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Ready to drop the rear diff and am looking for pics or links to jigs that mount to floor jack and or diff. to make it a safe and easy 1 man job. This is the only pic I have Thanks!!
Made this tool to bolt the diff to the garage jack to make install easier
Excuse te welding I was working on a limited power supply so couldn't get enough amps into the work.
I just did mine alone with a aluminum floor jack i just got the balance point and lifted it up to where I could run the cross m bolts in a little bit with the jack still in place
the PITA was getting the drive shaft u joint caps to line up with the differential input. Lots of twisting the drive shaft and then crawling out to put the tranny in gear. Manual transmission. New differential are so tight that it is hard to rotate the output yokes
I used a short crowbar. I had to put each drive line strap on to ensure that each u joint cap was fully captured to the end of the strap
once all tighten down I jacked the differential up and tighten the cross m bolts. Then you do the snubber bolt in. Then each haft shaft. Rotating the drive shaft by hand.
I have smart struts with poly ends the wheels hanging down arc in. If you have the wheels off it is much easier.
so you jack the center mount with the struts attached up to the diff cover and put the bolts in. The next thing is 4 center bolts to place the spring. Then rear spring and end bolts. Last is the sway bar
I went with a approx. 10 X 10 plate as well with holes drilled to link up. Worked great. I just used the same bolt the the cup was bolted to the jack to hold the plate in place.
I just did mine alone with a aluminum floor jack i just got the balance point and lifted it up to where I could run the cross m bolts in a little bit with the jack still in place
I just did mine alone with a aluminum floor jack i just got the balance point and lifted it up to where I could run the cross m bolts in a little bit with the jack still in place
the PITA was getting the drive shaft u joint caps to line up with the differential input. Lots of twisting the drive shaft and then crawling out to put the tranny in gear. Manual transmission. New differential are so tight that it is hard to rotate the output yokes
I used a short crowbar. I had to put each drive line strap on to ensure that each u joint cap was fully captured to the end of the strap
once all tighten down I jacked the differential up and tighten the cross m bolts. Then you do the snubber bolt in. Then each haft shaft. Rotating the drive shaft by hand.
Mine was automatic. That said, I used a strap wrench to rotate the drive shaft. As for preventing movement when I got to the final strap torquing, I just put the parking brake on.
I think the gasket is still attached to the cover. Fuzzy in the pic though.
Congrats on getting this done without killing yourself. It’s a pretty heavy part to remove solo.
One trick that I can offer for putting it back is to use a threaded rod on both sides. Just put a washer or two and a nut below the crossmember. Just run them up until snug and then replace the rods with the retaining bolts.
Last edited by CA-Legal-Vette; 07-02-2018 at 07:50 PM.
Well I doubt you can kill yourself with a 100lbs diff unit until you operate with a jack and not on a car lift.
Sure you can clamp hands if it would fall of the jack, but you wont die
Well I doubt you can kill yourself with a 100lbs diff unit until you operate with a jack and not on a car lift.
Sure you can clamp hands if it would fall of the jack, but you wont die
Working off my back/side at my age ALMOST killed me!!
That diff doesn't look too bad but you can't tell a lot from some pictures - unless it was really bad. If it was quiet and has the original GM gears in it you may just need to check the axles and determine where the endplay is. Simple maintenance would be to replace the axle and pinion seals. Check the torque on the RG bolts, remove 1 by 1 and Loctite back in place, and check the axles. A lot depends on your application- if it is a street car, automatic with street tires the maintenance above is probably all you need. If you have over 400hp or will be pushing the car hard you should address the weak areas these diff's have.
You may not get what you expect from some rebuilders. You were warned about one such place but I can assure you they are not alone. As I was told in 5th grade- do your homework or pay the price- maybe several times. Good luck.
07-01-2018, 04:28 PM
Dropping Rear Diff
