spider gears damaged - how bad is this?

[mostsmooth]

Running it until it blows big chunks is a possibility I mentioned off the top. The only way that would not be stressful to me is because I had a newer rear end assembly in the works or ready under the bench.

yes, i misinterpreted your post.

 

[Mr.Kelley]

Mostsmooth I have a five lug disc brake trac lok rear axle with 3.55s if your anywhere close to San Diego....

 

[mostsmooth]

Mostsmooth I have a five lug disc brake trac lok rear axle with 3.55s if your anywhere close to San Diego....

thanks, but im in jersey. i think im going to tough it out with the 3.73s until im forced to replace.

 

[mostsmooth]

minor update:

i ordered new parts for the rear. spider gears, clutch kit, cross pin and bolt, and axle bearing and seals. pretty much everything i think i can do myself in my driveway.
it all arrived yesterday.
the plan is to try and get it all done by sunday.

hmm, i didnt get a new clutch spring, should i have?
i also didnt get new C- clips. i figured those would be re-useable.

i took the car for a spin or two recently after i closed her up last week. i want to see how much if any new metal is floating around in there just to get an idea of how bad it was/is.

i will check (with my eyes and hands, not a gauge) how much backlash there is in the ring/pinion setup. if it seems really bad, i may have to alter the plans.
i will see if i can make a short vid of this check.

anybody have any last minute tips or tricks i should be aware of?

thanks

 

[Rdub6]

minor update:

i ordered new parts for the rear. spider gears, clutch kit, cross pin and bolt, and axle bearing and seals. pretty much everything i think i can do myself in my driveway.
it all arrived yesterday.
the plan is to try and get it all done by sunday.

hmm, i didnt get a new clutch spring, should i have?
i also didnt get new C- clips. i figured those would be re-useable.

i took the car for a spin or two recently after i closed her up last week. i want to see how much if any new metal is floating around in there just to get an idea of how bad it was/is.

i will check (with my eyes and hands, not a gauge) how much backlash there is in the ring/pinion setup. if it seems really bad, i may have to alter the plans.
i will see if i can make a short vid of this check.

anybody have any last minute tips or tricks i should be aware of?

thanks

Although I haven’t put it back in the car yet, I just rebuilt my rear end (so I don’t know how well I did). But anyway, the Eric The Car Guy Series of videos on utoob helped me a great deal and I would recommend watching them a few times. Good Luck.

 

[Rcdgl]

Iirc you can pull the cross pin and change the spider gears in the car, although I have always taken the carrier out. Watch the vids closely or read the manual. Getting the sidegears and spider gears, and especially the spider gear shims/bearings back in can be difficult. I built a homemade case spreader tool many years ago so I dont have to hammer the carrier back in, so thats pretty easy for me. Same one works on both 7.5 and 8.8 rears.

It will run fine with the damaged gears for a long time if you dont hammer it. I have confirmed this by experience.

 

[mostsmooth]

Iirc you can pull the cross pin and change the spider gears in the car, although I have always taken the carrier out. Watch the vids closely or read the manual. Getting the sidegears and spider gears, and especially the spider gear shims/bearings back in can be difficult. I built a homemade case spreader tool many years ago so I dont have to hammer the carrier back in, so thats pretty easy for me. Same one works on both 7.5 and 8.8 rears.

It will run fine with the damaged gears for a long time if you dont hammer it. I have confirmed this by experience.

as far as i can tell, i should be able to get the spider and side gears off and the new ones on without much trouble without taking the carrier out, so thats my plan.

and, whats the point of driving it if i cant hammer it?

 

[mostsmooth]

Although I haven’t put it back in the car yet, I just rebuilt my rear end (so I don’t know how well I did). But anyway, the Eric The Car Guy Series of videos on utoob helped me a great deal and I would recommend watching them a few times. Good Luck.

i watched a boatload of vids, i probably watched his at some point.
EDIT: i just checked, yeah, i watched his vids on this.

