How To: Restoration of Ford M8 armoured car US Ordnance number 7373

[Big D]

Hi John,

How's it going? Thanks for the reply. Yes, the manual says the puller is the way to remove it so it has got me a bit beat.

I took the axle housing to my mechanic today. He took one look at it and said that he didn't think that a puller would do it with it having a tapered shaft and a rusted keyway. He also said that he didn't think a press would have done it either (as I had set it up).

He thought lots of heat fast onto the yoke and then smacking the yoke with a big hammer would be the way to do it. He isn't sure about the pinion shaft until he has a look but he thought that it is likely to be very tight around the spigot where it fits into the axle housing. We'll see how good he is.....

Interestingly, I started work on the rear axle late today. This axle looks a lot better and the differential turns freely and the threaded torque rods undid fairly easily. This axle had a leaking seal on the pinion shaft and with all the oil and grease all over the yoke and into the keyway, I thought it looked promising for removal. One short blow with a cold chisel on the nut securing the yoke undid the nut, so it was looking good at that stage.

I then put my 6" puller on the yoke and worked it up. As I'd done with the other yoke, I gave the puller a smack with a hammer but all I was able to achieve this time was a broken puller! Ha!

I'll have a look at other options and in the meantime, see what the mechanic comes back with.