64 Differential Side Gear Yoke

[Wayne P.]

I jacked up my rear end to replace the pinion seal and found the driver side gear yoke had come out 3/4 inch from the differential housing.
I assumed the C clip had come off. I tore it down and saw the C clip intact up by the pinion gear . not damaged. I'm not sure what to do next ?

I don't see a measurement from the Differential Pinion shaft to the end of the Side gear yoke. Their was no sound coming from the gears.

Thanks for any or advice

[Joe R.]

Re: 64 Differential Side Gear Yoke

If you don't have a pair of snap ring pliers borrow a pair with 90 degree tips and put the c clip back on the side gear yoke. Then drive safely!

JR

PS. By the way, if you haven't removed the rear end before now good luck! It's an awful dirty and smelly job!

[Joe L.]

Re: 64 Differential Side Gear Yoke

I jacked up my rear end to replace the pinion seal and found the driver side gear yoke had come out 3/4 inch from the differential housing.
I assumed the C clip had come off. I tore it down and saw the C clip intact up by the pinion gear . not damaged. I'm not sure what to do next ?

I don't see a measurement from the Differential Pinion shaft to the end of the Side gear yoke. Their was no sound coming from the gears.

Thanks for any or advice

Wayne------



Often, the "C" clip "comes off" due to the fact that the end of the stub axle has worn to the point that the groove no longer retains it. Of course, it can come off for other reasons but I consider this to be the most common reason. If this has occurred, you need to replace the stub axles. In any event, you should inspect the ends of the stub axles for wear. There is a bevel at the end of the axle splines. If you cannot see a bevel (which is always the case if the "C" clip fell off due to stub axle wear), that means the axle is WAY BEYOND the need for replacement. Even if you can see some bevel, there may still be too much wear for continued use but if you can't see any bevel, there's no need to inspect them more closely; you KNOW they're shot.

[Wayne P.]

Re: 64 Differential Side Gear Yoke

Thanks.I measured the shaft from the outside of the c-clip to the end of the shaft is .190 " the gap on the other shaft is .25 to the Differential pinion shaft.
The shaft apears to be in good shape. I had this clip put in a couple years ago when I replaced the frame. Maybe the installer didn't get the clip all the way in the groove. Any suggestions were to buy this shaft ? Thanks

[Joe L.]

Re: 64 Differential Side Gear Yoke

Thanks.I measured the shaft from the outside of the c-clip to the end of the shaft is .190 " the gap on the other shaft is .25 to the Differential pinion shaft.
The shaft apears to be in good shape. I had this clip put in a couple years ago when I replaced the frame. Maybe the installer didn't get the clip all the way in the groove. Any suggestions were to buy this shaft ? Thanks

Wayne------


Well, you may not need a new shaft. Is there a good bevel at the end of the splines? It should be easy to inspect the end of the shaft for wear in that you have it out. Or, post a good cloee-up of the end and we can probably advise.

It's very possible the installer did not get the clip in correctly. It must be fully engaged in the groove or it WILL pop out.

These GM "C" clips are a piece stamped out of steel flat stock. Consequently, they have a very slightly contoured configuration on one side and completely flat configuration on the other side. Some folks think this is a design feature but I don't; it's just how pieces stamped out of flat stock are very commonly configured. Anyway, it's a good idea to install the clips so that the completely flat side faces the end of the shaft. It just provides a little extra insurance, real or imagined, that the clip will stay in its groove. There's certainly no downside to doing it this way.

As I mentioned, the clip MUST be fully engaged in the groove when installed.

[Wayne P.]

Re: 64 Differential Side Gear Yoke

Thanks Joe. The chanel with seems wider than the other shaft. It also has a bur on it. I think the grove has widened allowing the clip to move very loose on the shaft. The other clip is tight to the shaft . I think I will end up buying another shaft.

[Rich C.]

Re: 64 Differential Side Gear Yoke

I've oft wondered...why the clip, is it merely there to keep shaft in differential, if say, halfshaft removed?

'73 LS-4 454, owned 22 years!

[Gary R.]

Re: 64 Differential Side Gear Yoke

Well some thoughts:

The stock vette 17 spline axles or side yokes are retained by snap rings vs a true C-clip. The other GM lines did use c-clips on the axles. Here are the snap rings and c clip. The c-clip is .150 thick and I use them with 30 spline HP Tom's axles. The snap rings vary in thickness from the GM 060" & new green ones to the cheaper snap rings that twist when installed.


Here is an original axle I dressed on the surface grinder. It was still good and better then the current "new" yokes which are usually imported and not always hardened. In fact I just had to replace a "new" yoke on a diff I rebuilt 5 year ago becuase it was not hardened.


Here are how the axles fit into the posi case. They ride up against the cross shaft which is hardened. If the axle face is soft it will wear down. The snap rings retain them in the side gear. Endplay is set up by the way the posi is built, the axle face, or wear in the case side holes. If the endplay is too tight then it will be hard to install the snap ring. Typically vendor rebuilds are just the opposite, too much endplay. So yes it is possible it was not correctly installed and just popped off. It will be thrown forward and end up in between the pinion bearings or get chewed up in the gears. I've found many like that. I had a diff come in and the pinion was locking up, I found what was left of the snap ring in the large pinion bearing. If you see the chamfer edge and it is a true .190" from face to snap ring then it should be still good. If it is a rebuilt axle with hardened tip then it should not have any wear, if you see the edges rolling back then you better look closer.


If the posi was tuned a 190 axle will not fit correctly and have no endplay. That is not what you want, you want 005-010" endplay. If the posi was stock built those same axles could have up to 030" endplay also not ideal for a rebuilt diff. If you do not know what posi tuning is just go to YOU-TUBE and punch in Tom's eaton posi tuning for a nice demo on how it's done.

All said and done, check the snap ring for being flat and still closes, install it on the yoke and seal it up. If you were otherwise ok then you are back to where you were, no better or worse. The other concerns are there if you want to address them.

[Wayne P.]

Re: 64 Differential Side Gear Yoke

Thanks Gary that was great info . My mistake I have a snap ring not a c clip. It is ,060 . It has a lot of side play. Would you recommend a refurbished or new and from what supplier. Thanks ( I only want to do this once .

[Gary R.]

Re: 64 Differential Side Gear Yoke

Wayne,
If your axle is .190 from the face to the snap ring then you're not going to get much better. If it is hardened then that is all you need. If it's soft then you need to get it hardened or replace it with a hardened axle. However, if you have a lot of endplay now replacing the yoke is not going to change that, that requires posi setup. Just about all the vendors sell rebuilt axles from Lone Star in TX so you can shop around for the best price.