, how bad will they be going back in?

I just skipped the part about swinging a hammer under the car and hoping the half-shafts would click in nice and easy. It cost me (2) $2 hose clamps and saved an unknown amount of time in both disassembly and reassembly. I call that a bargain.

If I was 30 years younger, I would probably have crawled under there with a 3 pound sledge hammer as many times as it needed. At 65 years old, every trip under the car costs another hour waiting to recover from the muscle soreness and achy joints.

Cheat or sit there and hurt?
I'll take, "cheat".

 

[Hugh Janus]

That's swell, but other people who posted in this Thread haven't been so lucky. My half-shafts were so hard to get out that I didn't have the courage to whack them properly until I got some confirmation on this website. If they are that difficult to get out, how bad will they be going back in?

I just skipped the part about swinging a hammer under the car and hoping the half-shafts would click in nice and easy. It cost me (2) $2 hose clamps and saved an unknown amount of time in both disassembly and reassembly. I call that a bargain.

If I was 30 years younger, I would probably have crawled under there with a 3 pound sledge hammer as many times as it needed. At 65 years old, every trip under the car costs another hour waiting to recover from the muscle soreness and achy joints.

Cheat or sit there and hurt?
I'll take, "cheat".

I pry them out - I never beat them out. And since the hubs are out of the way, I can either shove them in or tap the hub end.

 

[Number Twelve]

I can either shove them in or tap the hub end.

Gee that's wonderful (again)! You can hit the far end of the half-shaft like the shop manual says not to do! I wish I was that talented.

 

[Hugh Janus]

Gee that's wonderful (again)! You can hit the far end of the half-shaft like the shop manual says not to do! I wish I was that talented.

Tap. Assuming you know what that means. But you must as you obviously do hundreds of these a year.

 

[Number Twelve]

But you must as you obviously do hundreds of these a year

Why do you feel a need to disagree with my success so many times in one Thread, MY Thread. Do you think repeating yourself will make it true? Do you need to convince the world to do it your way?

 

[imp]

Why do you feel a need to disagree with my success so many times in one Thread, MY Thread. Do you think repeating yourself will make it true? Do you need to convince the world to do it your way?

@Number Twelve
About crawling around under a vehicle: I pull 10 years over your 65.........and the effort needed, as well as the adverse you mention, keeps getting worse. BTW, remember that skinning the cat jingle? Others like doing it different, is all. imp