Need best way to remove diff. pinion shaft assembly

C

Chester Leighton

Junior Member
I'm overhauling the rear axle in my 37 ford Pick Up and installing new 3.78 ring and pinion gear. I have all new bearings and seals to go in. How the heck do you get the pinion shaft/thrust bearings out of the center housing? How do you get the pilot bearing out of the center housing? I had an old torque tube from a home made trailer that I bored out so the bearing would pass thru and used a shaft coupler welded to a 7/8" nut to build a puller but all I do is sheer the 1/4" coupler pin. I've hunted U-tube and found really good videos on reassembly but only one that shows someone taking the pinion shaft out and I think the method he used would distort the housing. Is there a tool I can buy to do this or is there a tried and true method for removal of the pinion shaft?
 
I used a press when I did mine. You can jack it out from inside but as you say, you don't want to distort the housing.

As you already have a puller, why not apply that, and then make up some sort of improvised screw jack to push from inside at the same time. The combination of the two might do the trick. You could also try a piece of steel stronger than the normal pin. I'm thinking a piece cut from a screwdriver blade or something like that.

If using a press you need a couple of bridges to apply the load where needed.

Mart.
 
I would check with Ken/Alabama as he made an outstanding puller. He posted pictures years ago but I can't find the post. Worth checking out. Dave/Green Bay
 
Dave/Green Bay said:
I would check with Ken/Alabama as he made an outstanding puller. He posted pictures years ago but I can't find the post. Worth checking out. Dave/Green Bay
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Here’s the tool I have for removing the pinion.
 

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Heating the race end of the housing is going to help you a lot. The home made pusher shown in the previous post is an excellent way to do the push. However I have had great success doing the pushing with a simple small bottle jack with a spacer siting inside so the jack is pushing squarely against the pinion. With a bit of pre load with the jack and some heat on the outer surface of the housing the race assembly will begin moving once you see it move just pump the jack no need to use any additional heat. If you have any concern on possibly distorting the housing just bolt on one of the side bells that will keep everything round. At least that's how it works for me.
Ronnieroadster
 
It's been a long time, but I "think" I remember using the 40-ton press at work. I Slipped a press plate through the banjo housing with the ends supported on the press. I stuck an impact socket between the plate and the end of the pinion. Then I pressed down on top of the housing probably with a piece of cutoff pipe. Your cutoff driveshaft enlarged for the bearing to slip through would work with another plate on top of it to press against. When I retired, I tried buying one of every tool we had in that phone company garage. One of the first tools I bought was that exact same 1950, 40-ton press. They take up a lot of room, but they are invaluable for pressing on and off parts and straightening things. They can be a dangerous tool. I've had bearings explode under tremendous pressure, we usually used safety cages over the bearings to contain but you're not always able to use them. Like when using the impact socket to push that pinion out. There is a possibility of that socket shattering If the pressure on the press is high. I get a little nervous using sockets to press against, so I stick another press plate between me and the socket.
 
I made a tool about 30 years ago that pushes the pinion and double tapered roller bearing assembly out of the banjo housing like Ken/Alabama does with his little bottle jack tool, and it worked fine. It's pictured here on a thread that was posted many years ago, regarding tools that members made to do a specific job, rather than purchasing them.
Several years later I saw a post here that showed the pinion gear being pushed out by the same method that Flathead Fever posted and I've used that same method for the last 20 years. This seems to be the easiest and quickest way to go if you happen to have the correct size hydraulic press.
 
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I've copied the pictures of Kens tool and will try that. My puller just keeps sheering the pinion shaft coupler pins. I think if I could attach to the threads on the shaft and clamp it there similar to a model T rear hub removal tool, the puller would work. Right now, I don't have a boring bar that would cut internal threads.
 
cas3 said:
I do it like that ^^^, in a press. Never had to use any heat
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I do it this way as well - and I use a little heat on the outside of the case (all around the bearing area) - works really well and there is no chance or distorting the case.
 
I ended up buying a shop press and used a 4X4 piece of box steel to push down and a turned piece of round stock under the pilot bearing to et the pinion shaft out. I'm getting ready to put the rear and back together. Which way does the axle seal go in the axle housing? It has sort of a conical shape to the ID of the seal. Which way does that point? Does it point to to the ring gear or does it point to the outside end of the axle housing?
 
Towards the ring gear. Also put a wrap of electrical tape on the tapered end of the axle covering the keyway slot. That will prevent the sharp edge of the keyway from cutting the new seal as it passes through.
 
I purchased a cheap ($35) 2-arm puller and modified it just by shortening the center bolt 2-7/8" and welded a nut onto it instead. The puller is 6.5" wide and the arms 4" long. It works very good. I got the tip from my buddy Dan so all credits to him.
 

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I use my press and bridging and as B&S said, heat around where the pinion race is. My press is large enough that essentially the bridging holds a non moving piece of shaft of different lengths that pushes on the end of the pinion and the press pushes the banjo down and off the pinion not the other way around. The banjo moves not the pinion. I push on the banjo flange with a piece of tubing that the pinion race can go through and long enough to move the banjo the required distance. Easy when you have done it before. Similar to Ken/Alabama method.
 
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Repeat of what has already been posted. Here's mine...
 

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BlueNotes, I like that puller you are using. What brand? I like the way it is designed. I can't read the make in the picture.
 
deuce_roadster said:
BlueNotes, I like that puller you are using. What brand? I like the way it is designed. I can't read the make in the picture.
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The brand of my puller is the swedish retail corporation "Biltema" that operates a chain of discount department stores in Scandinavia (Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark). The puller is a copy of the universal 2-arm pullers sold worldwide by other european tool brands, eg KUKKO, GEDORE, BAHCO and HAZET. However, those brands are expensive. I searched Amazon and the cheapest "look-alike" I found was this BILITOOL puller.
https://www.amazon.com/BILITOOLS-In...-Bearings/dp/B0B55YQZGN/?tag=atomicindus08-20
 
Interesting concepts, last image looks doable with little rigging. I recall I made a puller that involved a fixture under the nuts connected to small chain pushed with small bottle jack and involved a split piece of 4 or 5” pipe for a jack base…. A real goofy rig that made my first banjo rebuild happen.
 
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