Differential housing bolts

[dave1]

I am in the process of replacing my 3.07 final drive with the Cinnabar 3.42=
=20
gear set. I am having problems removing the old differential housing. I=20
looked at the maintenance manual and the parts book and both show 6 bolts=20
and 1 nut holding the housing to the transmission. The new housing and=20
gasket has 8 holes. The hole not shown in the manual is just above the nut=
=20
and is between the housing and the side of the engine. Its pretty much=20
in-accessible without dropping the transmission. Can someone (who has=20
swapped their final drive) tell me if there is a bolt there? I may just=20
have a sticky gasket but before I pry on it I want to be sure I am not=20
missing a bolt.

Thanks for the help...

Dave
Ann Arbor, MI.
73 Sequoia (26'/455/EFI/HEI/160=B0)

 

[dave1]

>Dave, above that nut is another nut. There are 6 bolts to remove and two
>nuts. On mine the nut kept spinning the stud pushing the final drive out so
>have something or someone holding the bottom of the final drive so it won't
>fall.

I finally got it off last night. There was no nut or bolt in that position.=
=20
If there was, I don't know how I could have gotten it out. As far as i can=
=20
tell there is no way to get to it. There is a threaded hole that looks like=
=20
it would receive a stud, just like the one below it. But either the factory=
=20
or the P.O. did not install it. What had things hung up was a combination=20
of the gasket being stuck good and the bracket above the housing being hung=
=20
up on the power steering bracket. I used a wheeled floor jack to support=20
and lower the assembly. That worked quite well. I just hope I can get the=20
new one on without having to remove the power steering bracket.

Now if I can just figure out how to get the hub/bearing assemblies out of=20
the steering knuckles...

This thing sure wasn't designed with ease of maintenance in mind!

Dave
Ann Arbor, MI.
73 Sequoia (26'/455/EFI/HEI/160=B0)

 

[dave1]

>... get two longer (6" will work) bolts
>and put them through the two bottom holes of the final drive ...

Emery,

Thank you very much for the great suggestion. I have not put in the new=20
final drive yet. I am repacking the bearings, swapping the lower ball=20
joints and replacing the CV joint boots. Depending on how much time I get=20
to work on it, I probably will not get to putting the final drive back in=20
until some time next week. I am sure your suggestion will come in vary=
handy.

Dave
Ann Arbor, MI.
73 Sequoia (26'/455/EFI/HEI/160=B0)