The small bolt that holds the pin in has broke and somebody has tried to weld the pin to the carrier on each side. The welds are broken, the broken bolt is still in there(best I can make out). The pin wiggles back and forth just a little(less than a 1/8") when the rear end is turned. Sorry about the lousy picture Its a 8.2 peg leg 2:93 in a 70GS455. Reckon this could be dangerous? Thanks Bert
I would take care of that right away, Ive seen them do enormous damage, once the pin works its way out :eek2:
DO NOT drive the car! I have heard horror stories when that pin failed the the spider gear shaft came out and lock up the rear end. Do yourself a favor and junk that rear axle. Get a 71-2 Cutlass/Skylark rear, 8.5" and build it for your car. I would suggest a 3.08 and a posi unit. You will need to shorten your driveshaft 1-1.5"
I had the shaft come out of the rear in my 68 GS. It put a hole about the size of my fist in the bottom of the housing. Like George said, don't drive it. If you don't want to replace the whole rear, a 2 series open carrier shouldn't be hard to find.
Would agree, not to drive it. Replacement wise, there were actually 4 different carrier ranges on the '68-70 Buick 8.2 rears. Trying to save a few bucks, & looking for low mile carrier, feel free & drop me an e-mail. Have shipped several in the last year, & have a few more... resto_services@yahoo.com :3gears: Roger
I was afraid of that. I kinda figured it was possible to cause a catastrophe. Thats twice George has told me to stop driving this car. The other time it was a defective harmonic balancer... I have rounded up the parts to get it fixed if I can just get it done now. I thought I might could get the bolt out and fix it but George is right, its junk. I dont know how long the rearend has been this way but I saw it back in 1992 when I changed the fluid in the rearend and had been trying to forget about it. Thanks for the help fellows. Bert
Back in the day when I had my 69 Wildcat the pin came loose and shot out the cover leaveing a nice 1' hole. I was cruising sown the highway at about 60 when it went. Luckily it didn't lock up the rear. Nice loud thud and the car jerked a bit but could speed up and slow down. Everythink was fine until I came to a stop, then when you applied power it was locked up tighter than Dicks hatband. Its a good thing it didn't lock up while on the highway, that might have killed me.
Since Bert got his question answered, I thought I'd pass this along while we're on the subject. I came across this tool when trying to remove a broken cross shaft bolt. Anyone ever see this before? differential tool Worked like a charm. Sometimes you can get lucky and walk the broken piece out with a pick. But this tools seems fool proof.
I seen one guy use it but that means I have to carry another tool (cordless drill) So far, I have not had any failures removing the broken end using a pencil magnet. I used a piece of shrink tubing over the magnet and sides so it slides easily out of the hole. Lot less cumbersome than using that tool. Just another idea to solve the problem. :TU:
believe it or not that pin will usually come right out unless the cross pin is jambed. you can use a small straight or 45 degree pick tool to turn it out. that other drill kit tool does work good also if you get a stubborn one. i know someone that got one from a matco tool dealer. good luck.
Good link Jason :TU: In my "yarding" belt bag, I also carry a few magnetised picks, & I usually try them, but there are countless times the pick routine has failed. When the pick fails I've always headed to the truck for the Dewalt & the "Matco" kit. It's nearly fool proof, I've even removed broken pin bolts that had to be drilled twice... broken pin bolt was in 3 pieces Making one's own "Matco" small pin bolt kit... After buying my first Matco kit in the late 80's, I eventually crushed the plastic storage tube, & lost the capscrew & square headed screw extractor... To replace, just center drilled in a lathe a few small 40 cent capscrews from the hardware store. Good to have extras. Most hardware stores will also have a selection of long drill bits ($5-6 ea) & small square ended screw extractors. For those wanting to make their own kit, the bit needs to be 7/32 or 1/8" (max) in diam. :3gears: Roger
A disclaimer first. I do NOT Recommend this method to remove broken pin bolts but I have seen it work many times. It was taught to me by a old school mechanic who was about 60 at the time and had been employed by Mopar and GM dealerships since he got out of high school. I was two years out of school when I broke off my first cross pin bolt So I went to the old man. Surely Jim will know what to do. He took one look, Walked back to his tool box got A big drift punch and a 10# sledge. Turned the bolt end of the pin to the front side of the rear end put the punch on the other end and told me to hold it there. You have probably figured out what comes next. He blasts the end of the punch HARD shearing the broken bolt in three pieces slides out the pin, removes the spiders. The broken bolt came out no problem after the pin was out. I have used this method every time I have encountered this problem in the 25 years since then. Only one time did the carrier blow out instead of the bolt shearing. Jim said I didnt hit it hard enough then shook his head and said Kids in the shop as he walked away.
