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By geo56 - 2 Years Ago
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I have a 56 Victoria with a fordomatic and a 3.22:1 rear end. The rear end now has about 120,000 miles on it. Not long ago, to fix an oil leak I changed the pinion bearing oil seal. I followed shop manual directions and made adjacent punch marks to reestablish the proper preload when putting the universal joint flange back on. I did notice when I removed the universal joint flange nut and washer, that I did not need to use a puller as the shop manual suggested. The flange pulled off easily using only my fingers. There was little if any resistance. I cleaned and lubed the pinion bearing and put on the new seal . I tightened the pinion nut until the punchmarks matched up . By the way. It took considerable touque as the two marks came close to lining up. Now, several months later I hear a humming noise from the rear end when the car is pulling. The noise quits when i let off the accelerator and coast. I have read over the shop manual and have watched several on line videos . I feel I might be able to do the job myself, but I could use some advice. 1. With that many miles should I consider changing the ring and pinion gears Or should I try to change bearings only. I have a feeling I might get by with only changing pinion bearings. Also, the fact than the u joint flange nearly fell out makes me wonder if a spacer or crush sleeve is needed. Who sells a good kit for these?
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By Ted - 2 Years Ago
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Gut feel says your bearings have loosened up and you will need to retighten the yoke again. While the 9” Ford rears are reasonably easy to replace the crush sleeve without removing the ring gear carrier, that’s not the case for the 1956 and earlier differential housings. While it’s a bit more work in your case, the rear end likely needs to be disassembled completely to both examine the gears for abnormal wear and install a new crush sleeve.
A new crush sleeve is typically required anytime the pinion bearings and/or yoke seal are serviced. There was an instance at a race track where I was forced to take the existing crush sleeve and with it placed on a solid steel bar, used a hammer to flatten the outside edge some in which to make the crush sleeve longer again. Surprisingly that non-shop fix went a lot of miles.
When reinstalling the bearings, the yoke is then tightened to get a small amount of drag on the bearings. Simply reinstalling the yoke retaining nut to where it was before is no guarantee that the proper load is being put on the pinion bearings. There is a specific in/lb spec for the amount of drag for the pinion bearings with new bearings having a greater drag spec than used bearings.
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By geo56 - 2 Years Ago
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Thanks Ted. Sounds like my not replacing the crush sleeve might have been my problem. It did take a lot of torque to allign the two marks I made. My thinking is that while the marks were alligned, some slack was left by the already compressed crush sleeve. At this point, I guess I need to disassemble the assembly or choose a shop. I have noticed wide variations in prices on parts and am inclined to choose a kit with Timken bearings over China parts. Are ring and pinion usually replaced on a rebuild?
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By DryLakesRacer - 2 Years Ago
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If you’re up to doing a swap to a higher gear for cruising you will need it use 1st/low gear more as it puts more load on the trans. I first installed a 1962 Cruise-O-Matic 3-speed before changing to an 8.8 rear from a modern Ford with 2.74 rear gears and couldn’t be happier. Many have 11” drum brakes which allows for the use of the emergency brake with one very minor modification to the backing plate hole.
The swap made my 56 a pleasure to dive on the open roads.
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By geo56 - 2 Years Ago
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I plan to keep the car original with the Fordomatic and the original 3.22 rear end. I am just a cruiser and a purist. The original setup has served me well for the way I drive and for 60,000 miles but the humming noise from the rear end is telling me to do repairs. I have watched several tutorials and shopped online for parts and rebuild kits. Please correct me if I am wrong but there seems to be differences in the 55-56 ford 8 inch and the mid 1960's 8 inch rear end. Who is a good source for parts on the earlier version.
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By DANIEL TINDER - 2 Years Ago
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Ted (7/4/2023)
Gut feel says your bearings have loosened up and you will need to retighten the yoke again. While the 9” Ford rears are reasonably easy to replace the crush sleeve without removing the ring gear carrier, that’s not the case for the 1956 and earlier differential housings. While it’s a bit more work in your case, the rear end likely needs to be disassembled completely to both examine the gears for abnormal wear and install a new crush sleeve. A new crush sleeve is typically required anytime the pinion bearings and/or yoke seal are serviced. There was an instance at a race track where I was forced to take the existing crush sleeve and with it placed on a solid steel bar, used a hammer to flatten the outside edge some in which to make the crush sleeve longer again. Surprisingly that non-shop fix went a lot of miles. When reinstalling the bearings, the yoke is then tightened to get a small amount of drag on the bearings. Simply reinstalling the yoke retaining nut to where it was before is no guarantee that the proper load is being put on the pinion bearings. There is a specific in/lb spec for the amount of drag for the pinion bearings with new bearings having a greater drag spec than used bearings.
This make me wonder if changing a leaky pinion seal on a low-use vehicle (compared to occasional topping-up of the lube & chassis degrease) might be merely ‘opening a can of worms’, as long as the differential is otherwise quiet (?).
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By miker - 2 Years Ago
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You don’t show where you’re located, but try Randy’s. They’re well regarded locally, just north of me. I’ve used them for Dana 44 parts. The rear end you’ve got can be difficult to find parts for (or so I’m told), so I’d call Randy’s, not just check the web site.
https://www.randysworldwide.com/ring-and-pinion?gad=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIuYC9q9b2_wIVxx6tBh2UVQ_AEAAYASAAEgIdkvD_BwE
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By Ted - 2 Years Ago
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geo56 (7/4/2023)
....Is the ring and pinion usually replaced on a rebuild?
Unless there is noticeable wear on the gears, it’s not unusual to reuse the existing ring and pinion when rebuilding the rear differential if simply installing new bearings and seals.
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By geo56 - 2 Years Ago
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That's what I was hoping to hear. I assume If I do a bearing and seal rebuild that proper shimming on the pinion will take up slack on old gears.
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