I popped something in the front diff on my 1981 Kenworth W900 with Rockwell SSHD axles. Driver tried to start a big load on hill. Popped drive shaft. Fixed that and now Ive got noises coming from front diff and itll occasionally lock solid when going from forward to reverse. Can remove the lockup by going ahead a bit then reversing again. No metal showing up in diff oils. Ive never tackled this before so am looking for any info. First is there an online manual link for these?I do have an old ford truck manual that has procedures on rockwells so am not completely in the dark. Second ,it may not matter much but ive a question:I pulled the front two axles as thats where the clunking seemed to come from. Axles were fine. Moved truck using power to rear axle but it would move with the power divider/diff lock whatever you call it in either position. Tells me the problem is in the power divider I wonder?Or am I missing something and power would get to rear anyhow? I thought with front axles removed and power divider disengaged,the interaxle diff would just spin and nothing wd get to rear? Thanks for any help.
Sounds as busted a front pinion tooth or exploded interaxle side gears, not uncommon on those. Worse yet was the Pinion gear nut backing off and eating a hole in the front case.
Have you pulled the drain plug and fished around wit a magnet? Either way, it’s probably going to have to be taken out.
If its the interaxle can i pull that part and leave rest of diff in place?Like I said this is not my area of expertise(as if there are any) No metal in oil.I stopped truck right away so not much time for extra disintegration Im thinking.(Actually so far I just pulled drain plug let a litre or so run into pan and tested that for metal-none)
Unless sshd’s have changed since the 70s, the power divider is buried in the front of the 1 piece case. I had a spider gear in the power divider break when backing under a Lowbed. The broken gear pushed a hole in the case. No core$
Upper nose housing can come off, but will need to clean the mess inside the banjo housing. Easier to just drag it out now.
The front power divider section from a SQ/SL will bolt on the front of the SS. Id pull the whole carrier and take it all down. Parts are cheap to buy at this point. I still run a set of SQHD's. Depending on your area buildable cores are getting thin as they are so old and obsolete. I would recommend building a set with a spare axle shaft or two for the shelf.
I concur. I have a spare set of SQHD's w/3.70 on my trailer kept as spares. Actually purchased these years ago to get rid of wedge brakes on one of my Mack trucks.
Broke tooth or power divider. The later 40-145's use much of the design of SSHD's. The SS was/still is a good drive axle. Parts can be had for SSHD's not so much for SQHD's. But hold on to your hat.
Either way you are going to be pulling the carrier which you could do yourself. Then take the Carrier to the local rebuild shop or purchase a reman, I would not suggest you repairing your own differential. The trickier part as Dmiller pointed out is cleaning the axle housing which will inevitably require taking off both hubs and cleaning or replacing the bearings. For that age truck you may find a MOTOR manual on ebay that would cover some of that information, or the Rockwell website, unless someone here has it.
SSHD.
And just the right ratio! Would have slipped right into my ol 72......
Interesting, Looks like i just Bought an 81 w900, Pictures of the truck?
Removing diff. Have a spare diff in a parts truck so will see whats up with this one and then... Anyone got a pic or description of a good homemade u joint separator? Also any tips on releasing the wedges around axle bolts would be appreciated. So far I whale on axle with big hammer then run nuts back on studs a ways and beat sideways back and forthon them.It does work ,eventually,but it seems like im missing something .
Dieseldog ill get a pic.
Found a good manual online.
Keep Hitting more and harder, get your back into it, when you feel like you’re about to stroke out the Axle cones will come out one at a time. I find swearing at it helps, Real big cuss words not like, just your standard issue stuff, And string them together. It will scare the axle cones out of there. I included a picture of a ujoint puller that I made myself With some old rods off of 3030 can, And the special little pliers to take those cones off.
Thanks and yes the premium grade cussing does seem to help. The kind thats not socially acceptable to all walks of life,etc etc. Re the puller, I cannot seem to visualize how it works.The bolts push on the yoke? But the legs need to grip something? Flummoxed. Please illuminate.
Got diff out. The sliding collar that engages power divider is in 3 pieces. No idea what would make that happen. Bits of metal everywhere but no other noticeable damage,well except for a chip off a driven gear tooth which seems negligible.Debating whether to clean it up or use other diff.
I use a tiger tool-cups one yoke side and legs push on the other.
Same concept, but instead of a cup, you bolt the center piece to the yoke and it pushes the 2 outer caps pushing the opposite cap out. Maybe this helps.
Or you can do it the old school way with a bottle jack pushing up on the drive line yoke and heat the top yoke.
Busted many a slightly cracked bell housing the old way.
That's true on the gear box end-but not suppose to lift truck off the ground either, just some tension.
Old Cummins were pretty tender back there. Known for cracks forming we just finished the work.
I tired of the "Heat & Beat" treatment and purchased the "Tiger Tool" pullers for these jobs. Two different sizes and the installers also for the caps. Haven't torn a single anything up since, but really don't use an impact on this stuff. Sure makes breaking a driveline easier for towing.
I have the bolt in style and worked fine for me that last several uses.
I bought the smaller tiger tool to use on newer light duty drive shaft u-joints because i tenderly used old-school methods and was concerned about driveshaft damage on my aluminum driveshaft. I haven't had to use it yet but i wanted to be better prepared for next time. My hammer skills are not as accurate as they used to be
The only problem with the thread in/bolt type is when the threads are bad. It will be yoke time anyway. And the tiger tool will stretch a yoke. But I only have two trucks left with full round joints everything pretty much is half round.
