Removing the Rear Assembly from '40 Ford

The smaller the number of teeth the smaller diameter the gear is. May have a problem with meshing. Compare the two turttle gears and you will see what I mean.......
 
Just a word of advise... I don't own a 4-post lift ( have a mid car I use on occasion), but I would never take a hole rear axle out of a car with the body supported on jack stands with this in the air on a 4-post. That's nuts!!... both from the standpoints most importantly of safety and the other of access both from inside the car as well as down below and ease of roller the rear axle out. Maybe I'm not visualizing this correcting but maybe I am.

I guess I say this from doing over 100 rear axle jobs between Model A and V8 Fords over my time... I recommend doing it down on the ground... even if you think it's harder on you..
You need a couple of very stout tall axle stands supporting the frame on the front side of the rear radius rods, front wheels securely blocked (I mean very secure as if the front rolls you're in deep trouble.

You have much more control once the u-joint cap is removed in lowering the rear axle and spring once everything else is ready to go.
Be slow and safe, have one or two extra helpers on hand to assist.

I rebuilding the rear axle please do everything, bearings,races, seals, clean housings properly, set proper carrier bearing preload ( before pinion is in), and then set your pinion to ring backlash to spec. Also, inspect the towque tube bearing to make sure it isn't desintigrating ( half way up in the torque tube. These are not currently made repro so you will have to secure a nos if one is needed for replacement.

Good luck!
Larry S
St. Charles, MO
 
larrys40 said:
Just a word of advise... I don't own a 4-post lift ( have a mid car I use on occasion), but I would never take a hole rear axle out of a car with the body supported on jack stands with this in the air on a 4-post. That's nuts!!... both from the standpoints most importantly of safety and the other of access both from inside the car as well as down below and ease of roller the rear axle out. Maybe I'm not visualizing this correcting but maybe I am.

I guess I say this from doing over 100 rear axle jobs between Model A and V8 Fords over my time... I recommend doing it down on the ground... even if you think it's harder on you..
You need a couple of very stout tall axle stands supporting the frame on the front side of the rear radius rods, front wheels securely blocked (I mean very secure as if the front rolls you're in deep trouble.

You have much more control once the u-joint cap is removed in lowering the rear axle and spring once everything else is ready to go.
Be slow and safe, have one or two extra helpers on hand to assist.

I rebuilding the rear axle please do everything, bearings,races, seals, clean housings properly, set proper carrier bearing preload ( before pinion is in), and then set your pinion to ring backlash to spec. Also, inspect the towque tube bearing to make sure it isn't desintigrating ( half way up in the torque tube. These are not currently made repro so you will have to secure a nos if one is needed for replacement.

Good luck!
Larry S
St. Charles, MO
Click to expand...

Thanks Larry.....Although the 40 is on the lift.....it will be lowered all the way to the ground when removing the rear assembly. I have a built-in hydraulic jack which slides from one end to the other for jacking at various points of the car. This jack is very stable. The lift has built in wheel chalks also. The rear assembly is ready to come out....just need to remove the spring u-bolts and drop the rear. I WILL have a buddy assisting.

As I understand it....Skip Haney has the repro drive shaft bearing available for the torque tube if needed.

Pat
 
Pat, Larry is correct on taking good safety precautions. We just dropped the rear on a '36 Phaeton to remove the transmission for rebuild. We had the front wheels chocked good. We had two large heavy duty jack stands at the rear of the frame and two smaller stands just forward of the rear about where the rear of the main X member comes into the frame side rails. The stands behind the rear still allowed enough room for us to roll the rearend back far enough to get the trans out. These rear stands would not work well for you since you must roll the rear completely out from under the car. One thing that worked well for us was tying a rope to the banjo so that someone could pull the rear back without the need to have anyone under the car. Sounds like you are installing a better gear ratio so you can do some touring in 2012 :)
 
Thanks John! I have had a lot of good advice so far! I plan to let the rear hubs rest on the ramps of the lift (while on the ground ;)) and pull the rascal out. I will be waiting for my buddy to return from a Christmas trip he and his family are taking.

Yes...hope to do a little more touring with the 40!

Merry Christmas!
Pat
 
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