Ford 9" teardown question

I've never touched a Ford rear axle until now. I have a new pinion seal to replace my leaking one. The rear is out of the car so how doI go about it? I removed the 6 bolts around the snout and nothing moved. Then I removed all the bolts around the3rd member and it didn't budge either. Am I correct in ***uming I have to removed the axles to get either part out or does the whole unit drop out?

 

There shouldn't be a need to remove those bolts unless you are going to replace the gasket behind that plate.

You should only have to remove the nut holding th yoke on and then remove the yoke and replace the seal.
Before yiou go further I would suggest finding the info on line or looking in a manual to see what the steps are.

 

You don,t have to take it all apart to change just the pinion seal. Just remove the yoke,change the seal and don,t over torque the nut putting it back together. You don,t want to screw up the bearing preload by further crushing the crush collar.

 

You don't have to do any of that to replace a pinion seal. Remove the nut from the yoke after you mark its position and count the turns. Use a puller to remove the yoke, pry out the seal, tap in the new one. Tap the yoke back on and reinstall the nut. Torque applied to the nut loads the bearings via a crush sleeve, so not too tight and not too loose. There is a special tool to check the preload but I haven't had any problems doing this way.

 

If your just replacing the pinion seal just remove the yoke nut and if your luky the pinion will just tap off.And at this point the seal is right there.

 

But, in answer to your other question, yes you would have to remove the axles if you wanted to remove the third member completely.

 

Okay thanks, is there a good way to keep everything from turning? The rear is sitting on the floor with the tires still on it. I tried turning that pinion nut and just ended up turning the wheels. If I take the wheels off and put it on jack stands the drums a just going to keep turning as I try and break the pinion nut free.

 

Impact gun works best, but only for removing, as stated above mark the nut and spline location and get it back in the same spot after seal replacement. Otherwise make a holding bar with two holes drilled into a piece of flat bar and bolt it onto the u-joint flange.

 

its easier to use an impact, it will buzz right off.......

 

i would suggest putting it back on with an impact too......just run the nut all the way down by hand, then hit it with the impact for like 1 second, maybe 6-to-8 hammers.......that crush sleeve wont crush that easy....when you done make sure there's no slop in the pinion and make sure it turns pretty freely

 

if you reuse the nut make sure to use red loc***e. I would suggest a new nut with red loc***e. I also put silicone on the pinion shaft splines behind the nut, oil can leak past the splines. Use an inch pound gauge and measure the load before you take the nut off and then make it the same as it was before. Measureing the drag on the pinion only it should be about 6-8 inch pounds. After tightening the nut smack the pinion with a br*** drift and remeasure the pinion drag.

Brick

 

Parking brake cables still on it?

 

also take a good look at the seal surface on the yoke .sometimes theres a groove where the seal and yoke touch.if yours is worn ,a seal wont help.the best way to do this is with a new yoke .or you can get a redi-sleeve .a good parts guy will know what your asking for..

 

Pinion seal part number, National 7044NA
Redi sleeve part number, National 99181.
Put a coating of weatherstripping cement on the seal surface before installing a redi-sleeve, will fill the groove and prevent the sleeve from getting a groove.

 

I have to do the same thing on my 56 truck with a 9 inch. It leaks badly. Great info here.

Mike

 

Agreed, my '59 Edsel is on the quart a month plan.
This job is next on the to-do list.

 

All of the above!!!! PUT LOCK TIGHT ON THE NUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!