1972 ford 9" front cover?

[rjewkes]

Whats the secret to removing the cover on a dord 9"?
I can't get th we flat tip screw driver behind it.
I got the pinion gfs ear out still can't get the cover to move all nuts are off.

[sargentrs]

Yeah, those suckers are tight. The copper washers are really tight fitting and make it harder. Try prying those off first. Even then it's going to be hard to break loose. Place a thin chisel at the crack and tap it a couple of times working your way around the perimeter to break the seal loose. Once you have the gasket broke loose, it's still a tight fit. Ten studs with tight clearances means you have to work it off a little at a time.

[rjewkes]

Sounds like it woulda been easier to buy a complete used rear end

[ultraranger]

The driving pinion gear/(5) bolt housing doesn't have to be removed in order to get the 3rd member out of the rear end housing but, the axles do have to be removed before the 3rd member will come out.

Depending on what ratio gears you have, removing the driving pinion without making a reference mark first may lead to problems later on, if your ratio is a timed (non-hunting) gearset. If they are timed and the teeth of the driving pinion are not put back in contact with the correct teeth of the ring gear there's a good chance the gears will be noisey and will begin to wear at an accelerated rate.

http://forums.vintage-mustang.com/vinta ... nting.html

http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/hunting ... 65363.html

[anthoneyv]

If your talking about removing the third member, pull the axles, remove all the nuts. To break it loose, put a jack on the pinion and jack it up slowly and gently. That's what I did. Basically your using the weight of the truck to do the work for you. Prying, hammering, cursing.. nothing else worked for me . Good luck with it!

[70shortwide]

The driving pinion gear/(5) bolt housing doesn't have to be removed in order to get the 3rd member out of the rear end housing but, the axles do have to be removed before the 3rd member will come out.
Depending on what ratio gears you have, removing the driving pinion without making a reference mark first may lead to problems later on, if your ratio is a timed (non-hunting) gearset. If they are timed and the teeth of the driving pinion are not put back in contact with the correct teeth of the ring gear there's a good chance the gears will be noisey and will begin to wear at an accelerated rate.

http://forums.vintage-mustang.com/vinta ... nting.html

http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/hunting ... 65363.html

make sure you slide them out a little ways farther than you think they need to come... Ive been known to fight them for a few minutes only to figure out that an axle was still hanging on by a 1/2" or so.

It was also mentioned that the copper washers will hold you up... thats an understatement. I thought once that if I carefully pulled on the 3rd member evenly that the washers would just come with the 3rd member. nope. no way. not gonna happen. You will however waste a bunch of time if youre as stubborn as I was

If you pull the axles and all the washers it should come free pretty easily, I dont think Ive ever had to do much more than gently tap on a flathead screwdriver (yea I'm THAT guy, but only with my own tools) to break it loose.

[rjewkes]

It's 3.25:1 ratio is it likely timed?
So the pinion turns the ring gear are th we axles direct off that or are there smaller gears that mesh with the ring gear and axles?

[sargentrs]

Doubt it's a timed set. Yes, there are smaller planetary gears inside the carrier. Check out pages 11-12 in my build thread in my signature and you can see the inner workings of your differential.

[70shortwide]

sounds like your axles are still in...

Pull your wheels, then your brake drums. there is a hole on the face of each axle that will line up with 4 different nuts as you turn the axle. pull the nuts, then slide the axles out. you dont need to pull them all the way out but its a good opportunity to check them for damage. once you have the axles out (I usually pull them out about a foot) your center section should come out.

Also, double check for copper washers. if there are any on it they will cause the center section to not come out.

[rjewkes]

Is the right side axle supposes to be 1/4-1/2" longer?

[ultraranger]

It's 3.25:1 ratio is it likely timed?
So the pinion turns the ring gear are the axles direct off that or are there smaller gears that mesh with the ring gear and axles?

If your ratio is 3.25, then yes, it's a non-hunting (timed) gearset. There should be 12 teeth on the driving pinion and 39 teeth on the ring gear. 39 divided by 12 = 3.25.

Each pinion tooth will make contact with every 3rd ring tooth, and since 39 teeth is evenly divisible by 3, the pattern will repeat itself. Looked at another way, each ring gear tooth will always have the same 4 pinion teeth contact it. So, this set would definitely need to be timed.

If you are lucky, the factory paint markings are still on the teeth. One paint mark would be on one of the driving pinion teeth and two paint marks on two adjacent teeth of the ring gear. The one paint mark on the driving pinion gear would be set in between the two painted teeth of the ring gear, upon reassembly of the driving pinion into the 3rd member.

[ultraranger]

Is the right side axle supposes to be 1/4-1/2" longer?

In Ford 8-inch and 9-inch rear ends, the passenger side axle is the long axle and the driver side axle is the short axle.

[Hawkrod]

Ford truck axles are the same length left and right. There is no difference. If you are seeing a difference from the end to the bearing it means one of the bearings is not installed properly (I've seen it too often). Hawkrod