Ford 9in

Hey, my pinion seal blew and the gasket for the Third Member is leaking also. To remove the third member I just have to unbolt the axle ends and slide hammer the axles out, mark and unbolt the driveshaft. and unbolt the third member and it will come out? Ive never done a 9in it will be my first and one of the guys at my work explained it to me this way and i wanted to Verify the removal procedure with everyone on the form. I'd appreciate any advise on this job. Thank you

First you do not have to slide hammer the axles. After you take off the rear drums you will see 4 nuts where the backing plate bolts to the axle housing.These 4 bolts also hold your axle bearing in which is PRESSED onto your axle shaft.Take off those nuts on each side and your axles will just slide out with the bearing on them.You only have to pull them out like 4 inchs to clear the carrier.And like you said take off the drive shaft.Un bolt all the nuts holding the third member in and pry it loose.Dont let it drop.Use an impact gun to take the pinion nut off to take off the yoke.Pry out your seal and reinstall.Then put the yoke back on and use a little bit of threadlocker on the nut.Now run the nut down with the gun but DO NOT overtighten it or you will ***** up the bearing preload and youll have problems.Clean the thrid member surfaces and reseal and reinstall and slide your axles back in. 4 nuts on each side.And that should be it.

Awsome! Thank again you are a big help! Im planning on doing the rear this week and i wanted to clear up any loose ends with the whole procedure. My truck has been sitting so long because of it and now i finally take a few days off from work and wanted to get it done! /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

Just did a rebuild of mine due to worn out axles (splines starting to roll and grooves at the seals), also had to replace crushed spring perchs. Inspect everything while you have it all apart. I found a small crack in my housing at the internal pinion bearing. If everything looks good and you don't replace bearing and seal pack use some Loctite 518 in the bearing bore and try to clean out (carefully) dirt between the seal and retainer plate or that will be the next leak you have to fix. Hope this helps.

Mike is correct i nthat you should not need to use a slide hammer to pull out the axleshafts, as it's only needed to remove the bearing races from the axle housing/ tube. In some cases, however, it will feel like the axle is stuck and will not come out, either due to a frozen bearing, damaged splines, or some other problem. It may take a bit of force to pull the axleshaft free in that case, or if the axleshaft doesn't easily slide out. I've seen guys bolt the drum back onto the end of the shaft to get more leverage and pulling power if you need it. If you do have to replace the bearing and/ or outer seal, it's best to take it to a shop with a 20-ton press to remove & install these parts. You can rent a slide hammer for no cost at AutoZone or most parts stores to pull the race out. Just leave a deposit with your credit card, and that is refunded when you return the tools. You will need a bearing race install set, or the appropriate-sized pipe to drive in the race to the proper depth. Hopefully, the race doesn't just fall out on it's own or the new one is too small and fits loosely. IF so, you have a bigger problem of a wornout axle tube from excessive bearing/race wear. You might check out Miesk5's Homepage of Bronco Links, as he has alot of good info on the Ford 9" repair. JSM84

Thanks Everyone. I took my 9 inch apart yesterday and everything came apart great. but....the pinion support on the third member case is broken and the piece of the case was at the bottom of the axle housing. Ive been searching for a third Member since ( that isnt ridiculously expensive.