Ball gear removal

[Redrig]

Hello all ,

Quick question

I am goign to be replacing my ball gears over this winter and am gathering up seal kits , etc to do it and I have a question on it .

Can the ball gears be pulled off with a puller kit like this? and a big vice to hold everything ?

or a pitman arm puller ?

Or do you have to have a full blown shop press to get them off ?

just trying to avoid buying a 200 dollar shop press that will never get used again .

Thanks in advance

 

[kenny nunez]

With the ball gear shaft mounted in a vice and the nut removed hit the ball gear face in a circular pattern with a good hammer and the ball rear will loosen up. Most times that is all that is needed to separate the gear from the shaft. The hardest part is holding the ball gear when tightening the thin retainer nut. I had a OMC tool that had a hole in it for the socket which was about 20” long that had studs protruding to fit between the ball gear teeth which allowed torquing to 100 lbs. You might be able to use a large pipe wrench to hold the ball gear, You also should use Loctite to secure the nut and the splines. Fill the nut cavity with RTV before installing the cover plug.
This will only work on the taper fit ball gear shafts. Pre 73 models had a press fit with out the retainer nut and required a press.

 

[Redrig]

awesome , that is good news Kenny .

It sounds like its very doable without a press - Great !

quick question , when putting the new ball gear on - my plan was to put the ball gear in a vice (lightly , just to keep it from spinning ) and then torque it to specs .

Do you think that will work ?

 

[kenny nunez]

If you can grip it in a vise that should work. Hopefully the thread on the end of the shaft is still in good condition with enough material to hold the nut.

 

[Redrig]

I thought I would add to this to close this thread out for any future searchers .

A press may be required for the very early years , but you certainly do not need one for the later years of ball gears.

I removed the nut with an impact gun , a couple taps with a hammer as Kenny mentioned to the ball gear itself and it popped right off, easy peasy . I had it off in about 20 minutes start to finish .

So you sure dont need a press - even though the manuals show them being removed with a press.