SeriousOffroad

It's a roll pin, also known as a drift pin. The easiest way to get it out is to remove the cap on the ring gear side of the diff and then use a long punch. After you've pushed the rollpin out, simply re-install the cap and torque to spec.

unclecameron

by doing all this will I affect any of my rearend setup, i.e. tolerance, spacing, etc. I've heard evil stories if you get them setup wrong for gear spacing, alignment, in other words where are the big red mushroom cloud shaped buttons I should avoid hitting? I'll take pictures of the rest of the process, so other folks will have a visual reference on all this, so thanks for all your help guys

SeriousOffroad

No affect on the gear setup at all.

BowtieGuy3

Just remember:

DON'T remove the bearing caps
DON'T mess with the pinion

Everything will be fine if you leave those alone. That's where all the backlash and other adjustments are made.

SeriousOffroad

Bullcrap! Removing the bearing caps won't hurt anything at all. The carrier is not being removed so it's a non-issue. He could take the whole carrier out if he wanted to, as long as it's reassembled the same way it came out.

The bearing caps are stamped with a letter that has a matching letter on the gasket surface. Just make sure it goes on the exact way it was originally.

unclecameron

GREETINGS FROM CAPTAIN OBVIOUS I just noticed that 180 degrees rotation from where the drift pin is there's another casting indent looking like the driftpin but not drilled, I was looking for the hole in the other end of where there was no hole, blimey. Ok, now I go searching for the proper diameter punch at least 4 inches in length, mine's about half that...

stupid hurts

BowtieGuy3

Guess I'm a bit more exact with setting up rear ends...
But why take them off and have to retorque something that isn't even in play? If you're gonna pull axles, pull axles, leave everything else alone...JMO

SeriousOffroad

WTF does setting up gears have to do with removing a bearing cap? Nothing at all. I'd really like to hear your explaination as to why you believe otherwise.

Removing the bearing cap allows for a straight shot at the roll pin with a punch.

unclecameron

ok, so I got the driftpin out with a really long punch, and yes, you do have to remove the cap to get clearance for the punch


then I was able to drive out the gear pin and remove the gears


when I got the gears out I found the axle gears just slid out like butter, no circlips, nothing Sooooo, I went out to the axle and gave is more than a love tap, and whammo! It came out friggin fraggin floggin, durn. Very early in the post someone was right, there really IS nothing holding the axle in, well except my resistance to use the large whack-o-matic needed to liberate the axle. So then I tried to remove the bearing from the axle with a big whack-o-matic, it doesn't seem to budge, is there some special jeepish tool I need, or what's involved?

the shiny stuff is the rain from bringing it in from the carport, which I wiped off thereafter.

unclecameron

from what I've heard it involves heating the retaining ring and having it pressed off, yikes! My guess is that this will destroy the other sealish pieces, which I'm not that anxious to do.

SeriousOffroad

NEVER APPLY HEAT TO THE AXLE SHAFT!! To much heat the you'll ruin the heat treat.

The FSM says to drill a few holes in it, but I found the best way to remove the retainer is to use a Dremel with a cut-off wheel. Don't cut all the way through or you'll damage the shaft. Leave a little bit of the retainer uncut and use a cold chisel to get it to crack. After that it will slide right off. Most of the time, if you cut enough, the retainer will POP!, and slid right off. Same goes for the bearing itself.

unclecameron

okay, I was able to split the bearing holder doo-dad by cutting into it like you said (A LIGHT TOUCH IS ESSENTIAL, or you'll at the very least damage parts, and easily yourself too, don't be stupid here)

then laying it on the floor and whacking it with a hammer chisel...and yeah, be careful you don't cut into the shaft, that would be a terrible ending to the axle story

Then I popped that part off, and then split the bearing race similarly:


then I used the same dremel to cut the bearing race and split it, again, USE CAUTION not to cut the shaft or the shoulder surface


I heard from someone you can heat up your new bearing and detent thingie in an oven and then beat them in place, is this true, or do I need to find a machine shop for this, or is there an alternative?

SeriousOffroad

Do yourself a favor...take it to a shop.

unclecameron

I took your advice, brought the axles to a shop where, for $15 apiece, they threw them in large impressive looking press and made easy work of it all, highly recommended Also, they threw the axle and backing plate in the cleaning tank, so they come back all shiny, assembled, packed with grease and puuuurty



then, since I bought a set of new inner seals, when I got home I looked inside the axle tube and saw the inner seal waaaaaaay in there, and the book says you need a special tool to get the distance from the axle end right, so I just left the old ones in there, since they looked pretty good. In this next picture you can see the outer bearing race you'll need to pull


So I had to figure out how to pull that outer race out without the special tool Jeep recommends (a slidehammer) since I didn't have one and would likely never use it again. I used the same dremel cutoff tool I used on the other bearing parts, and CAREFULLY cut diagonally through the race enough to smack it with the same big chisel and get it to pop apart, and then it came right out.

So that's about it, then I GENTLY tapped the new outer bearing race in place using a light touch, and a circular motion so it wouldn't bind. It will go all the way back against the shoulder, so don't worry about how far to tap it in there.

unclecameron

Now, to finish things up, you have to gently slide the axles back in place. Remember the other end of the axle will have to mesh with the splines on your differential gears, so you'll have to spin it right and left a little until you feel it engage, then slide it the rest of the way in, being careful not to let the outer seal bind when it goes in. There will still be a little play in the axle until you tighten down the 4 bolts in the backing pate, then everything will be pretty snug, since the outer seal is then held up snug against your tapered bearing, which is held in place against the outer race, and the other end of the axle floats in the splines, so you should be able to turn the axle freely, though with a bit of resistance from the seals.

In my case, I had to reassemble the differential gears now, since I took them apart before I found out I didn't need to on the Dana 35 One BIG TIP here, which will save you hours:

It's really easy (you will do it at least once) to get the 2 bevel gears 1 tooth out of alignment when attempting to spin the axle to drive it in place, plus you have to get those stupid curved thrust washers underneath both gears at the same time, much swearing might ensue, especially when you get them all in place and the pin is 1/8" off and won't align. Here's how you avoid it: do a dry run without the thrust washers, it's much easier, all you do it rotate one hub so it drives both gears in place, then insert the pin the holds them in place, to make sure they align, then pull the pin and rotate the gears back out until you can BARELY slip the washers underneath them, then spin the hub again which will force them roughly back where they should be. When both the washer and gear are over the hole, use a tapered pin to align them, then slide the pin in place and beat the compression pin that holds it all in place back in the hole, and re-attach the caps you had to remove to get to the pin.

Then you're done, torque everything, put the cover back on, add 2.5 pints of rearend oil and drop her off the jackstand and take her for a drive

I hope this helps would-be wheel bearing replacers, your job should take hours, not days like mine, if you read this and apply common sense. Happy Jeeping