In the middle of lock rite install, PLEASE HELP

I have the dif cover off, and im attempting to get the spider gears out, but I cant for the life of me get out the retaining pin the holds the roller in. It is not an actual solid pin, just a thin circular pin, that is hollow in the middle, so I cant use a punch to get it out. Its in such a tight spot that you need a LONG object that is really skinny to get in there. Does anyone have any tricks or tips as to how they got the "pin" out? Please help, gotta get this done. Why didnt they use a solid pin? stupid dana 30

i used a hex drive on my d44...like in this pic:

I sacrificed a drill bit that was the proper size.

And make sure you knock it inward from the backside (if that makes sense).

Ill try a drill bit, but knocking it inward doesnt make sense to me. The pin faces left to right, it is parallel with the axle shafts. So would inward be towards the driver side or passenger side? Im not talking about the roller, but the pin that holds it in. I cant see that pic either, by hex driver do you mean an allen wrench?

Inward would be towards the driver's side. There's a hole on the backside (passenger's side) of the carrier right next to one of the ring gear bolt heads. Stick whatever you're using to drive it out into that hole.

That thing you're trying to get out is called a roll pin. It a pin made from a flat piece of steel rolled into a cylinder. It is like a cylindrical spring so you have to squeeze them a bit to first get them in the hole before hammering them in. The pressure of the pin trying to expand out in the hole keeps it in place. If they were to use a solid pin then it wouldn't have those spring properties and it would fall out.

There should be a hole behind the ring gear that is inline with the roll pin. When I did my locker I used the drill bit trick that was mentioned above...i.e. stick a drill bit that is just the right diameter to fit into the hole where the roll pin goes. Put the drill bit in from the ring gear side until it contacts the roll pin. Gently tap the drill bit knocking the roll pin out (toward the passenger side). If the pin doesn't move keep tapping harder until it starts to move. It shouldn't be too bad really. Be sure to hit the drill bit as square as possible as they can snap easily when hit on an angle. When the roll pin starts to stick out the passenger side you can sometimes grab it with some pliers squeeze the pin a little and pull it out. Keep the pin as you'll have to re-use it when you re-assemble the diff.

Do not substitute the roll pin with a solid pin.

Well the roll pin was so hard to get out that in fact I could not get it out, I tried an allen wrench, a drill bit, a screwdriver a punch, everything imaginable, and it did not so much as budge. Oh well its all a wash anyway because I quickly realized (contrary to what I was previously told) that with my 3.55 gears I cant get it done anyway!!! SO I gave up for now, because I dont know how to correctly take out the ring gear etc. for the install thats needed. Maybe ill just wait to re-gear and get a rear locker all at the same time when I do my lift and tires. AHH this is so annoying, well at least I got some new gear oil in there.

Don't stop now!

It's easy to take the carrier out. Remove the 4 bolts holding the carrier in. But make sure you remember how the caps were installed. You'll have to put them back in the exact same position. Just use a black marker and label them as left and right and top and bottom.

Then gently pry it out to remove. The carrier and ring gear are a little heavy, so it's a good idea to put a box full of rags under the diff to catch it in case you lose your grip.

Now you can work on it on a workbench, which is easier anyway. When you put it back in, bolt the caps back on in the same position and torque to spec.

Another thing...if you're at stock height, you may have to unbolt your steering because it'll be in the way and the carrier won't come out.

dido so much easier with the carrier out!!!

try that

I did mine with the carrier in. First used a long and very thin punch, then and then used a drill bit like everyone else. I remember it was a PITA, a lot more hassle than I thought a roll pin should take.

He HAS to take the carrier out. With 3.55 gears, the ring gear teeth are too tall to allow the cross shaft to come out.

It is possible to grind the offending tooth down a bit while leaving the carrier in. But it really isn't that much trouble to remove the carrier.

Well its too late, I already stopped and put it all back together. But, for when I do it again, do I have to set the gears or anything like that when I put the ring gear back in? I dont know the details of gear installs. The caps yer talking about, those are the bearing race caps on the end of the axles?

Atl-Atl said:

Well its too late, I already stopped and put it all back together. But, for when I do it again, do I have to set the gears or anything like that when I put the ring gear back in? I dont know the details of gear installs. The caps yer talking about, those are the bearing race caps on the end of the axles?

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The caps are the caps that hold the carrier in the diff. As long as you put the caps back on exactly as they were, you don't need to adjust anything.

Also if you take the ring gear off to take the cross shaft out, make sure you use thread locker on the ring gear bolts and torque them down.

Thanks for all your help guys. I just found DPG offroads writeup on installing a lock rite in a D30, and it is really thorough with lots of good pics. Now I can see exactly what I need to do. Maybe tommorow ill try again.

I just went through this the other night. But with a disco axle like I have with the c-clip on the passengers inner shaft you have to assemble with the carrier in the axle.

I had to grind the tooth down a hair to let the crosspin slide out. I also removed the passengers side bearing cap to allow for easier access to the hole for punching out the rollpin. I found a large nail that fit the hole well and ground it flat on the end.

One thing on the DPG site, the torque values are wrong for the bearing retainer caps and the ring gear bolts. I stripped one of the ring gear before I went home and dug out the FSM to get the correct values. Ring gear bolts should be 45 and the retaining cap bolts 80 according to my 89 FSM. I had already pulled the carrier out to look things over is why I had to retourqe it.