A one day job? Man you guys must work a lot faster than me.

TremendousWand wrote:

1966 Mustang Coupe, 5.0 EFI Swap, 4 Disc Brakes, T5z (Street Use Only)

Going from 2.8 Open Stock to 3.55 Truetrac LSD (~$1400 from Quick Performance)

1.) Will I need to find a shop to press on the new bearings for the axles?  I don't have a press at home and would prefer to not come up with some DIY technique.  I can break the old bearings off no problem.  What kind of shop presses bearings anyway? I'm thinking run of the mill brake shop maybe?

2.) I bought a 1/2-20 plug drain to add a drain plug to the housing.  Going to tap the housing, make sure I get a good seal with RTV.  Seen others do this... any thoughts.

3.) I want to do this job in one day.  I'll have to pull the disc brakes which will require resetting the brakes and the parking brake.  Also getting the bearings pressed on the axles will add more time.  Anything else that I should do upfront or that I should know about that would cause a stop down?  I have to do this in my driveway for space, I don't want to have the car on blocks for days if I get held up.

4.) Is it safe to just use degreaser on everything?  A lot of grease and gunk cleaning up the axles and housing. I figure if I wipe everything clean it shouldn't contaminate the gear oil.

5.) This will be done using my very high tech cylinder block lift in my driveway.  I can probably get the car up a good 2 feet.  I used the same technique installing my subframe connectors, transmission swap, and disc brake conversion.  Anything special about a third member swap relative to car lift setup.  I read this third members can weigh a lot. 

6.) From the specs, the truetac requires no friction modifier and no long break in period.  Any thoughts?  

7.) Haven't been able to find a hardware kit for this.  Normally I try and swap out old hardware where ever possible in my projects.  Anyone know if a kit I'd appreciate it.

 

It's not difficult, but you really need a press to get the old ones off, and install the new ones on.  Most any automotive or trucking machine shop will have one and know how to use it. 
 you don't seem to have done it before So let a pro do it.  And it is not expensive and takes about 15 min for both axles.  Be there when they do it so you can see what they are doing.

If you're doing it yourself, I'd buy two tools which will help immensely and you will continue to use. A hydraulic press and a transmission jack. Both are under $200 each at harbor freight. With the three different transmissions I've had in my 69, the Jenner tranny jack is a back saver for Jenner and rear pumpkin work.

Last edited by Bearing Bob (11/04/2022 7:10 PM)

If WYAIT Monster doesn’t get ahold of you, easy 3 days.

I spent a day removing, disassembling, and throughly cleaning inside and outside, and painted exterior.

I was installing rear disc brakes for the first time and was in no rush due to snow the following day after paint on the first day.

RTM wrote:

I always try to buy an extra lower pinion bearing and hone it out so I can slip it on and off when trying to set the pinion depth.

You can always heat the bearings up on a heating plate then they will tap right in place. Save your old pinion nut to use it when setting the pinion depth. Install a new pinion nut when it’s all set.

This is coming as a complete third member.  

Ron68 wrote:

TKOPerformance wrote:

FWIW, I'm still using the $90 Harbor Freight press I bought two decades ago to do all my press work.  Two $50 press jobs farmed out to a shop and you've paid for it.  It takes up decidedly little floor space too. 

Quick Performance I believe also has the copper washers.  If you still have all of your originals, you can reuse them.  Hit them for a couple seconds with a propane torch to reanneal them if you want to feel like you did something special. 

A Truetrac is an all gear LSD.  They do not require friction modifier, because they have no clutches.  I have one in my '06 F250.  Regular Ford spec gear oil went in it without any additional modifier.  Works just fine, and that's in synthetic oil (the spec'd weight is not available in conventional). 


 
 

That's an old trick I used to use on aircraft engine spark plug copper gaskets. Heat them cherry red and quench them in water - turns them nice and soft so they'd seal well.
 

That's where I learned it from too.  The first restoration I was involved in was my neighbor's AT6 when I was in middle school. 
 

TremendousWand wrote:

Do I need to remove the entire rear brakes to remove the rear axles?  I have a disc brake conversion.

 
"Only" the calipers and rotors, at least on my Cobra Mustang brakes.

So apparently trying to get bearings pressed on an axle is like asking if they speak Chinese. Called 3 shops and got nothing.  Looks like I'll be buying a press after all.

A really close friend and I tend to split the cost and share a lot of tools that set more than they are used, like sand blast cabinet, plasma cutter and likewise our press, but anyway our jack on the Harbor Feight Press was shot and he just picked up a new one with the air assist, and it is extremely nice. No more trying to hold something and still figure a way to operate the jack.

TKOPerformance wrote:

You may also want to invest in a set of clamshells.  Mine also came from Harbor Freight.  The press will come with arbor plates, but they aren't terribly helpful other than providing a flat surface on which to set things.  Over the years you'll collect all kinds of useful stuff to help press stuff on and off.  A shelf above the press comes in handy for storing that stuff.  Sections of pipe, old inner and outer bearing races, etc. work well for pressing.  Sockets also work, just be mindful if you really crank on something you could damage them.  Generally, you'll get a feel for it, but if something is requiring a Herculean effort and still not moving 99% of the time something is wrong.  Check your setup, etc.  Like most things on cars, just use common sense.

TKO – curious, did you get the 12-ton or 20-ton hydraulic press from Harbor Freight?

 

BobE wrote:

TKOPerformance wrote:

You may also want to invest in a set of clamshells.  Mine also came from Harbor Freight.  The press will come with arbor plates, but they aren't terribly helpful other than providing a flat surface on which to set things.  Over the years you'll collect all kinds of useful stuff to help press stuff on and off.  A shelf above the press comes in handy for storing that stuff.  Sections of pipe, old inner and outer bearing races, etc. work well for pressing.  Sockets also work, just be mindful if you really crank on something you could damage them.  Generally, you'll get a feel for it, but if something is requiring a Herculean effort and still not moving 99% of the time something is wrong.  Check your setup, etc.  Like most things on cars, just use common sense.

TKO – curious, did you get the 12-ton or 20-ton hydraulic press from Harbor Freight?

 

I'll have to look to be honest.  I thin its a 12 though.  Typically if you need more than 1-3 tons of force something is wrong, or something's going to break.