Reinstalling yokes

[PaulS]

I was starting to reassemble my rear axle (front will have to wait, pending resolving spindle issues in the other thread), and ran into a snag pretty quickly.

I can't get the yoke to slide onto the pinion shaft far enough to allow me to get the nut threaded.  I know that once the nut is solidly threaded, it can pull the yoke in the rest of the way, but I can't get it that far.  It needs to go at least 1/2" more.

So what's the trick?  I'm reluctant to use a BFH. Using the press would be really awkward, since it needs to be done with the pinion shaft in the differential housing.  But is one of those the answer?

Thanks,

-Paul

[F Bill]

Sounds like it might be hitting the seal...Hopefully you have the seal well lubricated and checked its fit on the yoke before installation.
Slide it back off and see if you can tell what is hitting what...Use your dial calipers depth gage to check that there is enough room to install the yoke before it hits anything.

Try a brass hammer or a dead blow. If it takes more than that you may have something assembled wrong.

[PaulS]

No seal there.  I was even trying to test fit it with the pinion shaft outside the housing, with the same result.  The splines just don't slide easily on.  I needed a puller to remove the yoke, so I guess I shouldn't expect it to slide too easily back on.  I also tried the front for comparison--same thing there, the yoke doesn't slide easily onto the shaft.

I wonder if pressing it on and pulling it off a couple times (outside the housing) would loosen it up enough to make it easy to slide it on when it's in the housing.

-Paul

[F Bill]

Inspect those splines for any damage, and go ahead with the brass hammer or deadblow if there is nothing obviously galled or burred.

(You will end up with a seal eventually, right?)

[1955CJ-5]

You could try some Scotch Brite pads on the splines, you might be able to clean them up enough for a good fit...

[PaulS]

(You will end up with a seal eventually, right?)

 

Yes (and it's sitting on my workbench).  But the manuals all say to test fit everything and verify the torque to rotate it without the seal in place first.

If it was shimmed right before, it should still be, but it's good to verify.  (Especially since there were none of the larger diameter shims on the front axle's pinion--only the smaller ones.  I found that to be a bit odd.)

-Paul

[PaulS]

(Especially since there were none of the larger diameter shims on the front axle's pinion--only the smaller ones.� I found that to be a bit odd.)

Scratch that.  Since I'm reusing these pinion bearings, I didn't pull the inner one off the pinion shaft, so the larger shims (if any) are still there...

[Carls_jeep]

Thinking back I seem to remember my yokes being hard to remove and install. I think I tapped them on far enough to get the nut on with a dead blow hammer. I cleaned the splines up with a small fine file but they were still tight.

[PaulS]

Carl, I ended up doing the same.  Cleaned up the splines as much as I could with a small file.  I also pressed the yoke onto the shaft and pulled it off two or three times.  Once the shaft was back in the housing a few blows with the dead blow got the yoke on far enough for the nut to engage.