Anyone have a slick trick for this?
I don't think I have an extension long enough. I have gear pullers, but no bearing puller. The races will be replaced, so I don't have to baby them.
I thought about a pry bar, but don't want to mess up the seal surface.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

6' piece of GALVANIZED STEEL water pipe (NOT cast iron)

 

If the race is stuck and you can't get it out any other way you can use a MIG welder and run a bead around the race. The heat will cause it to shrink and come out easy. Be careful about weld splatter. Cover any surfaces that could be ruined by the splatter. This should be used if all else fails.

 

Thanks guys, I'll give the long water pipe a try, should be able to find some at the local hardware store.

 

the weld splatter is why I always do this with my tig torch

Are both sides stuck? Normally you can pull these out with very little effort, they are not pressed in there very tight. I have had a lot of them that you could pull out by hand. Just clean the bearing race and with your thumbs try to rotate them, maybe they will come out. The new ones come packed together with grease and are installed on the axle as a set and then slid in the housing.

 

Yea, they usually come out pretty easy. A TIG machine would be best, but most people don't have access to one.

Some sharp screwdrivers might get in behind it and push it out far enough to get something larger in there.

 

Got 'em!
I found a 6' piece of 1/2" steel grounding rod in the shed, ground one end flat and slid it thru the housing. Got just enough contact on the inner lip of the bearing race, and tapped them out with a 2# sledge.
I love it when a plan comes together.

 

 

Thanks guys! Now for the interesting part.

 

Yup, pretty eeeeezy that way...

Never ceases to amaze me hearing all about puller this and weld that, when it's SO EEEEEEZY to bonk em out from the opposite side with a long piece of something. Then people get all defensive when told the eeeeezy way, like they don't want to hear it for some reason. Like maybe they're too proud to admit that they didn't figure out something that obvious. Glad you were smarter than to act like that!

 

Thanks guys, now if I could just come up with the perfect race driver just lying around the shed. I have what appears to be a spacer for a 12 bolt setup that I could probably use to drive the rear pinion race in (with a piece of pipe behind it). Just need to find something for the front pinion and wheel bearing races.
Kind of a haul to Autozone, but I might just break down and lug the housing there and pound them in in the parking lot. I'd hate to damage one.

 

Most of the time I have to use a long steel bar to help drive the races in. If you use a bearing driver the races tend to **** sideways a little and you have to use a long bar to get them lined up again. You could just use the bar to drive them in all the way. That's what I did for several years before I bought a bearing driver set. Just work your way around the race until it is completely seated.

 

This what I use

 

Yea, that's what I use too, but they never seem to start straight. I always have to use the steel bar to move them around until they go in straight.

 

I freeze the races overnight if I have time. It helps a lil bit. I also use a hot plate to warm bearings and ring gears to help with the install.

 

In a bind a good race driver is the old race you took out. Dress the OD a little with a sanding belt and use it to tap the race in...

 

You shouldnt need to drive the race in. The bearing and race should go in together once pressed onto the axle. Ive rebuilt my 9 bolt twice and it was the case both times. It is a tight fit but just line everything up and it will go all the way in with a push.

 

Good point, he must have a 10bolt if he's driving axle races out and in.
As we know, a 9bolt is like a ford 9" and has pressed on axle bearings.

 

Yes, the races go in by hand, you can just slide the axle in and matbe tap it with a hammer a little. Like I said earlier in the thread, the bearings and races come packed together and should be installed on the axle like that and secured with the sleeve

 

The reason I had to drive the wheel bearing races out was they were separated when I removed the axles. I got you on the wheel bearings being a set. Good tips for the pinion bearing races guys. I thought about using the old races but wasn't sure if they would hurt the new ones.
I'll need to bring the housing inside and leave the races out since its like 12 degrees outside!
Will it really stink up the house if I heat the ring gear in the oven? It is new and pretty darn clean.

 

I've never heated a gear to install it. Most of the time I can pull them on with the ring gear bolts. Sometimes I have to use the press to get them on if the bolts are not long enough.

Have you read this yet? https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tran...axle-gear.html

 

While we're on the subject of ring gears, the threads in mine are pretty rough. I have sprayed them out with brake cleaner a few times, but I can only bottom out and remove 3 of the bolts smoothly. Maybe shoot some compressed air in the holes? I know, goggles a must, I value my eyes! I have searched all over for a left handed thread chaser.

 

A trick I use is to cut the head off the old ring gear bolts and cut a slit in them. IO install them loosely and then use them to guide the ring gear on under the press, when seated I use a flat blade screw driver to back out the bolts modified to studs and replace with new.

 

http://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-taps/=l59cf2

 

If you try to run a tap in the threads of a ring gear you are probably just going to ruin a good tap. The ring gear is heat treated to around 60-62 Rockwell C, which is WAY too hard for a tap to do anything to it.

Twin_Turbo, I've got several sets of those bolts too. I've got a set for 9 inch Fords, 8.5 and 7.5 10 bolt and 8.2 10 bolt and 12 bolt. They are a big help when pressing a gear on. I cut a taper on the end of mine to help guide the bolts into the holes, but that's not really needed. Those are good pics. I lost all of my pics when Webshots sold out, so now I can't post anymore.

 

You can use the bolts to pull the ring gear up or press the gear on if your careful buut your not supposed to.
It could cause metal shavings between the ring gear and the carrier. I have never seen it happen and I have installed the gears like everyway listed.

 

Feels to me like just a bunch of grit in the threads. When i sprayed them out the points where the threads would bind changed. Maybe a round brass wire brush like a bottle cleaner?

 

Put a touch of oil on the threads and that goes away but won't help if you use thread locker.

 

Is that pretty common? I just want things to torque up cleanly.

 

Yup. Oil the threads and run the bolts in and out with a hand tool a few times..

 

I'll give it a shot, thanks!