Rear Axle replacement in/out of car?

[MuskegonFlatheadFan]

Well I get to replace the broken rear axle in my '40 coupe. Luckily the fender skirt kept the wheel out of the ditch. I have found another rear end that I should be able to salvage the axle. My questions are; can this be done while the rear end is still in the car? any reason to disconnect the torque tube? any other typical damage I should check for? best vendor for gaskets, seals, bearings, etc ? Any thoughts on the castle nut torque sppec? I've read that it needs to be 200 lbs/ft, and I know I didn't use that much when we did the restoration 10 years ago. Would these not being torqued enough cause the axle to fatigue? Thanks in advance!

[David J]

Never done it but if you unhook { carefully } the drivers side spring shackle , take the hub-drum & backing plate off the drivers side , disconnect the drivers side shock , take the drivers side radius rod off , take the passenger side hub-drum off , take the drivers side axle housing off & you can pull the axle-diff assy out . The only problem I see is the gasket thickness thing but you will have to deal with that no matter where the rear end is . There has got to be someone out there that's done this ? Check the end of your housing for gouging or whatever . If you have marks on the end of the axle housing take a real good look at the wheel bearing-hub . Dunno on the tourque thing - I just use a fairly long box end and give it a good pull . You didn't say what side or where it broke so you will be able to skip a step above . If you do it this way let us know how it goes .

Originally Posted by FlatheadFanFromMI

My questions are; can this be done while the rear end is still in the car? any reason to disconnect the torque tube? any other typical damage I should check for? best vendor for gaskets, seals, bearings, etc ? Any thoughts on the castle nut torque sppec? I've read that it needs to be 200 lbs/ft, and I know I didn't use that much when we did the restoration 10 years ago. Would these not being torqued enough cause the axle to fatigue? Thanks in advance!

[ford38v8]

Flatheadfan, I'm the guy that did it. I was on a cross country trek, broke an axle, found a replacement axle set (Mine was a 16 tooth, the replacement was an 18 tooth) including the needed spyder gear. I had use of a garage with a large fan, and a refrigerator full of beer.

I had no spring spreader, so I had to use the weight of the car to releive tension. Luckily, I had previously changed out my shackle pins, so I had no problem with the new modern teflon pins. This was the key to my success in this 36 hour job.

Both axle housings had to be removed in order to replace both axles and spyder. Torque tube remained in place, shocks were removed. Gaskets were very carefully salvaged, as there was no local source for new gasket sets. The job was done as a permanent fix, uncluding the use of red permatex on the banjo bolts. 36 hours included torching stuck shoes from drums to access my replacement axles. The job was very successful, and remains just as I had fixed it back in 1999, on my way to the Omaha Central National Meet.

Oh yes, my axle had broken at the keyway, indication of my not having tightened the taper well enough the first time around.

Correction: The real key to success obviously was the refrigerator full of beer, thoughtfully provided by a V8 Club member near the scene of the disaster. Yes, I won the Hard Luck Trophy at the Meet!

[MuskegonFlatheadFan]

It was the drivers side that broke. It broke near the large end of the taper, near where the keyway breaks out to the main diameter. Sounds like the drivers side is the "easier" side, so I will probebly do it in the car. Any thoughts on parts vendors, or are they all pretty much comparable? thanks for your insight. Will let you know how it goes.

[Dale Fairfax]

David J has described axactly what to do. The reason for removing drum and hub from the passenger side is to allow pulling the ENTIRE axle differential assy out of the driver's side. You will have the differential and both axles out on the floor. Then you have to split the differential carrier assy to remove the broken axle from the inside.

[JWL]

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It is not a difficult job if the vehicle has been assembled within the past few years. I did one is about 6 hours leaving everything possible attached to the car. Dale F. explained the process after the driver side housing is removed. The hardest part, for me, was making up my mind to get busy!!

[Karl Wolf]

Get and install brake drum retainers!! Speedway, Vern Tardel... Way cheaper than losing a wheel... Due to a broken axle... Karl

[Bassman/NZ]

Dont forget to lap the drum taper to the axle taper with valve lapping paste to ensure a tight, perfect fit.

[PeteVS]

Originally Posted by Bassman/NZ

Dont forget to lap the drum taper to the axle taper with valve lapping paste to ensure a tight, perfect fit.

Yeah! You can do this on the ground, away from the car. Just lap the axle that's gonna be on the right side of the car with the corresponding drum / hub and repeat with the left side. I'd keep of the grinding compound away from any of the bearings!

[MuskegonFlatheadFan]

Well after a long procrastinating period, I finally took apart the donor rearend I had to gain the replacement axle I need. Turns out to be a bust, both axles are cracked. Seems this is the weak link in these rearends. Is finding good axles like the needle in the haystack? Does anyone sell reproduction axles, or does the search continue?

[Gary in La.]

Call Stacy Brown at Antique Auto Supply in Arlington,Texas. (817) 275-2381

[PeteVS]

Originally Posted by MuskegonFlatheadFan

Is finding good axles like the needle in the haystack? Does anyone sell reproduction axles, or does the search continue?

