Differential Leaking - bent axle housing?

D

dbknorr

Junior Member
My differential is leaking badly on the driver's side. When installing the radius rods, the driver's side rod was about 1/4" short of the bolt holes on the axle housing. With much difficulty using a crude screw jack, I managed to get the bolts in. Now that axle housing leaks, I presume because it was stressed during installation. I have measured both radius rods and they are identical in length. I am thinking the driver's side axle housing must have been bent and that a new housing should be installed. Does this sound correct?

The differential seems to function perfectly but for the serious leak.
Any pointers appreciated.
 
Leave the pinion assembly to banjo bolts loose until you have the radius rod attached .
The then tighten the piñon bolts.

I had the same problem with the rear radius rods. Loosened the pinion bolts and the radius rod attachment bolt dropped right in.
 
Actually, it's pretty common for it to be somewhat difficult to install the rear radius rod bolts because those radius rods - in order to do their job - have to be under tension to keep the housings from flexing fore and aft. One side will usually be easier to install before the other. I'd be more concerned about bent housings if the holes DID line up right away on both sides for the bolts! You want that tension, although it causes problems during reassembly. Not insurmountable problems; just irritating ones, as you have discovered. And there are lots of solutions, as you also have discovered.
I find that it helps if I remove or loosen the nut from the large bolt in front so that there is some "give" when aligning the radius rods with the holes in the back. Also, don't tighten the nuts on the backing plate bolts yet on the first side to be assembled. Leave a little slack in them, too. This way, you have some slop on both ends to work with. Once the rods and bolts are in place front and rear, then tighten the nuts and install cotter pins. Ford put the cotter pins there for a reason!
Marshall
 
Thanks to all for your comments. Sounds like my situation is not unusual but I need to seal the bolt holes. Again thanks to all in a great hobby.
 
As has been suggested here in earlier discussions about leaking differential bolts, wrap sewing thread or thin twine around the bolts just beneath the heads and then coat the thread/twine with goop or Indian Head shellac. Then screw them in, finger tight at first all the way around so that the housings are pulled with equal force against the banjo. If you tighten a couple bolts in one section to the max in the first pass, you could warp the housing and cause leakage between the two. Think of this as torquing a cylinder head, where you go around in a set pattern with equal tightening force. THEN finish up with just enough tightness so that the gasket(s) will seal. You don't need 10,000 foot-pounds of tension. Don't use anything more than a 3/8" drive with a 9/16" socket or you will apply too much torque.
Marshall
 
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Remove each of the 20 bolts one at a time and coat the threads with sealer and re-install. The bolts should be originals that have a space between the head of the bolt and the threads. The reproductions are not made that way. Another trick is to put a couple wraps of string around the bolt just under the head and coat with sealer. Torques each bolt to 35 ft lbs.

We run into a problem sometimes when installing Mitchell overdrives. Leave the six bolts loose at the banjo flange until you get the bolt for the radius rods inserted.

Tom Endy
 
"Another trick is to put a couple wraps of string around the bolt just under the head and coat with sealer."

Hmmm. I wish I had thought of that. Tom, do you bother reading previous postings?

Marshall
 
I'd like to say that this is the type of information you are not likely to find in a repair manual. This is the benefit of as web-board like this. Especially when we get the replies back as to what was found, and what worked.
 
Marshall V. Daut said:
"Another trick is to put a couple wraps of string around the bolt just under the head and coat with sealer."

Hmmm. I wish I had thought of that. Tom, do you bother reading previous postings?

Marshall
Click to expand...

Unfortunately that happens a lot, and the same solution gets repeated over and over again in the same thread. (note my signature below).
 
"Unfortunately that happens a lot, and the same solution gets repeated over and over again in the same thread. (note my signature below)."

Yes, I obviously agree and it gets to be quite irritating seeing a dog pile build after one has spent a great deal of time considering the Model A problem du jours and then framing a lengthy reply with a suggested solution based upon years of experience and dumb mistakes - only to see the same answer boiled down to one sentence in subsequent replies. Over and over again. Even once is too much. Confirmation of experience is fine to re-inforce the accuracy of one's suggestion. But snatching the core of a person's thoughts and then posting them as another's original thinking is unacceptable in any universe that I know. Not reading through all the replies before posting only makes this possibility more likely. I would like to see a new "Rule" added to Ryan's list of do's and don'ts that might help: "Please read ALL responses in a thread before posting your reply in order to avoid repetition". I should think that would only be common sense and courtesy. How long does it take to read through even a long thread anyway? Isn't the whole idea behind a website like this to see what others in the hobby have experienced and are willing to take the time to share with the rest of us? Why skip reading what they have offered, only to post what one thinks is an original thought?

'Sorry for the tirade. Dog piling on one's shared Model A experience is one of my "hot buttons" on this website and sometimes my safety valve pops. 'Sorry to Tom. My question to him came across stronger than I had intended. But I will let my post go unedited. The meaning behind the question is still valid, however; I just didn't choose the appropriate shade of words for the occasion. The steam pressure inside my tolerance boiler has gone back down to zero - until the next time. :)
Marshall, the Repentant One
 
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Addendum to the above posting -
Of course, the duplication of answers I griped about makes exception to replies that are posted on top of each other due to a lag in typing. I look at time posted if the same answer as mine appears - or if I appear to have stepped on someone else's toes. Both happen innocently.
Marshall
 
Some folks don't type as fast as others. If a poster repeats a solution, look at the time between posts. Growing thicker skin is part of being in a forum. We are all on the same side here.
 
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