 

[mostsmooth]

today i started the replacement. got one axel out and im stuck now until tomorrow hopefully when i pick up an E8 torx socket. i got the one side off with a 1/4" 12 point, but it didnt work on the other side.
im fearful that the bolt wont come out and then i will have to do some drilling or something.

the bolt that holds the cross pin in place broke off when i was removing it. i cried a little but was able to get it out by just working it out with a small screwdriver. luckily it broke off with only about 1 thread left on the pin.

only one of the spider gears was damaged, the other looked fine.

tomorrow will try to get the other axle off and then get the spring out and replace things and close her back up.

it appears one of my axle seals is leaking, grime built up around seal, other seal was nothing. i bought new bearings and seals, so will replace both.

 

[Rdub6]

today i started the replacement. got one axel out and im stuck now until tomorrow hopefully when i pick up an E8 torx socket. i got the one side off with a 1/4" 12 point, but it didnt work on the other side.
im fearful that the bolt wont come out and then i will have to do some drilling or something.

the bolt that holds the cross pin in place broke off when i was removing it. i cried a little but was able to get it out by just working it out with a small screwdriver. luckily it broke off with only about 1 thread left on the pin.

only one of the spider gears was damaged, the other looked fine.

tomorrow will try to get the other axle off and then get the spring out and replace things and close her back up.

it appears one of my axle seals is leaking, grime built up around seal, other seal was nothing. i bought new bearings and seals, so will replace both.

Lucky break on that bolt not getting stuck in there!!
When I rebuilt my rear and, I had one seal leaking bad, and the other side fine also. I bet after all these years, the housings are no longer as “square” as they should be!

 

[mostsmooth]

i got the E8 bit and got the abs sensor bolt out, but i cant get the ABS sensor to budge. i need it to move like 1/4" and it wont move at all.
i tapped the axle a bit with a hammer, but i dont know how crazy i can get with this. i dont want it to break, but i want to get this job done.

i sprayed some penetraing fluid around it, the other one seemed to be pretty well sealed up, so didnt think it could hurt

frustrating

 

[mostsmooth]

i finally got the sensor to move. i ended up heating the metal flange, not sure if that made a difference but with progressively harder taps, it finally budged.
didnt think to turn the car on yet and see if i ruined the sensor(s).

next question for you all:
one axle had one spot of damage on one spline.
pics below, two pics of same spot.

im gonna be honest, i want to get this thing all back together today, and am leaning heavily toward installing it back as is rather than ordering a new axle and waiting a week. question is, is this a big deal this spot of damage? obviously, im guessing no, but if some of you folks say this axle wont last 100 more miles then i will put this all on pause and replace it.

thanks

 

[General karthief]

Wow, on the surface, not that bad, I would have to see it in person to actually give you a or
Clean the housing as good as you can and if there are no chunks, send it.
Is "send it" still a thing?
I don't always keep up.

 

[mostsmooth]

Wow, on the surface, not that bad, I would have to see it in person to actually give you a or
Clean the housing as good as you can and if there are no chunks, send it.
Is "send it" still a thing?
I don't always keep up.

I cleaned the housing out really well a couple weeks ago, but of course we'll do again.
This spring is really a bitch getting out, not sure how much of that is because im afraid of getting hit in the face.

I generally say "ship it"

Thanks

 

[mostsmooth]

is there a definitive answer to what order to put the steel plates and friction plates in the clutch pack?
i just took one side out and it was friction steel steel friction steel steel friction shim.
LMR instructions say steel friction steel steel friction steel friction shim

i think i recall seeing youtube vids of people doing it different ways, so im assuming it wont matter much?

 

[General karthief]

I think it matters, I don't know why or what order they go in,

 

[Rdub6]

I used the LMR method. People do it differently to get more “traction lock” by adding an additional friction plate.

 

[mostsmooth]

I used the LMR method. People do it differently to get more “traction lock” by adding an additional friction plate.

I'm going with the lmr way. Seems to make sense

 

[mostsmooth]

anybody know the torque spec for the bolt that holds the cross pin in place?

 

[Rdub6]

15-22 ft lb. is what I have in my manual.
I used a little blue loctite also.

Pretty sure I had to reduce down to 1/4” drive, and with a swivel, was able to get it torqued.