Yes it will release the carrier. It's better if you get some help. It will come out all at once with shims going everywhere IMO.

Be sure not to get the bearing caps mixed up, R to L and Up and Down.

 

I don't know why it broke, but it is common enough that there exists a special tool made specifically for this: http://shoptoolsshoptools.com/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=188&cat=Differential
BTW, I have an axle like that -- the bolt broke well before I got the truck, so I have no idea what happened.

 

Oh great NOW you tell me!

 

You can still use it next time!

 

If there is a "next time", I'm gonna just shoot myself.

 

I brought the pinion pin, spyder, and side gears to Austin Drive Train to a match.
He noted that since the crush washers on the spyders had largely disintegrated and the spyder and side gears show pitting, and I think he had to stop himself from laughing at me. I paid $125 or so for a new set but I haven't opened it yet. And this factors into a decision here so read on.

OK, I have removed the diff carrier. I am glad I did.
Both side bearings and their races appear to be in excellent shape. I see no sign of scoring.

But-here's the bizzare part. And it's really bizzare.
The surface between the LEFT spacer and the axle housing has ground down some. The axle housing surface it sits on is also ground down. In fact, a small area, less than 1/2" of the circumference, is actually missing. There's a lot of metal flake inside that axle, my hand came out looking like the Tin Man from Wizard of Oz. Note that this the driver's side axle area, whereas I was initially trying to fix a blown axle on the passenger side.

Hey, funny story- found something interesting in that passenger axle. A roller from an axle bearing- and unless I'm mistaken it's NOT from this job. The last yahoos apparently didn't do a real starring cleanup job.

Holy crap. I'm confused. I mean this damage looks like a bearing seized. However, these bearings are fine, yet the damage seems recent- well, sort of. I'm basing it on the presence of the metal flakes. Maybe they're not a good judge of age. I know that bearing hasn't been replaced while *I* owned it, so like 7 yrs here is the min period if someone else replaced it.

Well, I'm looking at what I might do here. I put the rear diff back temporarily with the spaces and all and it was surprisingly tight. I can't understand how that is, given that I can see the wear, and the edges of the surface are like... sharp. But I got it in and tried to move it left and right against the axles and I can feel no slack at all.

OK a new rear end is looking better every moment. I dislike unknown-condition junkyard stuff immensely, preferring to spend a bit more to rebuild my own with new parts rather than a used rear end of unknown miles.

Well I looked on Craigslist again (incidentally the guy with the LS diff had long sold it). I found this guy:
"$250 Ford 355 ratio 8.8 rear end.
will fit from a 88 to 95 0r 96 Ford f150 pick up.
The tag on it reads 55 88 9L20. "

My tag on the one I have now reads "S724S 55 88 6K21"
When looking for axles, I noticed the axles themselves from mine do cross-ref for an '87-96 F150. So am I right in thinking this whole rear end should fit an '87 E150? Well, I notice that this guy says the axle works on an 88 F150, but mine's an 87. Maybe a typo?

Is the "L" a Limited Slip? I'm all into that. Now are limited slips less efficient on the highway?

Is that a std highway ratio? Or even if it isn't, I can still reuse the gears I have, right?

 

Ah I just had a junkyard tell me a pickup rear end WON'T go under a van. Is that correct?

 

Yes, that is correct.

Also, a newer 8.8" will work in place of an older one, but older ones (pre-VSS) won't work when a newer axle is needed.

 

Ah the guy from Craigslist FINALLY came by with a used but perfectly serviceable axle for $50. Nice.

I got it all cleaned out, put in the new spyder gear/side gear/pinion pin/washer kit, new wheel bearing and seal. I cleaned out all the metal gunk with paper towels, brake parts cleaner, more oil, lather, rinse, repeat. Took the diff out, cleaned the bearings and all over the carrier gears and surfaces. The pinion pin locking bolt threads were able to hold the bolt tight. We're in business.

You know, I didn't recall ever hearing the rear end "growling". Now that I have it rebuilt, uh, I see a difference! I thought it was road noise from the tires! I even recall trying to check out that noise once or twice but it really did sound like the noise some types of pavement add.

Now, one thing I noticed is I swear this thing coasts way easier. I wonder if it'll increase my overall mpg? If this was dragging enough to drain off significant horsepower, I bet it got hella hot from the friction.

Thanks a bunch, guys. You gave clues to the clueless and I think I did a pretty good job in the end as a direct result of your help.

Is there any reason to "take it easy" to break it in? I only changed the spyder & side gears and the wheel bearing. Diff bearings & pinion bearings are the same. Can I do short tows right away or maybe wait awhile?

 

I would do around town driving with a lot of turns under light acceleration for a couple days they you should be good.
You did install a magnet inside the housing cover to collect any missed particles plus future normal metal powder wear?

 

The internet is great! I was tearing down an 8.8 Trac Lock, and had this exact thing happen! Previous owner must have opened this up because one of the bearing caps was on backwards, and the retaining bolt was snapped off about 1/2" below the head. I did what this guy did, and just drilled out the end of the pinion pin. This weakened the retaining bolt enough to allow me to drive out the pin, remove the c-clips and S-clip, pull the axles and remove the carrier. I would have likely tried to drill out the retaining bolt, but this site saved me hours of frustration. As it was, I had the pin out within minutes of reading this. Now with the carrier out, I can put it in my drill press, and drill out the rest of the retaining bolt. Thanks!!

 

What a bummer.

Do you have a 90 deg adapter for a drill? These are pretty compact and may work. Don't worry about the damaged threads, they can be repaired with a heli-coil. Have you dried using heat to break the thread lock? Also if you use a drill, use a left hand twist. This way if it grabs it may twist it out.

You can also drill out the 3/4" shaft if needed.

 

I did drill out the 3/4" shaft. (Differential Pinion Shaft 4211 in the image on page one of this thread) That's what saved me all of the time. Once I knew that the this shaft could easily be replaced, drilling it out was simple. I drilled past the depth of the retaining pin, removed the tip of the retaining pin with a magnet. The tip extends through the pinion shaft, but isn't threaded. With most of the retaining pin gone, I was able to drive out the pinion shaft.

 

Sounds like a job done once is too many times in ones lifetime.