Why my rear wheels won't turn.

I checked the rear brakes & they are fine,so I pulled the cover off of the pumpkin & found this.There was a bolt in this holding it in place,that is now gone.
I see no damage to the gears.All the bolts on the cover were loose & the gasket is gone so the PO was evidently doing something in there & didn't replace the bolt to hold it in place.Does this take some special kinda bolt or will anything that fits work?
If I have to buy a special bolt,what is the pin called?

 

I believe what you are holding is a pinion shaft,,,and yeah you gotta have one. HRP

 

I believe that is a spider gear cross shaft and it takes a special "bolt" to hold it in. While you're in there you might make sure the c clips that hold the axles in are in place. Kind of scarey that someone would have put the cover on the rear end without a retaining bolt in it.
Larry T

 

The bolt is special, having a long unthreaded section with threads near the bolt head. Definitely check the C clips. The bolts are notorious for breaking, so look around inside, the head may be in there

Flatman

 

Yep. Like he said. They usually break off at the threads due to pressure on the head. I was taught an old trick to use use an arc welder rod and just set it in the hole and touch the clamp to it for a second to arc it to the stuck part. then you can remove it. New bolts are available on the "HELP" parts rack at the auto parts store.

 

I've replaced a few before myself. I remember years ago on one particular rear end my dad had that kept shearing those bolts off that he put the shaft in the hole and welded it in place. Drove it for another 30K miles or so, then sold it.

 

If you rotate the carrier to the right spot, they offer a very long reverse thread 1/8" drill bit to get the broken end out. Available at "real parts stores"

If you do the arc weld idea, make sure you ground right to the carrier so you don't arc thru the bearings!

 

If a part of the bolt wasn't laying right there in the bottom of the housing, chances are it just plain wasn't installed. If the gears aren't chewed up it didn't go there and that is the first place it would go due to the oil pumping action of the ring and pinion. As long as the pin is out, look in the hole where the bolt goes and see if there is a piece in the back half of the hole. It can be turned out with a screwdriver in my experience. This probably isn't the reason it was taken apart as you don't know the bolt broke until you hear all that chrunching and grinding and the wheels start sliding and you bang your nose on the steering wheel while sliding off into the ditch. Don't ask. Make sure the side gear washers are in place, put the pin and bolt back in and you should be good to go after filling it with 90/140 gear grease.

 

sounds like you may just be a victim of the last owner being curious. i'm guilty of it

 

and put lock tight on the bolt!!!!!!!

 

The problem is that it is sumerged in oil, some manufactures used lock wire to keep those bitches in place.

 

looks like theres no oil in the diff anyway, it was fixen to go boom....

 

The head went out with the oil when it was opened up.

The other half will still be in the hole that it goes in.

They usually will come right out.Just get a new one,Red Loctite and you be back in businees.

 

ok my bad clean new bolt and threads with brake cleaner,then lock tight

 

haha im not calling you out dude i use it at work but i got burnt on a job becouse this exact thing happend after i used thread locker. Oil has a way of penetrating shit, the most important thing is that the integrity of the new bolt is good and that it is properly tourqed.

 

those things just break on their own.i've done a few myself.but wonder why they break?

 

A little off topic, but I'd never put Red Loctite on that bolt. Permatex recommends High Strength (red) Loctite for 3/8 and larger bolts. This "bolt" could round off the 5/16 head long before you break the bolt loose if you install it with red locker.

I use 10 times as much Medium Strength (blue) Loctite as I do High Strength (red) and have never had any problem with bolts vibrating loose, even on Harleys.
Larry T

 

I've seen them break before and have had to fish out the non-threaded end, but since you have the pinion pin in hand, it should be loose enough in the carrier to remove easily. I've used small screwdrivers to get it to walk out.

The trick is not to dislodge the spider gears while checking the c-clips. Just slide one axle in at a time carefully, let the clip drop out. If it looks good and not beat up, put it back and gently pull the axle back out.

Don't rotate anything during the process, check the pinion pin while you're at it, reinstall carefully, line up the special screw and tighten it up.

Bob