I got it all figured out over the weekend.
Turns out I was doing 2 things wrong.
1- I didn't realize that the collar has very tiny reliefs in the gear teeth for the plates to slide into.
2- I was trying to install the collar after the springs, plates and *****.

Turned out that the best way to do it is to install the collar first (aligning the reliefs properly, then stuffing each spring/plate/ball combo in all at once.

Thanks again for the help!

 

I'm working on rebuilding my ZF right now and was wondering if anyone has a good way to get the tapered bearings off the ends of the countershaft without having to spend a fortune on the proper puller set ($650 cheapest I've found). What are you all using?

 

I used a puller like this to get the front bearing off the main shaft.
Automotive Pulley Puller

One like this to get the rear bearing off the main shaft.
Bearing Separator and Puller Set
or
Bearing Separator

I didn't actually disassemble the input shaft or counter shaft so I can't help you there.

Also, I found that the only way to get the pressed on inner race off of the main shaft was to stick the whole thing in the freezer, then take it out and heat the race and pound the whole shaft on a piece of wood on the concrete. The weight of the gears pushed it a little each time it hit the floor.

 

I was looking at using a bearing splitter, but I don't think it will fit in the counter bore of the end gears on the counter-shaft. I'm wanting to put all new bearings throughout instead of just reassembling with the old ones. Thanks for the links and the freezer suggestion - I'll give that a go if I can't find a puller that will work.

 

Yeah those counterbores are pretty awkward. It looks like you will have to use a puller that will either fit behind the gear or put it in a press.

 

There's a big press at work, I'll see if they'll let me use that. The gears are all shrink fit onto the countershaft, so they aren't coming off. Thanks again.

 

I just saw that there are snap rings between the bearing and the gears.
Pressing them off will shear the snap rings.
I would imagine that the gears aren't pressed onto the shaft very strongly if there are snap rings outboard of them.....

 

Yeah, I'm not to worried about getting the gears off - the bearings are my biggest concern, and the first things that need to come off to get to the gears .

 

If all else fails, press the gear and bearing off together and shear the snap ring.

 

Did you get the bearing off, Eppie? :)

The inner pinion bearing's race on my Ford9inch was the same way,
I had to cut the race with a Dremel and cut-off disc. Just take your
time and be careful not to get carried away, ...worked for me. ;)

It might break while Dremeling;) BTDT ...but stop and try driving a
screwdriver or cold chisel into the cut/groove ever' once in a while.

-------------------------

I have a stack of the larger 1+1/4"(?) fiber re-enforced discs from
somewhere like Brownell's but I also make even larger diameter
ones from used/broken .030" to .040" Norton hand-grinder discs. :)
IME and so IMO Norton stuff is the only stuff worth buying, YMMV.

I use a wornout TiN coated 1/16" drill bit and drill a hole where I
want it, then using dikes just cut/nibble-at-it and make it kinda
round using the hole as a guide. :)

--------------------------

They say to drill a hole into the axle retainers then use a cold chisel
but I drilled two and it snapped open while drilling the second. :)
Here they are being used as a spacer...
http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/file12/zf4.jpg
The Dremeled;) pinion race might be laying there on that hunk of
wood. :)

The hole in the hunk of wood was drilled with a 15/16" wood-spade
type bit and held the main shaft real nice but later needed a washer
under it to give the main shaft a larger surface to keep from mashing
the wood so much.

Alvin in AZ
ps- Doggonit, I was told, but I up-and-forgot how to make the
pictures pop up. :/

 

A friend at work suggested the machine the inner race method too. I'm thinking of stopping by the local dealer and see if they can pull the five bearings right quick for $cheap and if not I'll take them to a friend's axle and transmission shop in Durham where he can pull the bearings hopefully for free. If neither of those work out, I'm headed for the bridgeport to machine the inner races enough to pop them off.

Thanks for the suggestions!!

 

Well I've managed to get all the way to the point of reinstalling the case and have run into an issue. How do I hold the shift rail detents out of the way so the shift rails can get back into their bores? It doesn't appear that I can remove them, am I missing something?

 

Oh crap. :/
Someone dented the case to hold the "freeze plugs" in place. :/

You can't hold the detent plungers back, they gotta be pulled.

The trick that worked good for me was to hammer in one side using a
punch (or screw driver) then the spring popped the plug out. :) Got
real lucky with the first one, it didn't fly off into the weeds, the others
I was more careful. ;)

They made a big deal in the instructions not to dent the case like that.
They swore that they'd hold. :)

I double up on those springs and... so far so good. LOL :)

Alvin in AZ

 

Ok so they have to come out....
Looks like I may have to clearance drill the back side a bit???

 

Yeah. :/
Tapered reamer maybe?
Just remove the bumps so the cup will slide in. :)

Alvin in AZ