[foxbravo]

15 Gallon Air Compressor, found it on sale for 80 bucks at Advance Auto Parts. 1/2" 220 ft/lb impact also on clearance for 20 bucks.

This is the tool you need to buy or may already own to hold the yoke. This is what was so cool, its 2 1/4" and holds the yoke like it was designed for it.

Insert the fan wrench under the yoke bolt holes tight up against the casting.

Push the ends of the tool so it sits tight against the yoke body.

The tools are beefy and 1/4 inch thick. I used a basic 1/2 inch ratchet to hold the steel plate while i pounded it with the impact air tool. It took a long time to break the 32 year old pinion nut off the yoke of my solid axle but it worked like a charm. I would not have been able to do it without air tools.

This is what the tools look like out of the packaing. You may already have these laying around so this may be a free deal for some of you.

Tap the bottom of the yoke and it will pop right off. Replace the seal or continue on with your tear down.

 

[Dan Theman]

I just hold it with my left hand. Not a lot of force there. That tool would work well to hold it while breaking it free by hand, like with a big cheater pipe. I started my sas with a smallish (15 gal. 3 1/2 hp) dewalt compressor that I got a good deal on. Wouldn't power die grinders or drills, or air hammers worth a shit. I quickly wanted more. My neighbor (crack head I think) was selling a bigger one (60 gal, 6hp) out in front of his house, for the same price that I paid for the little one. So I bought it, and found a buyer for my little one the next day.

 

[foxbravo]

That is a good point dan, I may need more later on but wont know until I am furthur into the build. I have an electric angle grinder, large 7 amp drill, etc for those type of things, i mainly wanted this for the air ratchet and impact wrench. The biggest thing the box said I could run was an air chisel (short periods) and that is my next purchase.

 

[Redwagon]

I just hold it with my left hand. Not a lot of force there. That tool would work well to hold it while breaking it free by hand, like with a big cheater pipe. I started my sas with a smallish (15 gal. 3 1/2 hp) dewalt compressor that I got a good deal on. Wouldn't power die grinders or drills, or air hammers worth a shit. I quickly wanted more. My neighbor (crack head I think) was selling a bigger one (60 gal, 6hp) out in front of his house, for the same price that I paid for the little one. So I bought it, and found a buyer for my little one the next day.

x2 thats the whole point of IMPACT, repetitive motion breaks it free

 

[Dan Theman]

That is a good point dan, I may need more later on but wont know until I am furthur into the build. I have an electric angle grinder, large 7 amp drill, etc for those type of things, i mainly wanted this for the air ratchet and impact wrench. The biggest thing the box said I could run was an air chisel (short periods) and that is my next purchase.

I had to cut off a lot of rivets, so I used my air hammer a lot. With my small compressor, I'd use it for a minute, then move onto something else until it filled back up, then go back to the air tool. Got old. Just a little tip for removing hot rivets if you don't know it already. Cut an x in the head of the rivet, all the way through. If you can't fit the grinder in to cut an x, at least one line across (half of an x). Then hit them with an air hammer with a sharp chisel, and they come off like butter, in a fraction of the time.

 

[foxbravo]

I had to cut off a lot of rivets, so I used my air hammer a lot. With my small compressor, I'd use it for a minute, then move onto something else until it filled back up, then go back to the air tool. Got old. Just a little tip for removing hot rivets if you don't know it already. Cut an x in the head of the rivet, all the way through. If you can't fit the grinder in to cut an x, at least one line across (half of an x). Then hit them with an air hammer with a sharp chisel, and they come off like butter, in a fraction of the time.

Thanks dantheman,

Yeah as for the fan wrench tool you are right this would have been better suited for someone with a large breaker/cheater bar. I didnt realize I didnt need it until after i got the nut off. How did I ever live without an impact wrench this long. :thumbup

 

[SLOFordtech]

when u re tighten the yolk do you have to worry about over doing it and messing up the crush sleeve then effecting pinion depth?? maybe im alittle fuzzy but for some reason i thought its possible to mess that up. thanks. and appreciate the write up.

 

[jopes]

when u re tighten the yolk do you have to worry about over doing it and messing up the crush sleeve then effecting pinion depth?? maybe im alittle fuzzy but for some reason i thought its possible to mess that up. thanks. and appreciate the write up.

yes over tightening the yoke can over crush the sleeve. I recommend installing the yoke by hand so you can feel when it's touching the crush sleeve then tighten it just a touch more. there is no torque spec on the pinion yoke so you have to do it all by feel.

 

[SLOFordtech]

i did a pinion seal on a f150 when i worked at ford a few years ago, i kinda forgot been a while. i just remembering the master tech telling me that if i screw up i will be re setting that rear end up. so just wondering. thanks jopes.

 

[Southwestern Edition]

If you have a good impact gun all you need to hold it is your hand. Before removal you can use a punch to mark the nut and the pinion shaft so it goes right back in the same spot when you put it back together so it doesn't get over tightened.

 

[foxbravo]

If you have a good impact gun all you need to hold it is your hand. Before removal you can use a punch to mark the nut and the pinion shaft so it goes right back in the same spot when you put it back together so it doesn't get over tightened.

good info, I realized after the fact that the pinion moved very little so the wrench i found to hold it would work for loosening by hand. I am using shims not a crush collar so no worries about crushing it and i am installing new gears.

 

[20 SMOKE]

is it nessecary to use a tool to remove/install yoke,i used one years ago once when i worked for jeep

 

[Redwagon]

I normally use a large pipe wrench to hold it in place and an impact to loosen the nut.

 

[78'460]

I hit both my old ones with an impact and they came off no problem, Well went over to buddies at the spring shop and he zapped them off because I was too lazy to get out my compressor lol