I had a leaking pinion seal on my rear rear axle, bought a replacement seal from Saturn Surplus for $12.50, and decided today was as good a time as any to replace it. Removing the driveshaft was pretty straightforward, pulled the cotter pin from the pinion nut and proceeded to wrench on the nut, it didn't move. Put a cheater extension on my breaker bar and wrenched for all I could, the nut wouldn't budge at all. First thought was time to pull the other end of the driveshaft and run over to the nearby truck shop and have them take the nut off with a BMF impact. Second thought - it's Saturday, they aren't open!
OK, gotta do it myself, but how? Then I had a flash of inspiration - I recalled a recent posting on removing stuck lug nuts by putting a lug wrench on the nut, the end of the breaker bar on the ground, and driving the truck forward or reverse, as necessary, to break the nut loose. Why not use the same principal to break my pinion nut loose? So I put the socket on the nut with the breaker bar aiming toward the left hand torque rod, added my cheater extension to extend the bar over the torque rod, and clamped a big C clamp on either side of the extension so it wouldn't slip. Started the truck, put her in 2nd low, drove forward about four feet, and presto! the nut was loose! See photo 1 for my setup, the socket is in the left center of the pic, the breaker bar extension, C clamps and torque rod are in the right lower side of the pic.
Removing the seal itself was a real bear. I had read most of the threads on replacing pinion seals and tried most of the tricks, but this one was tough. I'm not a novice at this, I've replaced many seals, but this was the worst I've ever run across. Unlike most replacement seals, the sidewall of this one ran the full depth of the seal recess. I took the pinion flange off, tried gently tapping the old seal out with a punch, wouldn't move. Beat on it, still wouldn't move. I finally had to beat the outside lip of the inward with a punch to relieve the sidewall pressure before I could finally drive the seal out! The old seal was about twice the depth of the new seal (see photo 2). Cleaned everything up nice, gently tapped the new seal in place so the outside flange was at about the same depth as the original, then used a machinist's rule to make sure it was seated to the same depth all the way around.
Replaced the pinion flange, making sure the drain holes in the shims were aligned with the drain hole in the housing and buttoned it up. Replaced the washer, slinger and pinion nut. Did "chin ups" on the breaker bar to get the pinion on good and tight! Reconnected the driveshaft and finally, after too many hours, I was done! Now I just gotta replace that torn front CV joint boot- but not today!
OK, gotta do it myself, but how? Then I had a flash of inspiration - I recalled a recent posting on removing stuck lug nuts by putting a lug wrench on the nut, the end of the breaker bar on the ground, and driving the truck forward or reverse, as necessary, to break the nut loose. Why not use the same principal to break my pinion nut loose? So I put the socket on the nut with the breaker bar aiming toward the left hand torque rod, added my cheater extension to extend the bar over the torque rod, and clamped a big C clamp on either side of the extension so it wouldn't slip. Started the truck, put her in 2nd low, drove forward about four feet, and presto! the nut was loose! See photo 1 for my setup, the socket is in the left center of the pic, the breaker bar extension, C clamps and torque rod are in the right lower side of the pic.
Removing the seal itself was a real bear. I had read most of the threads on replacing pinion seals and tried most of the tricks, but this one was tough. I'm not a novice at this, I've replaced many seals, but this was the worst I've ever run across. Unlike most replacement seals, the sidewall of this one ran the full depth of the seal recess. I took the pinion flange off, tried gently tapping the old seal out with a punch, wouldn't move. Beat on it, still wouldn't move. I finally had to beat the outside lip of the inward with a punch to relieve the sidewall pressure before I could finally drive the seal out! The old seal was about twice the depth of the new seal (see photo 2). Cleaned everything up nice, gently tapped the new seal in place so the outside flange was at about the same depth as the original, then used a machinist's rule to make sure it was seated to the same depth all the way around.
Replaced the pinion flange, making sure the drain holes in the shims were aligned with the drain hole in the housing and buttoned it up. Replaced the washer, slinger and pinion nut. Did "chin ups" on the breaker bar to get the pinion on good and tight! Reconnected the driveshaft and finally, after too many hours, I was done! Now I just gotta replace that torn front CV joint boot- but not today!
...what is a pinion, and what does it do on a deuce?
I think I get it now. (Is that a 24v or a 12v bulb, though?)