f150 8.8 outer pinion bearing removal and replacement

[hallgren87idi]

I am working on my 1995 f150, and my outer pinion bearing is bad. I was wondering if it was possible to do the outer bearing without removing the carrier? Could I just pull the seal out and dig out the bearing? Or is the only way to remove the carrier. Thanks, any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[tbrumm]

I am not going to be much help here, but I am sure somebody way more knowledgeable than myself will be along soon to help. My initial thought is that if the outer pinion bearing is bad, how much other damage has occurred inside the diff to the other bearing from that bearing being "loose" and possibly sending debris throughout the diff. There is also that darn crush sleeve in the pinion that sets the preload on the pinion bearings. The crush sleeve is normally good for once setup only. If you want to learn more about diffs and repairing them, I would suggest this book - it is a great source of info.!
http://www.amazon.com/Differentials-Identification-Restoration-Repair-2nd/dp/B004G8MUQ4/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1455906758&sr=1-1&keywords=differentials

 

[DaveBen]

You are right tbrumm, the crush sleeve is a one time use item. You will need to replace the sleeve and I don't think you can do it without removing the carrier assy. It is not hard to remove and you will not have to re-shim it if you use the same ring and pinion gears.

Dave

 

[hallgren87idi]

Thanks guys, I just pulled the diff cover off and drained the fluid...didn't seem to be many metal shavings if any at all. So i'm wondering exactally what i'm dealing with, the pinion seal isn't leaking which is kind of odd, because usually that gets knocked out when the bearing goes.