# Pinion Yoke Removal



## Nino67gto (Jun 5, 2014)

Please help if you've ever changed a pinion seal in a BOP. After removing the drive shaft, I marked the pinion nut, shaft, yoke and housing. Then counted the exposed threads on the pinion shaft sticking out past the nut. I then removed the pinion yoke nut and washer. I thought the yoke was supposed to slide right off, but no way. So I tapped it from the back side, thinking it was just seated tight and needed a jolt. Nope, no movement at all. So i put a puller on it, and started to wrench on it. Still no go. I have so much pressure on it now that I'm afraid i'm going to snap the puller or break the yoke. Is this supposed to be this tight? Is there a trick, or am I missing something? It's a 1967 GTO with the 8.2 3.36 housing. Anyone else fought this battle and won?


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## Pinion head (Jan 3, 2015)

There are two different ways, I usually accomplish removing this style pinion flange.. The first is at my build bench or outside on the drive still within reach of the airhose. That method is with my dealership pinion flange holding tool. Kent Moore made the 2 piece pinion flange tool and it has several recessed slots in the head. in these recesses a a cast hub type piece pops in. one inserts the hub, backs up the threaded puller type bolt in the center, then bolts the flange tool to the pinion flange. On an 8.2, I use a pair of longer grade 8 bolts, a few thick washers, and towards the housing,lock washers, and the two nuts. Once the pinion tool is tightened up to the flange, use either the small impact, or my ratcheting 1/2" break over with a 2 1/2 foot piece of pipe and the pointed head on the puller bolt pushes against the pinion and pulls the pinion flange off.

Out in yards, when pulling ring and pinions I typically wont haul the Kent Moore tool flange in. Over twenty years ago, an old friend and I were pulling rearend parts west of Ft Worth, and his Kent Moore pinion flange tool never made it out of the yard with us. we suspected the lone guy in the yard on the loader, having picked it up, but couldn't prove it. Real frustrating end of the day, and it took a week to have a nice flange holding tool made, that while the same shape up on the head of the tool, it no longer had the insertable hub with the puller feature. Out of that occurrence, I had a local company lazer cut a few pinion flange holding tools out of plate steel, just in case, we bent one, or lost one.

As a result of the no puller feature, on rears in cars in the Pick N Pulls I'll get the pinion nut off, then take a HD ball joint "pickle fork" and alternate whacking the back side of the flange with the HD pickle fork with alternating positioning and lstrong swings of the mini sledge. The two flat forked tips of the pickle fork tline up on the back of the flange and other than a few light impressions in the cast steel on the back side, no damage, the flange will come off and if needed, the flange will be able to be reused. I've never had a flange in the Pick-N-pulls I couldnt get off this way, it just takes a some muscle. The ball joint separator/ pickle fork needs to be a HD steel one like the large gray ones from Sears. The shiny cheap tierod end/ball joint separators from Harbor Freight, et all, are made off too soft a steel, and the pointed ends will roll over on the ends. misplaced the heavy steel one from Sears years ago, didnt make it into my truck. Picked up a cheap HF one while on the road, and it barely got the job done when I was pulling some Pontiac 8.2 3.23 gears later that day.


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## Rukee (Feb 8, 2007)

When the puller is about as tight as you can get it, hammer the back side of the yoke. If that doesn't work, try to hit the center bolt of the puller. Sometimes that will jar it loose.


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## Lemans guy (Oct 14, 2014)

I have that Kent Moore tool. My factory manual for 66 and 67 shows a diagram of the tech pulling that yoke with an axel hammer slide puller....

You know how that looks...should work if you can get it bolted on the yoke and slam the slide hammer....


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## Nino67gto (Jun 5, 2014)

Thanks everyone. It just surprises me that it's such a snug fit. Seems unnecessary.


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## younggto (Nov 22, 2013)

If the fit between the yoke and the pinion were loose the assembly would not be centered, creating an imbalance, and thus vibrations. 


Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

Make sure when you re-install the yoke, to tighten the nut only to the original, marked position. If you go further, you will ruin the 'crush' on the crush sleeve and will not have the right tolerance between the ring and pinion. If the nut is loose in the original position, use a little loktite. Good luck.


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