14 Bolt Carrier

[HH]

Can I freeze a 14 bolt carrier and warm the bearings to get them on, or do they require a press? What about the pinion bearing? I am plannng to rebuild the K3500 rearend next weekend, long overdue, been driving with broken gears since August.

[Robyn]

The correct way to do it is to use a spreader to expand the case and then remove the carrier. Pull the bearings and be sure to keep the shims in their original locations.
Clean up the journals and make sure there are no burs then reinstall the shims and press the new bearings on.
Now I have warmed bearings with propane torch untill toasty and then drop them on, be sure to check them by placing the old bearing on top of the new ones and then a 1/4 inch or thicker plate and smack them with a large club to be sure they are seated.
Caution be sure the opposite side is supported on something solid and places no impact on the rollers or the cage of the bearing.
You can do the same with the pinion, keep shims in order and then heat the bearings up just hot enough so you can handle them by hand. 200 is usually enough. Again check to be sure the bearings are seated right.
Reinstall the pinion and tighten the nut. (Blue loctite is a good plan on the nut)
A large dead blow hammer will usually start and seat the carrier back in the case. It should have a preload of about .0015 to .003" (approx)
Be sure you mark the caps if they are not as you cant mix them up and have things work right.
Oh if you dont have a puller here is a trick. Cover all the inner working of the carrier with a towel and tape it up good to keep junk aout. Cut the bearing cage and get it and the rollers out of your way. Use a die grinder and a cutoff wheel to carefully grind through the bearing race on an angle untill you get to the point that you can use a chisel and hammer and break the race at the grind point. Be careful not to grind into the carrier. I have don this many times and it works well. You can also use a disc grinder and carefully remove metal untill you can break the race.
The pinion can be done the same just be careful not to hit the gear with the grinder.
I do this trick a lot on big truck wheel bearings as they are a bitch to get out without special pushing tools. 5 minutes of grinding and pop they break and fall out.
Hope this helps.
Robyn

[HH]

Thanks Robyn. I am installing all new. Carrier, R & P, and bearings.

[w6bauer]

I am in need of a pinion seal, my rig has 230000 miles so I figure might as well do the bearings too, do I have to remove the carrier to remove the pinion bearing? I just did a ford 1 ton full floater and I had to pull the carrier to get to the inner bearing. I've been in a 8.5 semi floating but never done anything besides outer axle bearings and seals on this rear end.

Thanks

[hatzie55]

WOW blowing the dust off an old thread. Cough Cough Don't breathe too deep <G>.

Robin might've been thinking of the Dana 70 that GM used on some duallys. The GM 14bolt carrier comes out without a case spreader.
I'd rather do a GM 14bolt than any Dana. Very easy axle to setup. GM made tons of em starting in the late 60's.

Real good howto here...
"http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/PR-ARB/articles/14b_Gear_Setup/"

-David

I am in need of a pinion seal, my rig has 230000 miles so I figure might as well do the bearings too, do I have to remove the carrier to remove the pinion bearing? I just did a ford 1 ton full floater and I had to pull the carrier to get to the inner bearing. I've been in a 8.5 semi floating but never done anything besides outer axle bearings and seals on this rear end.

Thanks

[HH]

Wow almost three years since I did this? Time flys.

You should be able to do the seal without removing the whole pinion assembly. BUT...do not overtighten the yoke nut.

IIRC, you can pull the pinion assembly with the ring gear in place. Mark the orientation of the shims. The new set up should be close to the old, save the old shims for a starting reference if you are changing bearings, but it should be within tolerance if you are just changing bearings. There is a crush collar in there too.

The carrier/differential will come out easy with the turn of the spanner nuts. Mark the caps for left and right and top and bottom. Also mark for the spanner nut locations as they should end up close with a new carrier/differintial/bearings and nearly the same with the old.