Rear Axle: URGENT PROBLEM- axle shaft won't go all the way in on reassembly

[53k]

I switched the 3.54 TT in my '64 Avanti for a 3.07 TT. I have my mechanic son doing most of the work. Since I had no idea how long it had been since the 3.07 had been serviced I had him pull the shafts and grease the bearings. Replaced the inner grease seal and tried to push/tap the axle back in. It won't go the last inch. I remember hearing about the thrust block shifting and keeping the axle from going in. If this is the case, how do you get the thrust block re-aligned so the shaft will slip in? I'm hoping to have the car ready to leave Friday on a 500-mile round trip.
I guess I was lucky when I did this to my Wagonaire TT some years ago- both slipped right in.

[Dean McHenry]

OOps Thats a bummer. I have had the same thing happen to me several times. What is refered to as the "Thrust Blocks" is actually 2 small buttons in the shape of a mushroom with a small roll pin that is suppost to keep them together when you remove an axle. After some time and a bit of wear the pin comes loose, no big deal as the blocks are secured in the diff with pressure on both sides from the axle shafts., But now when an axle is removed it allows the button to fall into the splined area of the carrier and wont allow the axle to seat again... The block is what allows the axles to butt together so you can set the endplay on the rear axle bearings..

#1 NOW How do you fix this?? IF you are real good and talented and lucky Take a good long magnet on a stick and slide down the hole and retrieve both buttons. make sure you have the little roll pin that is supposed to secure them together. Once you have retrieved the parts notice that there is a small hole in the center of the buttons as well as a smaller hole in the little roll pin. Start with a length of stiff wire at least as long as the overall width of the axle and with help with a light on the oppisite side carefully slide the wire all the way thru the Carrier and out the axle tube on the other side (I used a piece of #9 list time I did this) Next step is to round up a bit of piano wire small enough to go thru the center of the buttons and the roll pin. Tape the small wire to you heavy fish wire and pull it thru the axle . Now you can put one half on one side of the piano wire and one on the other and with a small dowel push the pin thru the tube and then into place in the carrier,. Use a bit of stiff grease to hold the button in place. do the same on both sides, carefully pull the piano wire back out without pulling the thrust block out of place (sometimes easier said than done), and your good to go

#2 NOW how do you fix this? An Old mechanic buddy told me to retrieve the parts as in #1 above and then glue them to the end of the axles then put the whole mess back together.. I have tried this a couple of times but didnt have any luck both times... Maybe it is my lack of clean living..

#3 NOW how do you fix this.. This is the way its SUPPOSED to be done ...By the book !! Pull the back cover and drop the carrier out of the car. Retrieve the buttons, round up a new roll pin so the buttons will stay put this time and put the thing back together. Be sure to pay attention to all the metal filings and broken parts that are almost sure to fall out into your drain pan ... I usually ignore them but YMMV Dont do this until you have wasted an hour or more messing around with my shortcuts that some times only work.

[53k]

OOps Thats a bummer. I have had the same thing happen to me several times. What is refered to as the "Thrust Blocks" is actually 2 small buttons in the shape of a mushroom with a small roll pin that is suppost to keep them together when you remove an axle. After some time and a bit of wear the pin comes loose, no big deal as the blocks are secured in the diff with pressure on both sides from the axle shafts., But now when an axle is removed it allows the button to fall into the splined area of the carrier and wont allow the axle to seat again... The block is what allows the axles to butt together so you can set the endplay on the rear axle bearings..

