Pinion gear removal from drive shaft

[Mitch Newman]

Does anyone know a trick to removing pinion gear from the drive shaft without damaging it. The nut has been removed but the gear is 80 years of stuck. Do you heat the gear? Any thoughts? I have learned many tricks so far from this board that have save much money and blood. Thanks, Mitch

 

[2manycars]

I use a bearing puller, but some folks have found that if you drop the driveshaft into a long length of pipe just large enough in diameter to fit the driveshaft, that it will pop the gear off the shaft. I have never tried this, and do not think I would.

 

[Mitch Newman]

Thanks, I am trying the puller, but no success yet. I am going to let it set with penetrating oil overnight and see what happens.

 

[30Tudor]

Here is a previous tread on the subject:

http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20447&highlight=pinion+gear

Summary is tighten up the gear puller and wack the shaft "smartly" with a hammer.

 

[Tom Endy]

Place the drive shaft in the pipe jaws of a vice. Remove the cotter pin and back the nut off 1\8". Place a piece of steel with a hole bored through it behind the sleeve of the pinion. Hook a lawn mower flywheel puller onto the piece of steel and tighten it tight. Smack the end of the puller with a hefty hammer. You may have to tighten and smack several times before the pinion breaks loose from the tapered drive shaft end.

Tom Endy

 

[john charlton]

Heating the pinion with a hand held propane/butane torch has worked for me.

John Charlton in no weather today England

 

[quickchange]

Take two ball peen hammers, place one on one side of the pinnion tube once the bearings are removed , smack the other side with a good hit & this normally breaks the taper, worked for me.

 

[Glenn C.]

The two postings above, using the hand held propane torch, in combination with the pipe suggestion, especially if the pipe length is about 2" longer, should work great.
Sometimes using a puller might mushroom the threaded end of the shaft, unless the nut is left in place and loose.

 

[Mikeinnj]

I would ONLY go with Tom Endy's method. Tom has vast experience rebuilding Model A and other types of differentials and his seminars and website on the subject are informative and unique. He has adapted common and special tools and methods to make the rebuilding process less difficult and with more accurate results.

 

[CarlG]

Has anyone used the pinion removal tools listed in the various Model A suppliers catalogs?

 

[Tom from Drippin']

The one that Mitchell (overdrive) rents is great.

 

[Tom Endy]

Has anyone used the pinion removal tools listed in the various Model A suppliers catalogs?

This type of tool is used to pull the pinion assembly along with the double race out of the banjo. This is done when an overdrive is installed without disassembling the entire rear end. You still have to remove the assembly from the drive shaft as described in my earlier post.

The pinion assembly puller offered by most suppliers have two problems.

1. You have to remove one of the large nuts to place part of the tool behind it. This destroys the pinion pre-load setting (if one is actually still there).

2. The tools I have seen are very flimsey and will collapse if you have a tight double race.

The Mitchell overdrive company markets a proper pinion assembly pulling tool. You can either rent or buy it from them.

Attached Photo shows the entire pinion assembly (bearings, double race, pre-load nuts, etc.) still attached to the pinion gear being removed from the drive shaft.

Tom Endy

 

[Mitch Newman]

Thanks everyone!! Very good information. I really appreciate it.

 

[Bruce Lancaster]

One other thing...pullers often require extreme pressure to work on these tapers, and I believe in going beyond leaving the nut on as sometimes the pressures involved can crush things even with nut there.
This is the same taper and threads as used on the rear axles, and all good hub pullers for Fords (KRW, Snap-on, Plomb, etc.) used a full cap on the threads...
If you do not have one, they can be improvised pretty easily.
One way is to buy one of the cheap bingo/knocker type hub pullers that all the dealers have for about $5, and cut it down to a shallower and more compact form. Add a ding in the center to help pilot the puller.
Another is to weld a piece of plate over a spare axle nut...before you do that, weld a small circular piece of metal to the inside of the plate to bear on the metal INSIDE the diameter of the shaft threads.
In all cases, you want something in there a bit smaller than the circle of threads so force is transmitted to the end of the shaft and not supported by the threads.

 

[CarlG]

...The Mitchell overdrive company markets a proper pinion assembly pulling tool. You can either rent or buy it from them...

OK, So I bought one of the Mitchell pullers. When it came yesterday, it said that it was a "Hub Puller" in all the literature that came with it. Have I got the right tool, or is there different one for the Pinion?

 

[Tom Endy]

The Mitchell company makes both a pinion puller and a hub puller. The hub puller is for pulling the rear brake drums. I have one and it works well. It fits both style drums, the ones with the ridge and the ones with the grooves.

Tom Endy

 

[CarlG]

Thanks, Tom, Looks like I'll have both pullers here soon! I was thinking of getting a Hub Puller of some sorts anyway, and this one DOES look like the best of what I've seen, and reasonable in price too!