jvincig01
SILVER Star
I am rebuilding my front axle and ran into a snag yesterday. This is the first time I have ever gone completely through it, and I found some easter eggs hidden by the PO. First, one of the spindles didn't have a bushing. Second, no gaskets were used, just Permatex. All stuff I can navigate, though.
Here's my issue, the PO passenger side birfield came out with no issues.. BUT the driver's side did not. The birfield was caught between the endpoints of the ball housing. I had everything lined up perfectly for removal, but my guess is the PO used a dead blow hammer to force it through years ago. I ended up using a small enough pry bar from the top of the ball to force it out.
I measured the openings on both sides, and the trouble side was indeed smaller than the other.
My question is, is it ok to grind this down a hair? This will give me the proper clearance to gently guide the birfield back into the axle upon assembly.
Here's my issue, the PO passenger side birfield came out with no issues.. BUT the driver's side did not. The birfield was caught between the endpoints of the ball housing. I had everything lined up perfectly for removal, but my guess is the PO used a dead blow hammer to force it through years ago. I ended up using a small enough pry bar from the top of the ball to force it out.
I measured the openings on both sides, and the trouble side was indeed smaller than the other.
My question is, is it ok to grind this down a hair? This will give me the proper clearance to gently guide the birfield back into the axle upon assembly.