Post in the Wanted section of the FordBarn swap meet section!

[frederic]

Done this many times back in the day. Teenage days - up on a cruse to Hollywood from southern beach cities in 1965, and snapped an axle. Parked the jewel and walked home to gather tools and such for return trip and an axle job just off Sunset Blvd near UCLA. We knew nothing about gaskets or safe practices and just went after it. We had a routine step by step process after MANY in car axle jobs amongst our group. Oh the good old days !!!

Yes it can be done

[JSeery]

I have made this comment before, It is amazing what kids could do in the 50s and 60s that educated adults today have a hard time figuring out.

[deuce_roadster]

If you have to put new gaskets on the LH housing (if you only remove that side) it is critical that you measure the thickness of the installed ones and only put the exact thickness back on. Those gaskets are also shims that set the preload on the carrier bearings and pinion backlash. Same goes for the RH housing, the thickness on that side will almost certainly be different then what is on the LH side so don't assume both sides are the same.
You are correct in that loose hubs create the cracks at the end of the keyway. Many people think the key is there to drive the hub but it is not. It is the hub on the taper that keeps it tight. When the hub is loose, it puts pressure back and forth on the keyway until a crack starts and then the end breaks off.
When you assemble it, tighten it up very tight, but don't put the cotter pin in. Drive it around the block one way then the opposite way and back into your shop. Tighten it again, repeat until you can't get anymore movement on the nut, then with a torque wrench or large cheater bar tighten the nut to where you can insert the cotter pin. This is a better approach then going up to max torque all at once.

[V8COOPMAN]

This is such a significant thread for "old Ford" guys......especially for those guys that keep asking about the AMOUNT of torque required on that big ol' nut, and as to WHY it needs to be SO tight.

Several very wise and knowledgeable posters above have basically outlined the reasons in THIS thread, among numerous other threads in the past. For those that are new to old Fords, and for those that still don't understand the "physics" of how TAPERED-shaft-engagement is designed to work, MAKE SURE THAT FRIGGEN' NUT IS TIGHTENED ACCORDINGLY ! DD

[36coupe]

Originally Posted by MuskegonFlatheadFan

Well I get to replace the broken rear axle in my '40 coupe. Luckily the fender skirt kept the wheel out of the ditch. I have found another rear end that I should be able to salvage the axle. My questions are; can this be done while the rear end is still in the car? any reason to disconnect the torque tube? any other typical damage I should check for? best vendor for gaskets, seals, bearings, etc ? Any thoughts on the castle nut torque sppec? I've read that it needs to be 200 lbs/ft, and I know I didn't use that much when we did the restoration 10 years ago. Would these not being torqued enough cause the axle to fatigue? Thanks in advance!

I just did it with my 38 axle with the rear in the car.

A few points i learned.
I bought a Wilson Hub puller
A good gasket set with multiple shim gaskets.
Used my Port-a-power to spread spring, very easy way to do it.
In my case I made a set of heavy duty drum retainers.
Used the port-a-power to get the left radius rod back on. Had to push the axle back about 3/16 to slide the bolt in.
pulled the hub bearings and cleaned them and installed need seals.
Put each axle in the vise in the horizontal position and emery clothed and filed the high spots off the taper and then used lapping compound to fit the taper to the hub, spun it while applying light torque on the axle nut to help the lapping process. This made a perfect fit and is easier than doing it on the car.
One last thing have the keyways MPI to look for cracks.

Found the directions here on the ford barn

hope this helps

[Straightpipes]

It's much easier (for me) to simply pull the entire rear end assembly out from under the car and put it up where you can properly work on it. Especially when setting the pinion load. I quit crawling around under cars years ago....

[36coupe]

Originally Posted by Straightpipes

It's much easier (for me) to simply pull the entire rear end assembly out from under the car and put it up where you can properly work on it. Especially when setting the pinion load. I quit crawling around under cars years ago....

I have a 4 post hoist and I measured the left side gasket that came out and replaced it the same size. It seems to work okay.
Without the hoist maybe yes.

[Charlie ny]

MMF,
I have nice used axles.....email me [email protected]
Charlie ny

[GEOFFNZ]

I haven't done this myself but was told by a man of experience that he always left a light smear of grinding paste on the axle and believed the grit locked the two surfaces together under the extreme pressure of the nut. Geoff

[V8COOPMAN]

Originally Posted by GEOFFNZ

I haven't done this myself but was told by a man of experience that he always left a light smear of grinding paste on the axle and believed the grit locked the two surfaces together under the extreme pressure of the nut. Geoff

Some "men of experience" don't know good wood from brush. Don't do that! DD

[40 Deluxe]

Don't forget about the seal inside the axle housing. It probably got beat up by the broken axle and will leak gear oil into the hub bearing (and from there onto the brake shoes).

[MuskegonFlatheadFan]

This thread is actually 3-1/2 years old, and the repair was remarkably easy. I was able to source good used axles locally. Thanks to all the good tips here, we've been on the road with no problems. The biggest lessons learned was to lap the taper and really tighten the nut.