Another pinion cup question

[Hotrodwing]

Iam freshing up my drive line with a new shaft, pinion cup and u-joint. Question how do you remove the c-clip from the end of the drive shaft?  How or do you compress the spring? ( I need to reuse I did not buy a new one)  Also It is my understanding that to remove the pinion cup to use an impact wrench, Right?  But how and how tight do you tighten the nut?   Thanks in advance.  Mike

[CASABROKER]

If you have two sets of hands one to push the spring down the other to pop off the c clip with a small screwdriver it can be done.  It would be best to get a pair of split ring pliers then you can do it yourself.  I took a pair of channel locks and put the two handles across the shaft and between the spring and pushed down on the spring worked great.

[CASABROKER]

BTW I didn't take off the pinion cup I just cleaned and made sure the holes were clear with a piece of wire.

[Ricky-D]

Unless changing the drive shaft is connected to some other reason it would be suggested to change the pinion cup along with the drive shaft.

Reason being that the worn spines in the old pinion cup will quickly wear down the new spines on the drive shaft. Makes em want to fit together and be happy.

I seriously think that the teeth on the gears inside the pumpkin (flange and pinion) are not happy about receiving the forces from an impact driver upon the pinion nut.

***

[Hotrodwing]

Thanks guys.  I am changing both pinion cup and shaft.  I will try the vise grip method for removal of the spring and clip .  I still need to know how much to torque the nut down on the pinion cup

[bscrive]

I used an impact gun to remove mine with no problems.  It only took a quick shot to remove the nut.  The pinion nut needs to be torqued to 112 ft/lbs.  Put the flange in the final gear, use a bar to stop the gears from rotating and torque the nut down.  You will need another person for this.  I screwed down two 2x4 on each side of the final drive so it would not move.

[Hotrodwing]

Well I just got back from having my new Avon mount and the tech showed me a tool that they use to remove the pinion cup. This tool slides inside the cup with the same teeth that the driveshaft has it is bolted to the 4 bolts that hold the rear and is hollow inside for the socket to stick thru. It looked preety slick although I wondered how it would work it the teeth in the pinion cup were shot.   Anyway I asked what the torque spec was and he looked it up in the shop manual and said it was 80 ft pounds.

[bscrive]

Sorry, I gave you the torque spec for the pinion retaining nut. ooppps

[art]

Unless changing the drive shaft is connected to some other reason it would be suggested to change the pinion cup along with the drive shaft.

Reason being that the worn spines in the old pinion cup will quickly wear down the new spines on the drive shaft. Makes em want to fit together and be happy.

I seriously think that the teeth on the gears inside the pumpkin (flange and pinion) are not happy about receiving the forces from an impact driver upon the pinion nut.

***

I think he was refering to a impact wrench an not a impact driver.the driver is a lot harder on equipment than a impact wrench.Don't get me wrong ,usually you are right on an I always respect your advise I think you just read it wrong.Art

[Ricky-D]

Impact wrench

Impact driver

I use these two interchangeably and was not referring to the tool with which you also need a hammer to employ.

It's the teeth on the internal gears within the pumpkin to which I refer, can be damaged without discovery.

***

[Hotrodwing]

Have found something of intrest about the holes in the pinion cup.  1st  I always noticed the faint smell of gear oil in the cup area ( No large amount of oil found just a trace mixed with the grease I that I had on the teeth) anyway when I install the new cup I wondered about the hole weather they were for oiling of the cup.  So while i had the pumpkin in hand I tilted it down and low and be hold the rearend oil flowed thru the holes.   These holes have to stay clear so the oil can flow in and out of the cup.  I will continue to use a light coating of waterproof grease on them and make sure they are kept clean also.  Just my 2 cents hope this helps others.

[Daniel Meyer]

Have found something of intrest about the holes in the pinion cup.  1st  I always noticed the faint smell of gear oil in the cup area ( No large amount of oil found just a trace mixed with the grease I that I had on the teeth) anyway when I install the new cup I wondered about the hole weather they were for oiling of the cup.  So while i had the pumpkin in hand I tilted it down and low and be hold the rearend oil flowed thru the holes.   These holes have to stay clear so the oil can flow in and out of the cup.  I will continue to use a light coating of waterproof grease on them and make sure they are kept clean also.  Just my 2 cents hope this helps others.

Yep!

Well I just got back from having my new Avon mount and the tech showed me a tool that they use to remove the pinion cup. This tool slides inside the cup with the same teeth that the driveshaft has it is bolted to the 4 bolts that hold the rear and is hollow inside for the socket to stick thru. It looked preety slick although I wondered how it would work it the teeth in the pinion cup were shot.  ...

The teeth on the cup generally survive on the very end/opening of the cup, as the shaft is deeper in (ahh, gotta love deep shafts). That's usually enough to grab the cup. That said, my tool "migrated" to someone that thought they needed it more than I do...so a pipe wrench or big  vice grips often do the job for me.