#1 NOW How do you fix this?? IF you are real good and talented and lucky Take a good long magnet on a stick and slide down the hole and retrieve both buttons. make sure you have the little roll pin that is supposed to secure them together. Once you have retrieved the parts notice that there is a small hole in the center of the buttons as well as a smaller hole in the little roll pin. Start with a length of stiff wire at least as long as the overall width of the axle and with help with a light on the oppisite side carefully slide the wire all the way thru the Carrier and out the axle tube on the other side (I used a piece of #9 list time I did this) Next step is to round up a bit of piano wire small enough to go thru the center of the buttons and the roll pin. Tape the small wire to you heavy fish wire and pull it thru the axle . Now you can put one half on one side of the piano wire and one on the other and with a small dowel push the pin thru the tube and then into place in the carrier,. Use a bit of stiff grease to hold the button in place. do the same on both sides, carefully pull the piano wire back out without pulling the thrust block out of place (sometimes easier said than done), and your good to go

#2 NOW how do you fix this? An Old mechanic buddy told me to retrieve the parts as in #1 above and then glue them to the end of the axles then put the whole mess back together.. I have tried this a couple of times but didnt have any luck both times... Maybe it is my lack of clean living..

#3 NOW how do you fix this.. This is the way its SUPPOSED to be done ...By the book !! Pull the back cover and drop the carrier out of the car. Retrieve the buttons, round up a new roll pin so the buttons will stay put this time and put the thing back together. Be sure to pay attention to all the metal filings and broken parts that are almost sure to fall out into your drain pan ... I usually ignore them but YMMV Dont do this until you have wasted an hour or more messing around with my shortcuts that some times only work.

Thanks very much. My son did see the thrust block from the end of the axle housing. He did pull it out with a magnet. He tried to put it back with extension "fingers" but couldn't hold it accurately enough. He asked me if I had some old style bearing grease which I did. He used a dab of that on the end of the axle shaft and carefully guided it in successfully. So, the left side is done. However, we didn't see anything of a roll pin. I sure hope it's on the other side thrust block.

[Chicken Hawk]

Before going to a lot of trouble are you sure the two sets of splines are lined up. If the axles were pulled and not turned after they were out an inch or so, this should not be a problem BUT there are TWO sets of spines that need to be lined up. Try putting the axle in as far as it will go, then turn it back and forth while pushing on the axle so these splines can be lined up to let the axle go all the way in.

This may not be the problem but is a possibility.

Ted

[53k]

Before going to a lot of trouble are you sure the two sets of splines are lined up. If the axles were pulled and not turned after they were out an inch or so, this should not be a problem BUT there are TWO sets of spines that need to be lined up. Try putting the axle in as far as it will go, then turn it back and forth while pushing on the axle so these splines can be lined up to let the axle go all the way in.

This may not be the problem but is a possibility.

Ted

Thanks. I don't think he turned the axle, but we'll sure talk about it tomorrow when he comes back to do the other side. Once he got the thrust block in place the axle went right in.

[63 R2 Hawk]

I had the same problem once, choices are to 1) pull everything back out, disassemble and reassemble with axles lined up into BOTH splines or 2) how i did it, make a very long (4 feet+), sturdy bar with a plate drilled to the lug pattern or an old brake drum welded to it, bolt it solidly on the hub and have a friend push the axle in while you are turning it. It doesn't take much of a turn but it takes a lot of force to overcome the clutch packs. Make sure the car is very well supported before you try this. It worked for me. You will also need to somehow clamp the yoke to keep it from turning, I used a massive old tractor wrench to hold the yoke.

[41 Frank]

The easiest way I have found to get the little thrust block back in place is to remove it with a long magnet first. I then then barely tape it to the end of a piece of tubing, in my case I used a piece of copper tubing I had laying around,conduit would work too. Insert the tubing into the housing and seat the thrust block where it needs to be and insert a dowel into the tubing. While keeping pressure against the thrust block with the dowel remove the tubing, done! Have done this many times, never a problem.

