Differential question
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Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 68
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From: Murphy Texas
Differential question
I am fairly new here, have been reading a lot but this is my first post. I am doing a frame off resto on a 78 have the diff out and was going to change pinion and carrier seals (all are leaking). When I tried to pull out the side yokes both are worn and burred on the ends that meet the carrier rod. Had to tap them out with a hammer. I have not measured the side play but it is more than 30 thous. My question how much side play and do I need to replace carrier yokes or complete rebuild. The gears look good and was making no noise, no metal pieces in oil (lots of metalic dust). Thanks for your help.
Randy
Randy
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 127
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From: Houston TX
Randy, welcome to the club. I was in a similar situation weeks ago and ended up having my diff rebuilt by one of the gurus on here (Mike D), who also happens to live in TX.
I started with worn side yokes on my 77 and ultimately discovered that even the spider gears were worn - hence a full rebuild.
For the yokes, I had bought a couple sets of new yokes, but could never re-establish a proper play as it seems the cross-shaft inside the posi that the yokes butt up against was worn as well.
Overall, I suggest to run a couple of searches first and look at some of the excellent information provided by Gary, Mike and others on here - you will see the popular ones by the view counter in the 10s of thousands
It really gives you an understanding of what you might want to consider when you tackle this.
I would also post some good quality pictures so that members can give you an opinion of what your hardware looks like and what to look out for (and measure !) before you disassemble anything. For example, as you already removed the yokes, post a picture of the outside of the case where the yokes go in - if the "step" at the case is worn down, you'll have additional things to consider....
Your best case scenario might indeed be to buy some new yokes, replace the pinion seal and be done with it, but as everyone will tell you, this would be a very lucky scenario on yoru 30-year old C3.
Best of luck !
Michael.
I started with worn side yokes on my 77 and ultimately discovered that even the spider gears were worn - hence a full rebuild.
For the yokes, I had bought a couple sets of new yokes, but could never re-establish a proper play as it seems the cross-shaft inside the posi that the yokes butt up against was worn as well.
Overall, I suggest to run a couple of searches first and look at some of the excellent information provided by Gary, Mike and others on here - you will see the popular ones by the view counter in the 10s of thousands
It really gives you an understanding of what you might want to consider when you tackle this.I would also post some good quality pictures so that members can give you an opinion of what your hardware looks like and what to look out for (and measure !) before you disassemble anything. For example, as you already removed the yokes, post a picture of the outside of the case where the yokes go in - if the "step" at the case is worn down, you'll have additional things to consider....
Your best case scenario might indeed be to buy some new yokes, replace the pinion seal and be done with it, but as everyone will tell you, this would be a very lucky scenario on yoru 30-year old C3.
Best of luck !
Michael.
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 24,125
Likes: 15
From: Columbia Missouri
Welcome to the forum Randy. 
Seek the advice of Gary or Mike, basically our professional rear end experts. Gary's forum name is GTR1999 and you can PM him for one on one discussion or just do a search for his threads.
Seek the advice of Gary or Mike, basically our professional rear end experts. Gary's forum name is GTR1999 and you can PM him for one on one discussion or just do a search for his threads.
