I just did the differential carrier bearings on my 568 transmission. We're talking about a 413 transmission, but the procedure is going to be quite similar.
To do it RIGHT the transmission has to come out. You do not need to press the old bearings off of the differential assembly. You can just cut them off by being real careful with a dremel. They are junk anyway. Obviously, be careful and don't allow any metal shavings to get into the diff assembly. If you slightly knick the diff assembly while cutting, its not a big deal. Then the outer races will pound out with a punch and persuasion. After the new bearings and races are pounded on (SUPPOSED TO BE PRESSED, but there's nothing wrong with pounding them in if you're careful and have the right tools) the bearing preload must be set since there is bearing tolerances to work with. The preload is the same as what you do when you tighten the bearing nut on a rear drum axle but its not the same type of procedure to do it.. Now, some literature I have states that bearing manufacturing tolerances are VERY strict and typical tolerances were within the thickness difference of one shim versus the next size up, so theoretically it shouldn't HAVE to be done. If this info is accurate. PFFT if I know. This book has been wrong before. But if the preload needs to be set, the transmission must be out of the car at that time. I couldn't find a transmission shop that liked the idea that I tore down my 568 myself and wanted them to set the preload of the diff carrier bearings and thats it, so I said to heck with it and gambled. I slapped new bearings in with the original shim. Upon assembly, with lubricated brand new bearings it is supposed to take between 9 and 14 in. lbs. of torque to spin the differential assembly. I was at 8 in lbs. I thought it was close enough so I tossed it all back together. About 1000 miles on it and everything is fine yet. It got rid of my noise at least. For you, the K-frame will have to come off if you don't want to drop the transmission. You can remove the differential assembly, replace the bearings, etc. Re-install everything and pray the bearings fit with the proper snugness. But because the guts of the transmission is still there, it won't be possible to accurately check to see how much force it takes to spin the diff assembly to see if there is enough or too much preload. There should be NO PLAY in the differential assembly. It should actually feel a bit stiff. I got lucky for a change and everything was cool. That kind of luck doesn't happen much in the autootive world. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com -----------------------REMOVE-FOOTER-WHEN-REPLYING---------------------------- Questions? Visit http://www.sdml.org/ To be removed, visit http://www.sdml.org/pages/leave.html
