????Pinion bearing removal????
 

I have a 10 bolt 3.23 posi in my 86 iroc. I already have the pinion seal and everything off and am glaring at the bearing. The stupid thing will not come out. I have tried prying with a screwdriver to no avail and alot of other desperate attempts. I thought it was supposed to come right out???
Is there a "trick"??? Or any special tools?? Is there a C-clip I can't see?
Please help, I did a search in and out of TGO and couldn't find anything. :thanks:

bump

Tap the end of the pinion shaft (the threaded end) inward with a soft hammer. Or cushion it with a block of wood. Don't want to damage the threads.

This will break the bearing free of the shaft. Over time they tend to glue themselves in place.

RBob.

If I remember right;
you've got your outer nut off, yoke off, and pinion seal, but the pinion is still there?

So there's an inner and outer pinion bearing, along with the race for each. Which one are you trying to remove? Is the pinion still in place like Rbob is talking about? I'm thinking you're talking about the inner race or something...

I don't think that even if you DO get it out, that you'll be accomplishing anything worthwhile.

That bearing rarely wears out. The pinion bearing that goes bad, is the BIG one, at the other end of the pinion, right behind the gear teeth. If you think you're going to fix something by changing that little one, you're probably wrong.

The 2 bearings are usually referred to as the "head bearing" (the big one) and the "tail bearing" (the one you're messing with). Think of the pinion as looking like a tadpole or something, and "head" and "tail" will make sense.

If a bearing "cone" (inner race plus the rollers) is bad, then the outer race is bad too; and a new cone won't survive running on a wasted outer race. It will self-destruct in a matter of minutes, and will get far worse than the old one was, FAST. You can't change the outer race with the whole rear end all still assembled; the carrier and the pinion need to come all the way out.

What are you REALLY trying to accomplish here? That is, instead of talking about how to kill the alligators, back yourself up past draining the swamp, all the way to wanting to build a new farm.

:lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lol: - some of your quotes are priceless man!
- also, you're right. If hes changing this because of a bad bearing/noise, I got a couple ones in my pocket(I'm poor, and not much of a gambler, ok?) that say he's wasting his time....

RBOB Thanks! Didn't know if that would hurt it, but it worked thanks!!!

Oh, and I am doing it because I want to do it. 10 bucks is alot better than a whole rebuild and it does make a difference; my friend did one in his B4C but didn't have near the problem getting his out. Shagwell and sofakingdom, if you guys know so much, why not present that in a manner that would actually help somebody. If you read my post I am already into doing this and neither one of you answered the original question. I can see by your post counts you have nothing better to do than jack threads so thanks for nothing.

MODERATOR PLEASE LOCK THREAD, MY QUESTON HAS BEEN ANSWERED THANK YOU.

:lmao: :lmao: Good luck!!! Sounds like you're going to be needing it. :nod:

all we did was first ask why you were doing it. - no one was trying to bash you, nor was it worded that way, just stated a fact. - Don't bash anyone on here w/o proper info to back it. sofaking and I have answered many questions for many people on this board, as that's what it's for, so that's what we try to do....

- I don't answer anything without a reason as to why it's being done. Also, threads are only locked if they're getting out of order or if they're getting too far off topic, otherwise they're left open so as to be of help to people who actually use the search key as intended.
- $10 better than a whole rebuild? You lost me on that one. If your rear needs re-built, the outer pinion bearing isn't gonna save anything, and if it's not bad it obviously isn't gonna gain anything......

some one else to add to the list of people to not help from someone that knows a bit more than the usual mc donalds parking lot monkey spank.

Again. Rbob already answered my question.

83, just curious about that bearing. Did you damage it somehow, or are you switching it out because the rear is making noise? I'm asking because usually the head bearing is the one that goes, in which case I would change the tail bearing along with it. I've never seen ONLY the tail bearing changed before, unless it was damaged while it was exposed or something like that.

Just adding to the list of things meant to help you out here. Sofakingdom is totally right about using a new bearing cone assembly with an old race. BAD IDEA! My old man taught me that when I was probably 14 years old and he was showing me how to replace wheel bearings and races. Plenty of people manage to get away with it, but it's definitely a crap shoot. I also agree that it's the larger bearing that goes bad nine times outta ten. The other thing I wonder at this point is if you realize that you have to get the pinion preload set correctly again whenever you undo the pinion nut and change any bearings. I'll be surprised if it's still quiet and not leaking within the next 6 months or less.