[karterfred88]

There was a post awhile back that addressed this problem. If you can get both buttons out of the housing with a magnet, the rest is simple. Take a piece of straight brake tubing about 6-8 inches longer than the longer axle tube (cheap at the local FLAPS), take a length of bailing wire, thread through the hole in the button (make sure its pointing the right way !!) putting a small 90 degree end on it to hold the wire from immediately pulling through the button (or button with the roll pin, wire should be small enough to go through the roll pin). then thread through the straight brake line, and pull the button snug to the flared end of the tube. Put a dot of the thickest grease you can find on the button tip. Now with a flashlight in one hand, insert the brake line with button into and down the axle tube an fit it into the hole in the diff. Put pressure on the brake line and tap lightly to seat the button, then holding the brake line tight to the button, pull the bailing wire out through the brake tube. Voila, its installed. Put the corresponding axle back in and snug the end plate before attempting to do the other side, or you will just push the one you just installed right back out (don't ask how I know this). I left the old roll pin in the one button and didn't bother trying to get them to hold together tightly. Just make sure the axle is in all the way and tap it, it will reseat the pin into the other button and the axle end keeps it in position anyway. Do the button with the roll pin in it first, if you try it the other way it gets hard to get the roll pin to line up with the hole in the button on the other side. Or you can pull the roll pin out completely, the axles hold them in place anyway.

[53k]

There was a post awhile back that addressed this problem. If you can get both buttons out of the housing with a magnet, the rest is simple. Take a piece of straight brake tubing about 6-8 inches longer than the longer axle tube (cheap at the local FLAPS), take a length of bailing wire, thread through the hole in the button (make sure its pointing the right way !!) putting a small 90 degree end on it to hold the wire from immediately pulling through the button (or button with the roll pin, wire should be small enough to go through the roll pin). then thread through the straight brake line, and pull the button snug to the flared end of the tube. Put a dot of the thickest grease you can find on the button tip. Now with a flashlight in one hand, insert the brake line with button into and down the axle tube an fit it into the hole in the diff. Put pressure on the brake line and tap lightly to seat the button, then holding the brake line tight to the button, pull the bailing wire out through the brake tube. Voila, its installed. Put the corresponding axle back in and snug the end plate before attempting to do the other side, or you will just push the one you just installed right back out (don't ask how I know this). I left the old roll pin in the one button and didn't bother trying to get them to hold together tightly. Just make sure the axle is in all the way and tap it, it will reseat the pin into the other button and the axle end keeps it in position anyway. Do the button with the roll pin in it first, if you try it the other way it gets hard to get the roll pin to line up with the hole in the button on the other side. Or you can pull the roll pin out completely, the axles hold them in place anyway.

Thanks for the good explanation. As it turned out my son got them both back in by sticking the block to the end of the axle shaft with a dab of wheel bearing grease. We didn't find a roll pin so I guess it must have been left out from a previous service.

[candbstudebakers]

Paul since you have it done already anything I have to say is after the fact but here it is anyway, in the past I have found the block in the bottom of the shaft tube half ground up because past work was done with out knowing about the blocks, what I did to get them back is take a welding rod the same size as the hole in the pin add a piece of tape around the rod so it won't slid down the rod then stick the rod in the housing and into place and use a 2nd rod to hold in place when pulling the one with the tape back out works every time..

[64V19816]

When you die, if when your spirit is confronted with doing this repair every day till eternity ends.....you have arrived in Hell

[over50]

Just a bit more information. The tube with the wire inside with just enough end bend to keep the thrust block from sliding off during placement works easy. I wouldn't trust the grease on the end of the axle shaft because you won't know if it falls off when putting the axle in. You could get fooled when setting end play. I'm more comfortable knowing that both thrust blocks are visually in place before installing the axles.

I had an unusual condition. One of the thrust blocks was separated into two pieces, a larger washer piece and the shank piece. The thrust block had sheared apart. The only thing that kept the washer piece in place was the roll pin. Thus the thrust block was still functional since the washer piece hadn't fallen into the differential housing. I got a new thrust block and for good measure, put a roll pin in that was just slightly shorter than the thrust block. I'd be surprised if anyone else comments about having seen this thrust block failure.