I've put about 3500 miles on my Dart over two years, and the rearend always has made noise, which makes sense, because the car probably has a billion miles on it.

The noise lately seems to be getting a little rougher, and it's always on the drive side (not coasting). When I replaced the axle bearings this summer, I noticed that the ring and pinion have some wear (like it might have been run low on oil, and it DID have a leaking pinion seal when I got it), but I'm thinking of just throwing bearings in there to at least minimize the noise, which doesn't bother me that much as it is.

My manual says I need a housing spreader. I have a press and dial indicator, but if I reuse the R/P and just replace bearings, can I get away with not having the spreader? I've done a couple of differentials, but never a 7 1/4. Any tips are welcomed!

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1965 Dodge Dart 170 Wagon
1965 Ford Mustang
1965 Buick Skylark Hardtop
1965 Chevy Corvair Monza Convert.
1953 Buick Special Riviera

The only tool you need is CASH! I have a 7 1/4 A body rear axle, large bolt pattern, pulled from a daily driver, ten inch finned drum brakes rebuilt about four years ago, ready to install into your car for CHEAP!

Seriously, once you price out the costs of buying the tools and parts you will need to rebuild a 7 1/4 axle you will be looking at over $700. Buying a good condition used axle is cheaper and easier in the short and long term.

Buy my axle. I will make you a good deal. Where are you located? If you are in the Puget Sound area I might even be able to deliver it for a reasonable price.

Ha ha...I'm in Michigan and have a brand new set of SBP wheels on the Dart.

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1965 Dodge Dart 170 Wagon
1965 Ford Mustang
1965 Buick Skylark Hardtop
1965 Chevy Corvair Monza Convert.
1953 Buick Special Riviera

Bummer. Good luck! The last time i priced out the cost of rebuilding a 7 1/4 axle it ended up being cheaper to buy, rebuild, and install an 8 3/4.

I have never needed a case spreader to get a 7-1/4 apart.

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Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.

Any specific tools you used to pull/install bearings?

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1965 Dodge Dart 170 Wagon
1965 Ford Mustang
1965 Buick Skylark Hardtop
1965 Chevy Corvair Monza Convert.
1953 Buick Special Riviera

Spreader was needed for my 65 Dart 7 1/4 ring & pinion replacement.
Made it from steel angles, wood blocks & a couple of bottle jacks.
Finally a dial indicator to measure the amount of spreading.
Spreading amount is measured to avoid permanent housing distortion.

The angles needed a "plug" to be welded.
It fit tightly into the axle housing depressions.
These depressions were provided by the factory.

Digital images are available on building & using the spreader.
There are others for other challenging aspects in the rebuilding process.
The "Differential Annotated Diagrams" have notes to guide in the future.
see: http://tinyurl.com/o7rx3jp

The work can be done without spending a lot on special tools.
A puller may be needed to get the axles out if a rear has set for 50 years.
You must be willing to stretch a bit & have scrap steel lying about.
There are several shims that require a trial and effort process.
Putting the pinion & ring in the right place is the goal.
The spreader gets plenty of action.
It requires your considerable patience during the trial and error process.

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1965 Dart 125k, 225, Carter BBD Super Six, 2 1/4 single exhaust., sbp manual scare-bird front disc, 7 1/4 rear 2.94 sure grip, 15 x 4.5 wheels, 833 OD with hyd. throw-out bearing, electric fan, ram air/heated air, Accusump.

Great pictures! I've already had the pinion seal and axles out. I'd pretty much just be swapping bearings, so I think my shims and spacers should all get the setup pretty close.

We'll see how it goes! I'll probably tackle it next summer.

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1965 Dodge Dart 170 Wagon
1965 Ford Mustang
1965 Buick Skylark Hardtop
1965 Chevy Corvair Monza Convert.
1953 Buick Special Riviera

I have seen referance to using an axle spreader on a 7 1/4 rear. I have never had to use one. Every 7 1/4 rear I have done, had side bearing adjusters. Use an "E" body torsion bar thru the axle housing to loosen the adjuster. I have no idea what years used the shims, and what years had the adjusters.

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Charrlie_S
65 Valiant 100 2dr post 170 turbo
66 Valiant Signet 170 nitrous
64 Valiant Signet
64 Valiant 4dr 170
64 Valiant 4dr 225

Early 7 1/4 rears use selective outboard shims to adjust the carrier preload and backlash.

Brian

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63 Plymouth Valiant Wagon

If you do decide on a new ring & pinion you might discover a surprise.
The new pinion is made with different dimensions....by a lot.

They supply a crushable sleeve that the new pinion is designed for.
That messes up the original shim thickness.

I opted not to use a crushable shim and had a machine shop make up thicker shims in place of the crushable shim to make the new pinion work.

When just using the old pinion and new bearings expect to find that the factory didn't nail down the tooth engagement pattern well.
Some shim adjustments will still be needed to get a decent pattern especially with some ring & pinion gear wear thrown in.

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1965 Dart 125k, 225, Carter BBD Super Six, 2 1/4 single exhaust., sbp manual scare-bird front disc, 7 1/4 rear 2.94 sure grip, 15 x 4.5 wheels, 833 OD with hyd. throw-out bearing, electric fan, ram air/heated air, Accusump.

Brian, what do you consider "early"? All the ones I have done were small bolt pattern, so that would be about 72 or earlier. Two of them, I know were from the mid 1960's.

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Charrlie_S
65 Valiant 100 2dr post 170 turbo
66 Valiant Signet 170 nitrous
64 Valiant Signet
64 Valiant 4dr 170
64 Valiant 4dr 225

Three 65 Dart Rear Ends had this chuck shim (no adjuster) setup:

http://tinyurl.com/nqdf4f9

Another picture includes closeup of the stretcher needed to slip them out.
Not shown, for clarity, are the bottle jacks & dial indicator needed for the task.

The factory manual is clear on how much stretch is needed.
It stressed not exceeding that value or permanent housing distortion could occur.

Very time consuming.
If anyone can identify the specific year of adjustable adjustable shims it would be helpful.

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1965 Dart 125k, 225, Carter BBD Super Six, 2 1/4 single exhaust., sbp manual scare-bird front disc, 7 1/4 rear 2.94 sure grip, 15 x 4.5 wheels, 833 OD with hyd. throw-out bearing, electric fan, ram air/heated air, Accusump.

I would say at least thru 66

Brian

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63 Plymouth Valiant Wagon

Are the internal parts ( not including the diff side gears ) interchangeable between early and later 7 1/4 diffs anouther way of asking can I use the guts from my 66 sbp rear in a later 7 1/4 lbp axle housing ?

Brian

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63 Plymouth Valiant Wagon