Triumph Repair: 1980 1500 rear diff, self tapping screws, flange bolts

Question
Jim,

How tough is it to tackle a rear pinion seal leak? I'm fairly handy. I think I have all the parts (Victoria British to the rescue): bearings and seals. So, where to begin? Any tricky parts to be aware of? Do I have to drop the exhaust? Is there anything else that should be done at the same time?

Thanks,
Pat

Answer
Pat,

You'll need to drop the differential to get access to the pinion seal.  You'll probably have to drop the exhaust, or at least disconnect it in the back and gently move it aside to get access to the differential.

For working on the differential I have a neat home made tool... it's a piece of 4" c-channel steel with a large hole and four 3/8" holes that match the pattern of the pinion flange bolts.  

When you remove the pinion nut you'll need to keep count of how many turns you undo the nut, or you'll wind up affecting the preload on the pinion.

There are professional style seal pullers that will work, I just used 2 self tapping screws and a two pairs of pliers when I did the job on my '73. Drill a small starter hole (or drive screw into the seal with a hammer), thread in the screws until they have a good grip then pull on the screw heads with the pliers.  

While you're there it's not a bad idea to check the condition of the u-joints.  They're relatively cheap and easy to replace before they fail... when they fail they tend to distort the flanges and it makes getting them apart or putting them back together a real pain.


Cheers,

Jim