Quill shaft bearing.

[Gresley]

I need to replace the front diff oil seal soon as the leak from it is getting worse and whilst I am at it I want to renew the quill shaft bearing. My question is, can the nose extension / bearing housing be removed without dropping the whole subframe? I don't fancy a major job if I can avoid it...!

Thanks

Brian.

[Kevin Garrod]

I think so, but it might be easier to drop the diff out complete. This can be done with the subframes in place.

[Guest]

I took the whole diff out to do the job. But I had to loosen the subframe a bit to get the diff low enough to come out, but others did not. Someone at the time said that it could be done with the diff in situ, but I could not see how , as the prop shaft is in the way. Be prepared for a head full of diff oil. And put a bearing in from a reputable manufacturer. There are a lot of "no name" bearings out there.

[elvimto]

Brian,
unless you can get the car up high enough its not an easy job. i just did a diff change out I lifted the car up 10 inches by blocking up under the tires then removed the diff. Best way to remove the old seal if it is a leather one is to use a small cut off wheel from a model grinder, we have a make called Dremel over here, cut the metal housing of the seal at 2 x 45 degree angles making a 90 degree cut out then go about 1/2 inch or so away and repeat take a small chisel or punch and tap inward this should move the metal seal housing then you can get a hold of it and pry it out. I replaced my seal with a viton double lip seal instead of the leather one but that is your choice the viton one is easier to put in coat it with oil or light grease to help when it goes into service. When you have the diff out you should be able to do the quill shaft but it still involves uncouple from the prop shaft an removal of bits of exhaust system. You will need to hold the quill shaft coupling hub and remove the nut and the hub then there is a retaining clip then quill shaft should come out and the bearing. get an SKF or major name brand bearing for replacement. You can remove the nose extension with out taking the whole frame out its about four more bolts. I guess it depends how the car is if it is nice and clean or all rusted up i hope this helps you, and pardon my rambling on a bit.

cheers Stuart

[staggering]

I need to replace the front diff oil seal soon as the leak from it is getting worse and whilst I am at it I want to renew the quill shaft bearing. My question is, can the nose extension / bearing housing be removed without dropping the whole subframe? I don't fancy a major job if I can avoid it...!

Thanks

Brian.

Brian,
If you have the time, search my posts on this from mid november last year where I had to replace quill shaft, bearing, diff end seal etc etc and did it with diff in situ and sub frame bolts and wishbone bolts only removed. Do fit a reinforced diff nose extension if you can (in posts you'll see what happened to mine at about 50 mph and complete collapse of rear suspension). Do support the car safely - essential

Cheers
Ian

[MandM]

I need to replace the front diff oil seal soon as the leak from it is getting worse and whilst I am at it I want to renew the quill shaft bearing. My question is, can the nose extension / bearing housing be removed without dropping the whole subframe? I don't fancy a major job if I can avoid it...!

Thanks

Brian.

Hi Brian you need to replace the bearing with a skf bearing number RLS7 2RS,

M&M

[Bob Heritage]

Brian,
unless you can get the car up high enough its not an easy job. i just did a diff change out I lifted the car up 10 inches by blocking up under the tires then removed the diff. Best way to remove the old seal if it is a leather one is to use a small cut off wheel from a model grinder, we have a make called Dremel over here, cut the metal housing of the seal at 2 x 45 degree angles making a 90 degree cut out then go about 1/2 inch or so away and repeat take a small chisel or punch and tap inward this should move the metal seal housing then you can get a hold of it and pry it out. I replaced my seal with a viton double lip seal instead of the leather one but that is your choice the viton one is easier to put in coat it with oil or light grease to help when it goes into service. When you have the diff out you should be able to do the quill shaft but it still involves uncouple from the prop shaft an removal of bits of exhaust system. You will need to hold the quill shaft coupling hub and remove the nut and the hub then there is a retaining clip then quill shaft should come out and the bearing. get an SKF or major name brand bearing for replacement. You can remove the nose extension with out taking the whole frame out its about four more bolts. I guess it depends how the car is if it is nice and clean or all rusted up i hope this helps you, and pardon my rambling on a bit.

cheers Stuart

Support the body just in front of the wheel arches or the wheels will splay out when the bolts are removed.

[elvimto]

Well caught Bob,
I forgot to add that bit in, thanks. I use a combination of wood blocks and axle stands when working under the car, in this case I blocked the front ones and used the stands on the back and had removed the wheels.

cheers stuart

[Gresley]

Many many thanks for all this advice guys, what a great place this forum is

Looks like there is no way round this being a fairly major dismantling job but I now have a couple of methods to follow and know what to do! I think I will go for a rubber oil seal as they seem much easier to get hold of, are the RHP bearings any good?. Thanks for the tips on supporting the car, I was wondering about the best way to do it.

Thanks again,

Brian.

[jbuckl]

Taking the diff out is quicker than taking the quill shaft housing out imho

I need to replace the front diff oil seal soon as the leak from it is getting worse and whilst I am at it I want to renew the quill shaft bearing. My question is, can the nose extension / bearing housing be removed without dropping the whole subframe? I don't fancy a major job if I can avoid it...!

Thanks

Brian.

[Arbman Al]

Many many thanks for all this advice guys, what a great place this forum is

Looks like there is no way round this being a fairly major dismantling job but I now have a couple of methods to follow and know what to do! I think I will go for a rubber oil seal as they seem much easier to get hold of, are the RHP bearings any good?. Thanks for the tips on supporting the car, I was wondering about the best way to do it.

Thanks again,

Brian.

Hi Brian,

Try and find a double lipped oil seal. I'm sure someone on here found one that fit...

Al.

[StagnJag]

Taking the diff out is quicker than taking the quill shaft housing out imho

I agree with this! It is possible to remove the diff extension in-situ, but you have to remove so much that it just isn't worth trying in my opinion. The diff extension has to go up relative to the subframe arms to remove it, and to get the subframe arms to drop enough, I ended up disconnecting the drive shafts, the handbrake cable and the rear half of the exhaust. So basically the only thing I saved was the two nuts that fix the diff backplate to the underside of the car. And even then, I couldn't get enough purchase on the oil seal to remove it (It was a leather one) and I ended up dropping the diff anyway.

Rgds

Dave