9in rearend disassembly question

TroyOi

New Member
Feb 15, 2008
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San Jose
does anyone know how to take apart a rear end? do i need to remove the axles before i can remove the drums? can the 3rd member just be unbolted and removed or does the axles need to be out before the 3rd member can be removed?
so far i unbolted the bolts that holds the 3rd member to the housing and tried to separate the two but not having much luck. am i missing something? any help would be extremely appreciated. thanks!
 
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The axles have to come out before the chunk will. There are 4 nuts on studs holding the axles and brake backing plates on the axle housings. These can be removed with a ratchet and socket inserted thru the hole in the axle flange. If the axle doesn't come out easily, put the drums back on in place, but reversed, loosely held in place with three lug nuts, use them as a slide hammer, pulling the axles out. Now, to the chunk, there are copper crush washers on each stud holding the chunk. Once you remove the nuts, take a wedge and drive it between the chunk and housing, work the chunk out about 1/8", then pop it back in, then remove the copper washers, then work the chunk back out. Use a drip pan underneath the center of the chunk to catch the gear oil.
 
Yep the axles have to be pulled out several inches at least, but you might as well pull them completely out because you will end up resting them on the weak axle seals.

After, when you pull the third member, be prepared for a lot of weight comming at you (try to support it somehow).
 
Just finished pulling the rear in my 73 today.
See:
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2958571
For the pictures.

First I jacked up the body and put it on stands
Then put another set of stands under the housing
Removed the front eye bolts and let housing slip on to the
stands. Then took out the shacke bolts and the nuts for
shocks. Placed jack under the housing to support it while
I lowered the jack stands. Removed the emer brack cables
from the back of the drums and then pulled the housing and
springs from under the the car. Then striped the housing
of the drum brakes, the alexes and the springs.
Also, if you go to Mustang Monthly online "How to" section
they have step by step pictures. Took me about 3 hours.

Good luck!!
 
hey everyone
so i managed to get one of the axles off but im having troubles with the other one. what i did was remove the four nuts on studs that holds the axles and brake backing plates to the axle housing. then i inserted the nuts back but instead of going through the brake backing plates to the axle housing, i just inserted them through the axles and brake backing plate, so its no attacked to the axle housing at all. then i just kinda knocked it loose with the mallet and pulled it out. HOWEVER, i did the same process with the other side but it will not move at all. does anyone have have any suggestions?
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which nuts are the ones that holds the bearing retainer plates? i only removed the four nuts that holds the axles and brake backing plates to the housing. the arrows in the pictures points to the bolts that i removed but placed back on through the brake backing plate and axle but not to the housing to use them as a "slide hammer". am i still missing something? i did the same procedure on the other side and it came right off with a few smack of the mallet. but its not so easy with this side.
 
which nuts are the ones that holds the bearing retainer plates? i only removed the four nuts that holds the axles and brake backing plates to the housing. the arrows in the pictures points to the bolts that i removed but placed back on through the brake backing plate and axle but not to the housing to use them as a "slide hammer". am i still missing something? i did the same procedure on the other side and it came right off with a few smack of the mallet. but its not so easy with this side.
 
Sometimes those 9 inch axles can be tough to break loose. Believe it or not the axle bearing races can rust and get stuck in the housing. I know guys who have had to chain one end to a tree and put a come-along on the other to get them out. Usually you can take a long, thin punch and stick it through the housing end stud hole and seat the tip against the axle flange and bang it out. If the one side came out easy the other shouldn't take too much persuasion.
 
Youy misunderstood the part about the slide hammer. The nuts to use are the wheel nuts, not the backing plate nuts. Remove the backing plate nuts, the bearing retainer plate is on the outside of the brake backing plate. Leave all this loose. Reposition the brake backing plate back where it was before you started all this. If the axle will not pull out by hand, take a brake drum, put it on the axle backwards, then take three wheel nuts and screw them on the studs to a depth of a full nut each, then pull back hard on the brake drum, using it as a slide hammer to work the axles loose from the housing.
 
Sometimes those 9 inch axles can be tough to break loose. Believe it or not the axle bearing races can rust and get stuck in the housing.

Yep...most likely the problem. You just need to break this loose. Try shooting some WD-40 around the bearing and let sit.


If the axle will not pull out by hand, take a brake drum, put it on the axle backwards, then take three wheel nuts and screw them on the studs to a depth of a full nut each, then pull back hard on the brake drum, using it as a slide hammer to work the axles loose from the housing.

After sitting for a while with the oil, and without a proper slide hammer, use what Hearne suggest on the axles. This will act like a slide hammer and give you more "bang" than what you were doing before.

Good luck.
 
FINALLY! i got the last axle out and removed the 3rd member. it was alot easier since i misunderstood using the drum in reverse to use as a slide hammer. so i went back and fixed it and with a couple good pulls, i got it lose. it was alot harder than the other side because there was rust which caused it to get stuck but that was quickly fixed with WD40 and let stand overnight. well i just wanted to thank everyone for pitching in with tips and pointers. thanks again!
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Must be the weekend to pull our pumpkins! I am trying like hell to pull my axles so I can get my new traction loc dif swapped in, but cannot for the life of me to get either alxe out. Am using the reversed brake drum as a slide hammer technique, but it just doesn't seem to be budging and I'm getting tired! I have sprayed some PB Blaster on the axle seals and let it sit for a bit, but no help. Is there a tool to pull these things? I think I have an auto body slide hammer some place, but cannot see how I would attach and use it. Any help, suggestions or votes of confidence are welcomed. :D
 
Troy,

When you pulled the pumpkin did you have any trouble? I removed the nuts but can't break free the diff from the housing. Tried to tap a screw driver between them but it's sealed tighter the a frogs you know what. I had expected a slight
seem between the two (the space where the gasket is) but nothing. There seams to be some sort of putty type material instead of a gasket. Any one here of this?
 
If it was put in at the factory, it's got a gasket. The copper washers help seal it in too. Just use the thinnest wedge you can find to do the initial step in separating the chunk, I use a fine chisel for this. Once you get the housing started out, push it back in and remove the copper washers from the studs, then start working the chunk back out.
 
Well, I finally got my swap completed today. Just thought I would post that they actually make a tool called an axle puller. Looks like a slide hammer (bigger than an autobody version) and has a special bracket that attaches to 3 wheel studs so you get even distribution when you slide the hammer. Autozone had it as part of their free tool rental porgram, so it didn't cost me anything :nice:

73vertstang - I used a screwdriver and hammer to tap on the copper washers to get them off before trying to seperate the chunk from the housing. I only had 4 copper washers on, basically they go on the studs below the gear oil level, the rest do not use them unlesse someone put them on. Keep at it, you will get there...
 
73vertstang - I used a screwdriver and hammer to tap on the copper washers to get them off before trying to seperate the chunk from the housing. I only had 4 copper washers on, basically they go on the studs below the gear oil level, the rest do not use them unlesse someone put them on. Keep at it, you will get there...

Sounds to me like yours had someone take it apart before you. All the factory 8 and 9 inch rears I've pulled had the washers on all studs. The washers are available at most Ford parts departments. If you cannot find them there, your local parts house has brake line washers that will work.