cant remove differential from leaf springs??

[nrt69]

So im removing the 8.25 on my 69 charger and im running into a situation...

I was going to lift the diff off the leaf springs and slide it out but when I disconnected everything I noticed theres a bolt through the middle of the leaf springs with a nut on the diff bracket that is preventing the passenger side of the diff from coming off the leaf spring. the drive side has a rounded allen nut and has come of the leafs.  the bolt/bushing(?) is partially falling through the bottom of the middle of the passenger leaf spring. im wondering how that leaf spring is not coming apart unless that bolt/bushing is bound up in them preventing that.

my 69 service manual doesn't mention anything about removing anything that connects the diff bracket to the middle of the leaf springs. (which will be nearly impossible to take off the top nut, I can get to the bottom one)

what gives? suggestions?

Also if anyone can point me to a good 8.25 rear end rebuild thread it would be much appreciated!

[nrt69]

this is the driver side.

[crj1968]

Should be more like this.....



Sounds to me like maybe someone added a leaf and ran a longer bolt through.  Then fastened it to the mount for some crazy reason.

I think you have no choice but to just get medieval on it.  You could probably get an open end wrench on the nut up top.   

[nrt69]

crj1968 is that bolt supposed to hold the leafs together?
if they are going to come apart after removing the top nut (which isn't turning with an open end wrench, rusted) I may as well remove the bottom nut and try to get the diff off that way.

[cdr]

that hold the springs together, the rear end should come loose, beat,pry,yank.

[crj1968]

crj1968 is that bolt supposed to hold the leafs together?
if they are going to come apart after removing the top nut (which isn't turning with an open end wrench, rusted) I may as well remove the bottom nut and try to get the diff off that way.

Yes

if you take off the bottom nut you'll  likely have to drop the front or rear hanger to get the rear end out...right?  Unless you can lift the housing up pulling the whole bolt up with it. 

[469 runner]

It sounds like you just have corrosion binding the spring to the rear housing.  No way are they bolted.  A pry bar, a hammer, maybe a improvise a puller to separate and move on.

[HPP]

Sure there is. Some tool in the past broke off the alignment stud for the leaf pack and replaced it with a bolt. Driver's side they bolted down, look at the pic. Passenger side they bolted up, hence the nut under the housing tube (tube got in the way of dropping a bolt down there). I'm betting once it comes apart, you find some other fragged part that dictated the upside bolt on the passenger side, like a hogged out centering hole in the leaf pack or more likely, the housing pad.

Support the leaf pack, cut/grind/drill off the head of the bolt, slowly separate, replace with the correct parts. Simple.

[nrt69]

it was bolted together on the pass side.
i was able to get the nut off of top and all the leafs came apart (there were no metal bands holding them together).

this is turning into an expensive repair!

So my new questions are:
that alignment stud, or bolt holding the leafs together, does that hold the diff bracket to the spring? or does the diff just sit on the leaf spring and they are held together by the u-bolts?

also, having a hard time finding new highway gears (ring and pinion). i had 271's. Does anyone know where there are reasonably priced 276, 296, or 308s?

[BLK 68 R/T]

The U-bolts are what physically hold the leaf spring to the rear end. That stud is just an alignment stud used to locate the rear diff properly on the leaf springs.

[nrt69]

so whats holding my leafs together on the driver side? (see pic I posted) I think I have the correct stud/alignment bolt going through that side.

[HPP]

The centering/alignment stud, along with the band clamps, hold the leaf pack together. The lack of band clamps is why your passenger side came apart once you got the bolt out.  You need both to keep the leaves all square to each other and tune in their performance. The u bolts then hold the rear housing to the leaf pack. The leaf pack is sandwiched between the housing pad and the shock mount plate, u bolts hold it all together.

2:76 and 2:94 gears sets and pigs should be easy to find. Check any junkyard, 1960 to 1980, including trucks and vans. I don't think anyone makes new gear sets in these ratios. There is no demand for them.

[crj1968]

2:76 and 2:94 gears sets and pigs should be easy to find. Check any junkyard, 1960 to 1980, including trucks and vans. I don't think anyone makes new gear sets in these ratios. There is no demand for them.

He is running an 8.25 rear.

Might be time to step up to an 8.75 so you can get the gears you want.   

[HPP]

Well, 8.25 housings with those gears can still be scrounged in yards too. Although I'd be inclined to go 8.75 for simplicity sake.

[Sublime/Sixpack]

Might be time to step up to an 8.75 so you can get the gears you want.    

I agree.