Spider Gear roll out - Help please! - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

bpvideo · 03-11-2010, 17:45

What a tangled web I weave!

While replacing an axle & bearing I managed to roll the spider gears out of the rear end. How do I go about getting these back in without damaging? Good news is they show no chips or damage.

I searched several forums, found plenty of warnings but no results for fixing.

Help Please!

**Bert** · 03-11-2010, 17:49

They roll back in the same way. You have to start them at the same time. One inside on top and the other outside and lower. Or visa-versa.

bpvideo · 03-11-2010, 17:58

Shew that is a relief to hear, I know it is still a pain though!

Also When I put the new axle in it did not want slide any easily I rotated and made sure it was the splines engaged but had to tap slightly with slide to get it all the way through. I chalked this up to considerable "flange" or additional thickness at the bearing end.

Is this normal with a new replacement axle?

Thanks as always Bert! If you ever consider relocating Lexington, KY is a great place plenty of cars to work on.

**Bert** · 03-11-2010, 19:06

You wouldn't be able to put the C-clips on with the spider gears in. Just put one gear in on one side and the other onthe opposite and roll them in. The axles should slide in without a binding. If the seal isn't all the way in it could do that. Did you pull the speed sensors out a ways?

bpvideo · 03-11-2010, 19:24

Thanks! I had a mechanic lined up to do this on the side but he stood me up, this is a little more of a job than I prefer to do but I needed it fixed ASAP. (that didn't work out to well)

Yes I push the ABS sensors in to remove the C clips, they were a pain to get to move at first, but a little WD40 helped.

I am a little confused though when you say:

Quote:

Originally Posted by rtg143

You wouldn't be able to put the C-clips on with the spider gears in.

I have read up on this job and most threads say be careful not to let the spider gears fall out and you can do a bearing / axle replacement without them being removed. Is this correct? Not that it matters now in my case.

Sounds like my bearing / seal might not have been in completely so I may have diverted a costly error with the gears coming out!

Thanks as always. I have a feeling I will need a drink when this is all done and owe you one as well.

**Bert** · 03-11-2010, 19:49

You do have to pull the shaft that the spider gears are on . I always pull the spider gears for more room. They aren't really hard to put back in. Once you do it, you'll see what I mean. If it has the Posi, (The S shaped spring is in the center, which you don't have to remove), you'll need to turn the axles to get the spider gears to roll in place.

jsuthers · 03-11-2010, 20:54

Not sure if you figured this out yet but I just decided to do some looking around and found a pretty sure video about doing a inspection on the diff. gears.

Anyway I was looking on a forum "http://forum.ih8mud.com/40-55-series-tech/124780-how-install-spider-gears-real-time.html" and the poster gave an explanation on how he did it.

"The solution is to basically move the side gears at the same time to fish the first spider up and then insert the 2nd spider gear just before it gets to the hole."

Hope that helped you :)

bpvideo · 03-12-2010, 17:15

Finishing this job tomorrow

I am using a dorman replacement axle a piece of paper in the box says "You may need to swap the antilock brake tone rings from your old axle shafts onto your new axle shafts."

Everything apears to be the same on the new shaft, same # of splines, measures the same on the shaft and line us perfectly with the ABS sensor.

Does anyone have experience with dorman axles in P71's? Could this have been causing the axle not to insert correctly?

Should I replace it just in case?

**Bert** · 03-12-2010, 17:23

I haven't had any experience with Dorman axles but you'd think they should match up the same.

bpvideo · 03-12-2010, 17:49

One would think dorman would do the research and put a listing of the years /cars that you do need to change the ABS ring on. But the papers reads just as I posted.

I found this "Worse yet, some aftermarket axle shafts (i.e. dorman brand) do come with tone rings, but they are the wrong size and don't fit properly with the other rear axle parts." on p71.com

FYI for future readers great pictures of this job @ 2005 Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor E-Brake Pictures