All on the KW are Half Rounds, Half Clamps.
Decided to try my own "invention"for u joint separation.2 plates made from my favorite building material,1" grader blades,a couple readi rods and 2 ,8 ton jacks. Just got it together at end of day,did separate one very stuck cap,will see how it pans out overall.
U-joint is most likely a 1710 series, about $50 bucks. Probably best was cut it out, replace it.
I'd be careful with anything made out of grader blades. They can be quite brittle and break depending on how much they are hardened during the manufacturing process
That's interesting Wrench and thanks for the caution.I've always been aware that this could happen but have never seen it. At the scrapyard I go to the owner welded blades to the tips of his forks to extend them for picking up cars etc.I thought this was pushing the envelope quite a bit and I'm careful to stay clear when he's using them.
The homemade puller worked a treat .spent most of day removing diff from parts truck. Looks really good so it should get me mobile again.Got a call from truck parts outfit saying the sliding clutch collar in my sshd power divider is a no longer available part .sooo will have to figure out how to break it to wife that we need anothe 1980s vintage parts truck .anybody know a supplier that might have this part?or is there something about using a power divider from a different vintage?
Hagerman Truck Salvage Umatilla, Or.. Ask for Randy Gibson he is a outside sales person now but spent years working as a gear man. Randy is a good guy and can find most anything gear related. Tell him Mike at Tate sent you-I've known Randy for 25 years, honest he is.
My dad has made anything and everything out of grader blade scrap over the years and it does not break much. I don't think it is brittle, tough might be the correct word.
Thanks for that contact I'll call him.
Well the program suffered a setback today. Seems parts truck has 5.29 diffs and old ones are 4 point something.I had compared the specs when I bought the parts truck but I guess someone changed something in last 40 years . .Changing out both diffs.The lower gear ratio will I blv be better for my work,lots of hills etc. Should be a qualified diff changerouter by the time I'm thru I guess,for whatever that's worth .
Would it be easier to steal the sliding collar from the 5.29 and put into the 4.???
If you are going to use synthetic gear oil I recommend using the Permatex Ultra Gray high torque gasket maker on the Banjos, it for some reason seals better with synthetic then the blue stuff. With regular 80w-90 it doesn't seem to matter. It sure sucks when you get it all together and get a leak there!
Yep I think it would be ( actually I could have used the whole power divider assembly)but marginally since there's enough metal in the damaged diff that I'd have to disassemble it to clean. And it has some minor chipping on driven gear.So I decided to do this. Quite a project since I have to remove the 5.29 from diner trucks as well as install them.Working alone too,has it's challenges .A few more days I guess.
Thinking of eliminating gaskets for power divider shifter and output shaft ring.using rtv sealant instead . Good or bad idea?
I have always thought a gasket was best. But I would probably follow advice from TS.
I have put quite a few together with RTV and never had a leak. Ultra Grey is great stuff, put a thin layer on both surfaces. There is a procedure for adjusting the stop bolt on the power divider shifter. With the power divider engaged turn the stop bolt in until it touches the end of the shaft then one more full turn and tighten the lock nut.
Napa brand {The Right Stuff-gray} I use it on Series 60 rear structures and drive housings, but clean the surface with alcohol.
Thanks for this.
The u joints I've been separating have been really stuck in the yokes,except for maybe two. Rust I guess. I'm going to clean them up and reuse.How tight should they be I wonder?I can of course clean sand polish etc till they're loose but don't want to overdo it Should they go together with just hand force or?
I like to be able to just lightly tap them in, a little never-seize helps also. If you don't have the lock straps for the cap bolts use blue loctite on the bolts. A lot of new u-joints don't come with the straps, just a little loctite already on the bolts. In my experience that is not enough, I apply my own as well and haven't had any problems. I no longer use the straps even if I have them.
Thanks. great advice. Today's "discovery" :my old diffs (the ones I took out)have different tooth counts. One large gear (front)has 43 teeth and one (rear)has 39 teeth. By my calculations that makes a 4.33 ratio on front and 4.30 on back using different pinion tooth counts .Now why in heck would that be? Replacement 5.29 diffs have same tooth counts ( maybe)I had the front installed when I discovered all this so tooth counting less straightforward on that one. Got the rear diff in today. Will be running tomorrow late I hope.
Oops I see that's backward. Front had 39 teeth and back had 43 teeth.miller time.
I put a two speed in one time and screwed up installing the shift motor. The rear was stuck in high, when you put them in low range and locked in the interlock it was very obvious something was wrong. As far as your tooth counts I haven't run into that but I guess I have never thought count, I guess I should!
Freightliner shop just did that mistake on one of ours under warranty. Couldn't believe they didn't look at the vin sheet.
My point ( I think) is that the ratios are very very close but not the same.Im guessing they're made that way for a reason?I guess the interaxle diff could easily look after the slight difference ,unless in lockup of course
Me personally I would put it together and never think another thing about a small difference like that. We all have effectively done the same thing when we put new tires on one axle, and run out what’s left of the remaining tread on the other axle.
Ford for years used 4.10 in the front and 4.11 in the rear of a 4x4.
I drove, then owned a 79 Pete with SSHD 4:11s in the rear and 4:10 in the front. It happened after busting a tooth thru the power divider case. Mechanic put in a 4:10 and never said a word. Only had an issue when the PD was locked in while on hard ground, then it made the drive train tight and hard to shift. Had to stop and back up a ways to loosen things up or it came out with a huge bang!! Otherwise I never knew it was different. Sold the truck to a guy up in Washington in 95.