[gat]

so wile upgrading my sportsman xp bushings, I noticed two of the rear diff cover bolts were loose so I cleaned up around them and the heads just fell off, apparently they have snapped.. is there a trick to pulling out the rear diff? or do the clutches have to come out too? and has this happened to anyone else?

 

[gat]

come on. some one knows the trick.... help me out.

 

[InRBigness]

I have never taken mine out but looking at the parts fiche it appears there are just 4 long bolts that go to nuts on the other side. If the heads broke off can you push through the other way?

 

[ThorsHammer]

What clutches are you talking about? and by cover do you mean a protective cover or the diff housing?

You can find the parts blow-up aka parts Fiche online to determine what bolts need to come out.

 

[jonny72888]

why not just take the bolts out?

 

[RVS Performance]

4 bolts with nuts on them hold the rear diff in. Unless you have one of the ones that holds it together that broke a head off it should be easy to drive it out the other side and replace the bolt.

 

[jonny72888]

4 bolts with nuts on them hold the rear diff in. Unless you have one of the ones that holds it together that broke a head off it should be easy to drive it out the other side and replace the bolt.

Thats what im saying. I dont think you would have to take it all apart.

I was even thinking of welding a bolt to where is snapped and pulling it out

 

[gat]

these are the two bolts that broke. all the others were tight.

 

[gat]

all the bolts are out and I can move the diff all around, just cant get it out to drill out the bolts.

 

[jonny72888]

Do you have ez outs?
Tap it with a left hand thread bolt so it will come out.
Do you have a welder? It looks like there might be enough to weld a bolt on to and pull it out. The weld won't stick to the cast parts.

 

[jgcoastie]

I might be way off base here... But shouldn't you have to remove the U-joint from the yoke to pull the diff?

 

[InRBigness]

Parts fiche shows nits on the other side. Can you not push bolts through?

 

[gat]

ya, that was a before pic. diff is moving around freely in its spot. just cant get it to come out of the frame area.

 

[gat]

its the bolts that hold on the diff cover that are broke. there is no way to push them out. diff has to come out so I can try to easy out it.

 

[polman500]

Unless it was leaking I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[ThorsHammer]

axles are out, drive shaft is out, and it's loose. sounds like you need to remove whatever is in the way from getting it out.

 

[gat]

so, got out the diff. easy outed the bolts. took apart diff and........ nothings wrong with it at all. oil was a bit cloudy, witch tells me some water got in it so good thing I took it apart. time to get some new bolts, reseal it up and put this thing back together! now why would only those two bolts break?

 

[polman500]

Good catch. Sounds like somebody on the assembly line may have had a rough weekend and overtightened those two...or...the Mrs. may have peed in his oatmeal that morning.

 

[ThorsHammer]

yeah, just a couple over torqued bolts. They weren't in a place where it could have been an impact shear.

 

[gat]

yeah, just a couple over torqued bolts. They weren't in a place where it could have been an impact shear.

speaking of torque. anyone know what the bolts are suposed to be torqued to?