Technical Lift Your Old Rear End - The Easy Way

I recently pulled out the center section on the 9" rear end in my car. Gravity was there to help me get it out, but I knew putting it back in wasn't going to be as easy. I don't like laying on the garage floor and wrestling a center chunk into position. And I've seen something like this before, so I borrowed someone else's idea and made a sketch.



Since I've got two other project cars that will use 9" rears (if I live that long), I decided to build little fixture to help do the install.

The base is a piece of scrap steel plate, about 5"x10".



A piece of 2" angle (actually square tubing scrap) is notched for clearance around the center chunk and housing studs. Also small "L" shaped pieces are welded to it to support the chunk.


An adjustable strap is slotted and bent from some 1.25"x12" scrap and the base is slotted to allow for different pinion yokes. A 4" piece of 1" round tubing is welded to the bottom.



It temporarily replaces the "cup" on my floor jack and allows me to wheel the chunk into position, raise it and slide it onto the studs without breaking a sweat (or using nasty words).



Now that I know it works I should probably take some time to paint it.



You probably have one in your garage, you just need to do a little fab work.

 

That is a great idea! I always put them on my chest and wrestled them up and in. That's ok with the old 10 bolt Chevy centers, like in my 55 or 56 Chevy , up to 64. But Last Winter i pulled the 9 3/4 " diff from my 65 Riviera! That was a heavy sob!

 

Outstanding idea!
At some point I intend to get a 2nd center section with a spool & lower gears. This will get swapped in for racing. "Poor man's quick change''. A tool like the one you made will be very handy.

 

Patent that...it's a novel idea...thanks for sharing @Hot Rod Dan.

 

Tech week winner!

Seriously, that's a really useful tool & not too hard to make.

 

Strange things entered my head when I saw the title ( maybe one of those ''miracle" aging cures, I might need it)! I'll read it before I report it. Then I find a great little device that is helpful and easy to make. Thanks for the tip, Carp

 

Excellent!

 

Brain not brawn. Safe too, even better. None of us are getting any younger. Few of us are getting stronger.

Chris

 

Great Idea.
Another tool I need to make. The dang things are heavier than they were 50 years ago.
Pete

 

I like it. Thanks for sharing!

 

Don't think you can patent the idea, it's pretty common practice in the heavy truck and equipment biz, but we used transmission jacks with brackets designed to hold the diffs.

 

Great idea, thanks for sharing it. I'll be making one very soon.

 

Brilliant!

Sent from my HUAWEI VNS-L21 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Thanks for all the positive comments, hope this helps someone.

 

Nice work Dan, I'm thinking of making one of those now.
May I suggest introducing an adjustable bolt somewhere to accommodate tilt, since most diff's have a slight turn up and I guess this could be influenced by how level or unlevelled a car has been set up on stands or jacks.
Not only for installing but also for removing a center it is a great idea.

 

Thanks Russ. I like your idea, but I got lazy and took the easy way out. The hole in my floorjack is 1.2" diameter, but I'm using 1" diameter round tube to plug it into the floorjack. There's enough slop that you can tilt the chunk front to back or side to side slightly to locate it on the housing studs. I also drilled the round tube so I can pin it if needed so it won't rock or fall off the floorjack while rolling around the shop and into position.



I always like new ideas, so if you get a chance to make one please post some pictures. Thanks again, Dan

 

I got the brother to your setup actually.
I'll need to get the energy to take some pic's.
It is for installing and removing a complete diff or part thereof without breaking my back.
See if I can come good soon.

 

Damn. Wish this was posted 4months ago.
Changed the center section in my 63 the old fashion way. Pulled a muscle in my right arm. Still a little sore but better than it was.
Thought I might be getting to old for this type of work but now Ill be out in the shop making one of these fixtures for sure.
Planning on making some major changes in the 63 next winter and one of them is, you guessed it, lower gear in the rear.
Thanks for the idea man.
BIG piece of raisin pie for you.

 

That is one of those "why the hell didn't I think of that a long time ago" things. Little or no extra cost except a few minutes of time and digging in the scrap pile makes it nice too.
When you get older you get a whole lot less brave about sliding under a rig and trying to lift something like that by hand.

 

Great idea.
Why not make a full size paper pattern of each of the pieces
you made along with a photo of your finished piece. No need for detailed drawings
with dimensions.
Then make them available to other folks who may want to build the same thing.

 

I don't have any paper patterns but I can tell you how I made it, it's easy.

1) With the chunk out of the car and upside down on the workbench, I fitted the ~8" piece of 2" angle iron to the front lower edge, cutting way anything that's in the way of the mounting stud holes and the ribs on the chunk.

2) Cut a couple small "L" shaped piece to support the weight of the chunk while it sits on the fixture. Weld them to the angle iron.

3) Tack weld the angle iron to the 5"x10" plate about 2" from one end. With the chunk upside down and level, put the plate & angle on it, level the plate and measure the distance from the pinion yoke holes to the plate.

4) Take a 1.25"x12" piece of steel, drill, slot and bend it to mount to the pinion yoke & base plate. Also drill & slot the base plate to allow for different yoke lengths & sizes.

5) Take a piece of round tube that fits in your floor jack, drill a hole in it (if you want to pin it to the jack) and weld it to the bottom.

Easy, even a caveman like me can do it.