Differential Crossmember Removal
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 195
Likes: 21
From: Upstate SC
Differential Crossmember Removal
I've done all the recommended tricks and have gotten the left side to fall but the right still won't budge. I've hosed it down with Silikroil for the umpteenth time and have shaken it like crazy to no avail. Looking into the rubber flex mount, it is hard to imagine that rubber to steel will form such a bond. Am I missing something? I figure it'll drop in a day or so of its own accord (like the left) but I'd still like to know how come it is so difficult. Before the left side dropped I had imagined all sorts of different ways it could be corroded on but now, having seen it, I am more baffled at its tenacity. Any words of wisdom?
Claude
Claude
Race Director
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 19,610
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From: Forked River NJ
Re: Differential Crossmember Removal (70L46Conv4Sp)
Get a large pry bar and have at it. They can be extremly stubborn but they will come off. If you wait for it to drop on its own you might be in for a long wait. I've seen a 5 foot pry bar have trouble getting these off. Keep working on it.
Race Director
Joined: Mar 1999
Posts: 10,258
Likes: 1
From: Calif.
Re: Differential Crossmember Removal (70L46Conv4Sp)
Wow.
I just sucked it up and dropped my diff. crossmember after trying to get the pumpkin back up there by itself. I guess I really caught a break--I undid the two bolts and i was able to wiggle it right off by hand.
That doesn't help you, but I'd say to have at it with a B.F. crowbar after putting the other side back up so you're not working at an angle.
Good luck, man.
I just sucked it up and dropped my diff. crossmember after trying to get the pumpkin back up there by itself. I guess I really caught a break--I undid the two bolts and i was able to wiggle it right off by hand.
That doesn't help you, but I'd say to have at it with a B.F. crowbar after putting the other side back up so you're not working at an angle.
Good luck, man.
Premium Supporting Vendor
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 4,312
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From: Clearwater FL
Re: Differential Crossmember Removal (Gordonm)
Quote:
Get a large pry bar and have at it. They can be extremly stubborn but they will come off. If you wait for it to drop on its own you might be in for a long wait. I've seen a 5 foot pry bar have trouble getting these off. Keep working on it.
:iagree:
Get a large pry bar and have at it. They can be extremly stubborn but they will come off. If you wait for it to drop on its own you might be in for a long wait. I've seen a 5 foot pry bar have trouble getting these off. Keep working on it.
:iagree:
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,310
Likes: 1
Re: Differential Crossmember Removal (70L46Conv4Sp)
I took the easy way out :bb and had a shop do it for me.
The guy said he had a pry bar with an extension on it and he was hanging from it to get the thing out.
You may want to check the archives; I believe someone had a post about using a gear puller and said that worked really well.
Good Luck.
The guy said he had a pry bar with an extension on it and he was hanging from it to get the thing out.
You may want to check the archives; I believe someone had a post about using a gear puller and said that worked really well.
Good Luck.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 195
Likes: 21
From: Upstate SC
Re: Differential Crossmember Removal (70L46Conv4Sp)
Thanks for all your replies. As far as the pry bars and gear pullers, I've already given them a workout. I believe the Silikroil loosened the left one up enough that it finally dropped. I'm still framming away on it several times a day. I guess my original post was just an attempt to find out how rubber and steel can get such a death grip on each other. I believe tomorrow I may take the right bolt out and put a lot of cushioning material under the differential and just try and twist it off by pushing the left side down until something gives. Does this sound like a reasonable plan? As far as the archives go, I have looked at all of them several times. First for me and then to show a couple of friends that I wasn't crazy and it really was a crowbar, gear puller and sheer muscle type job. They were skeptical and were sure that I had missed a hidden bolt or something.
Claude
Claude
Race Director
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 11,872
Likes: 12
From: Waterloo ontario Canada
Re: Differential Crossmember Removal (70L46Conv4Sp)
I don't believe in the pry bar method. One slip and you could damage somethng. Brute force always runs the risk of an accident. My favorite method is 2 large chisels. One on each side of the rubber and use them like wedges driving them in like a pickel fork. They exert tremendious pressure. Keep tapping back and forth, first one then the other. I leave the other side with the bolt partly in to keep the thing from crashing down.
2 large chissels will work.
2 large chissels will work.
