The old Ford banjo rear end has seen better days. Was locked up, tore it all down this morning and it had sit outside, has water in it and filled with sludge. Pinion bearings were froze up but remarkably we tore it all down without breaking anything and I think it’s salvageable. Needs new bearings but should rebuild with ease. Couple questions? Are there any good threads on the rebuild process? Looks like the hardest part will be putting the pre-load on the pinion, any words of wisdom there? Also, can you buy rebuild kits that include all parts or do you have to buy each individual bearing? Thanks gentlemen for any and all help!
A good one. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/chassis-assembling-a-40-ford-rear-axle.61502/
Vern Tardell has a banjo book .several parts places joes antique, early ford , can’t think of the others . Give Dale at weedetr. Street rod components a call freshened mine changed ring and pinion etc.
There are lots of books with good information on these rear ends. All major repro parts vendors have books on these. They aren't hard to rebuild but a pretty fiddly process when it comes to the preload settings. The pinion pre-load is pretty straight forward but the differential bearings, backlash and the tooth pattern require a lot of patience as the adjustment is done with various thicknesses of gaskets and bearing shims if needed and requires taking it apart and re- assembling and checking. Thankfully, only the left axle housing removal lets you remove/install the guts in one assembly. If there is rust or pits on the gears, replace them or you will be unhappy. Gears are very expensive these days. If you leave me a personal message, I can send you some stuff to help you.
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