ok, time for another round of 'laugh at the fool'.
I've finally got round to having the rear axle off of my escort.
I'd really like to overhaul it and also I'd love to strip it back to the bare casing to ease the welding on of the rear suspension brackets.
As easy as this may seem (unbolt and surely it falls apart?) it's proving to be a git.
I can't get the drums off for a start - they seem somehow stuck on in the middle, but I can't find any bolts/screws, and none are mentioned in the
haynes manual! There seems to be a central cap on the wheel which is preventing the drum from simply sliding off.
Also the nuts holding the differential in place are a bugger to get a spanner/socket to.
Any advice much appreciated as always.
humbly begging,
Mark
The drums are just rusted on,some wd40 and a wire brush round the spigot in the middle then whack it with a hammer and it should come off
Only just completed the same task last week..... Drums are rusted on for sure... mines appeared to be stuck around the boss in the middle. you just
have to keep at it with soft mallet and levers.
If its the small nuts around the diff you are talking about.. then yes they are akward and the best thing is a quality socket. i used a i tried
several and found the snap-on was perfect due to the limited clearance.
hope this helps? 
How familiar that problem sounds!
Don't worry, I spent about 5 hours in total trying to get the drums off my Sierra.
Read this thread:
http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/xmb/viewthread.php?tid=661
Or, if you can't be bothered to read a long thread. The thing to realise (or it certainly was in my case) is that you need to hit the drum around
where it stuck ie. hit it inbetween the wheel studs. I was trying to 'knock' the drum off by diagonally hitting the top of it.
I'd recommend using a copper hammer (less likely to break drum) and I'd also suggest you put the wheel nuts on a couple of turns, that way if you miss
you won't knacker the thread just hit the top of the wheel nut.
Anyway, hope that helps- it is based on experience!
James
Cheers for all the help guys.
After a few weeks off I was back in the garage yesterday and the drums have been successfully liberated!
Next problem is getting the axle half shafts out. Apparently a slide hammer is needed. Is this gonna cost me the earth, or are there any cheap
alternatives?
Also, I'm still stuck on the nuts holding the diff on. Some of them are just exactly in the wrong place to get a socket or spanner to them! They're
kinda recessed into theses holes which are a tiny bit too small for my sockets.... Looks like it's time to go shopping for tools again!
Anyway, many thanks again for all the help so far
Mark ,
you can make a slide hammer by using an old ford halfshaft, knock out the wheel studs
and get a piece of steel scaffolding pipe(or something along those lines)around 18" long and put the pipe over the halfshaft. Next if you have one is
an old ford dif drive flange, (the one the prop bolts to as it has the same splines as the 1/2shaft)push it on to the splines flange first and weld in
place.(Any plate could be welded on as long as its man enough) Position the four stud holes over the 1/2shaft to be pulled and fit the wheel nuts,
slide the pipe back & forth and it should pull the 1/2shaft. Cheap if you have the bits!!!!!.
good look phil
ps have you tried 3/8" drive socket on the diff , most have a thinner wall than a 1/2" drive socket and fit my diff nuts ok...
You might find they will come out if you bolt the drum back to front onto the hub and whack the edge of the drum with something suitably heavy.
John
you should be able to hire a slide hammer,they can be very tight,try a wheel rim bolted on and beat the crap out of that
I would be worried about bendingthe shaft,I made a slide hammer out ofa length of 12 mm studding and a bit of 50x12mm strip.I drilled three holes in
the strip, one central and two to fit over the wheel studs. I then used a bit ofheavy tube and a nut and large washer or another bit of plate as an
end stop.This easily pulled the halfshafts and has been used a couple of times since.
Paul.
quote:
you should be able to hire a slide hammer,they can be very tight,try a wheel rim bolted on and beat the crap out of that