Hello to all, I am a new member here and greatly love reading and researching my issues on this website. Thank you to all! Me and my Lil' Blacky as I call her. She's an '86 F150, 4.9L 300 I6, 4x4, Shortbed, Manual with lockout hubs! Love them lockouts. Nothing says more about a truck than getting out and turning those babies on. Ok now onto the issues. Sorry to ramble there.

Was driving down the road in 4th OD gear and was hearing some aweful whining and grinding. I was thinking it was my clutch but then the rear end did a skip and a jump and locked up. I hurried up and started to pull over hitting the grass and when I did, was sliding all over the place. Afterwards, I could push in the clutch, start her right up, but when in gear, would barely move. I could rock it like I was stuck in a rut but that's about as far as she would go. So I called the flatbed with a winch to pick her up and the guy jolted her a little and I heard a pop (while in the truck holding the clutch in) and it started to roll. Then taking her back off she got stuck again with the clutch in. The guy again jolted her forwards some and she popped and rolled fine.

So far, I have jacked the rear up, took off the driveshaft, and spun the tires (no problem). Then pumped the brakes and spun them again (no problems). This was recommended to do to check if the brakes were the issue but I thought the dude was nuts cause if the rear was locked and the tires didn't spin, I would then under his circumstances be believing my brakes were the issue. Anyways, I pulled the plug and the irl came out with some shiny shavings in it. I'm guessing I diagnosed the rear end correctly.

It's a H6 3.50 9" LimSlip rear end. I would like to keep the same setup as I am planning on restoring the entire truck in the future from the ground up and keeping it stock (except for the tire size which are only 30.5x9's)

Whats the bill for replacing the entire "gears" inside the rear end and what's involved. I have been searching on here for hours and have yet to find a "step by step" of replacing just the gears inside the pumpkin? Unless I'm miss reading the posts and have my vocabulary mixed up. Not sure what all is inside, but I do know of Ring and Pinion and Spider gears. So what else is there and what should I be buying to replace?

Sorry this is as long as a college essay but I want to be thorough with my information. Oorah to the Marine Corps for teaching me how to give all the information, even if it's not all needed. Better to know more than less. Thanks guys for any help!

 

pop the diff cover and take a "lookey see" inside....post some pictures of the carnage.

free bump for the price questino

 

If it's a 9" it doesn't have a diff cover, you have to pull the axles, disconnect the driveshaft, and pull the complete 3rd member(pumpkin) out the front of the axle. The upside of this is the repair can be done on a bench instead of under the truck, but you're going to have to shop around to see what it'll cost in your area for a rebuild and then compare that to buying a complete used or new 3rd member and bolting it in.

 

doh! i didnt see it was a 9in....like conanski said...pull axle shafts and full the chunk.

 

When my 8" broke, it took the carrier casting with it. The 9" is stronger, so if you are lucky, you can regear your existing set up.

New gears are about $200-250, add bearings and gaskets and a rebuild of the LS unit, clutches etc, plus labor. You can buy an entire 3rd member also, but the days of bargain 9ers are gone. Expect prices like $1000 for one.

Shop for someone who knows these axles btw.

 

See, that's where I was getting lost. My vocab was wrong. So I'm looking for a new 3rd Member and should just be unclip the axles, slide them out some, driveshaft is already out, then pull the 10 bolts off of the 3rd member, pull off, put new setup in (if not rebuilding) then reverse action for installation? Correct. I'll have some pictures this weekend, maybe tonight.

 

Some more help would be telling us where you are.

Currie Enterprises can build you a nice 3rd member. Not cheap.

I would go to the JY and see if I got lucky.

 

Had this happen on a co-workers truck, the center spiders were blown on it. It had a binding in it much like you describe, even though it should actually have kept going. I would sooner expect the ring and pinion to be the issue. Either way, you will need to tear into it and verify what exactly you need. It had a bang and bind when you would turn, so on theirs I wasn't overly surprised about the spiders. It also was a limited slip axle.

 

Stangrcr 1 - I am at Camp Lejeune, NC.
Fellro86 - Didn't have a chance to drive her after it locked up. Had to get her removed from the Base within 24 hrs and she wasn't moving. So I just had her towed right into my garage. I will be begginning my tear down process tonight, and taking pics.

Haven't had time to call around for a rebuild but new online, the cheapest new I have found was around $500.

 

Things to remember when doing this job:

--when you pull the axles, you need a lot of room to the side of the vehicle. Tight garages will be trouble.

--to pop the carrier loose from the housing, put a jack under the pinion and apply some pressure that way. It may take some time, but it start the process.

--be ready for a big mess when it does pop loose, as the gear oil is going to spill. If you have a suction tool, try that.

--have new wheel bearings pressed on while you are doing it.

--CLEAN OUT THE HOUSING. From the ends of the axles to the bottom of the banjo. Then clean it again. Ask me how I know not doing this correctly will cause your new axle to howl like a wolf in very few miles.

--have your yoke installed by whoever you buy from or make sure the new one matches.

 

It might just be where i am from but me and my buddy are about to buy a top and a rear end for his bronco for 400 bucks out of a junk yard near my house

 

Ok trucks up, plenty of room (2 stall garage to myself). Jacked up, wheels and drums off. Started on passenger side, the axle is not wanting to come off without taking the entire ?brake mount? with it. I've tried putting the bolt back in, behind the little cover, and then beating it off with the drum on backwards, but stuck. Any suggestions. I'll be on the drivers side for a few.

 

Nevermind, I just said F it and disconnected the brake lines and pulled the whole things out about a foot. Right now, I'm letting some oil drain out of the bottom of the 3rd member before I pop her loose.

 

check your local fords old guys, they are always selling used rebuilt 3rd members. I was at MIR over the weekend and you could get them for under $500 with posi's.

 

That's first thing tomorrow morning.

right now the 3rd member is out. Now what? What am I looking for? I did find a lot of shavings inside the "pumpkin" if you want to call it. Most were fine grit, but some were as big as a pencil tip. I do notice a part on the pinion gear that looks like it sat out of the oil for awhile and started to corrode over the teeth as seen in the first link. The second link is how the rest of the gear looks.... smooth. Should I attempt separating the gears? yoke? assembly the yoke is inserted to? to look for other damage?

CORRODED - http://dl.dropbox.com/u/45839630/corroded.JPG


CLEAN - http://dl.dropbox.com/u/45839630/clean.JPG