Removing tapered bearings from differential carriers and pinions is difficult without damaging the bearing. I have a bearing splitter, press and puller but even these are sometimes hard to use on the carrier. Anyone have any good ideas on removing these? In setting up a rear axle, it is sometimes necessary to remove the pinion and change shims. How do you remove the pinion without damaging the front bearing? I use a pneumatic hammer to do it, but I'm afraid to reuse the bearing and race.....because I don't want to have a failure. Thanks for helping me learn to do this better. PS How do you edit a thread title?
I consider the bearings expendable, so after getting the old ones off I do some die grinding so they slip back on, then use the new roller to set them up, then take it apart and press the new stuff in.
I've done that, as well for setup. I was hoping to learn something that would keep me from "expending" that damned front pinion bearing while I chase a problem.
Sometimes the inner bearing cone is a tight press fit on the shaft up against a blind shoulder, and its difficult or impossible to get in behind it, to fit a puller or a hydraulic press to get it off. What I have done, is very carefully grind in one spot on the cone, being extra careful. The heat expands the cone, and when its ground almost right through, the last little bit cracks and the cone splits, and the cone will then almost fall off the shaft.
I use one of these https://www.amazon.com/Yukon-Gear-Y...s=pinion+bearing+puller&qid=1592716923&sr=8-6 Very few bearings it won't pull.
What rear are you working on? If your experimenting with pinion shims, the previous post has a good point... Sacrifice a bearing and take a wheel cylinder hone to the inside and make it slip on and off easily for setting up pinion shims. Leave the front seal out, set your inch lbs of drag on pinion, check pattern etc... once you get the pattern you like, you can install the crush sleeve, NEW bearings, seal, gasket sealer around the yoke splines and set pinion preload on final time.
I rebuilt the rear end but still had a roar. Now, I've determined that there is an eccentricity in either the yoke or the pinion, so I've got to remove it and set it up again. I will grind the i.d. of this bearing and use it for testing. I'm hoping it's the yoke and I can zip this up without replacing both pinion bearings. I'm going to just install the pinion and check for concentricity before assembling the entire axle this time. If it's not true, I will remove the yoke, rotate it 180 and check again. If the high spot stays the same, my pinion is bent. I am going to figure this out eventually. I was just trying to figure out how to avoid throwing away more bearings.
@rockable , You mentioned using an air hammer to remove the bearings. I have done this many times and have been able to reuse the bearings with no problems. For those that haven't done this, a blunt punch, low pressure and moving between the gear teeth will let you walk the bearing off. I have a skinny punch that I only use for this purpose. Have thought about making a brass end for it, but haven't found it necessary. Have had limited success using a thin flat chisel in the air hammer to wedge between the bearing and whatever it is seated against to start the separation. You need to grind the edge almost razor sharp, one side only. I also radius the end to get as much contact area as possible. As for honing the inside of the bearing cone: I chuck them up in the lathe, gripping the shoulder of the inner race. Then with the lathe running, go inside with a right angle die grinder with a 80 grit sanding cone. Keep it moving along the length of the bearing. Much quicker than a wheel cylinder hone. Something that I have thought about trying when I think I will have to remove the bearing after trying something, is just use the honed bearing. I have taken several Quickchanges apart where the carrier bearings were a slip fit. No damage seen.
What did the pattern look like the first time is was set up? Ideal is nice contact pattern in the center of tooth. Too close to the toe end, and you will have noise. Preload, backlash, other things that might contribute to noise. If you have a pinion bent, I think that would feel like a vibration, rather than hearing a roar.
You can always shim behind the race, the pinion doesn't know the difference. Races drive out much easier then pressing bearings on and off.
Good point, the T5 transmissions input shaft retainer is set up the same way... shim behind the race. Never tried it on a rear end.
Now that the simple stuff has been addressed - Under the red line below the title, right side, it says 'thread tools'. That menu has 'edit title'.
Well, the pinion was set up by the factory, so I'm not changing the shim on this one. Pattern looks good. I was able to dial indicate the pinion after removing the yoke but before removing the pinion from the front bearing. There is a smooth area between the threads and the rest of the pinion that provided a good place to check. Pinion was within a thousandth, so yoke is bad. Hopefully, this will put an end to the noise I've had. I will report back after I get it resolved. Thanks, guys.
If you reuse the same bearings, 6-8 inch lbs preload... there was a fella here that fought a vibration at 50-55 mph, went to the moon and back trying to find it. Brand new 9" from John's rear ends. Ended up being a out of balance yoke. Its a pebble on the beach chance, but its happen before. Good luck.
The Jalopy Journal
