2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Please help! Stuck yoke on Dana 80

[DKnowlan]

So I am in the process of replacing the pinion seal on my dana 80. I got the nut off and put my homemade puller one the yoke and it won't budge. So I soaked it for a few days with pb blaster. Nothin. Then cleaned it with brake cleaner and put some heat to it (not alot, I'm affraid of starting the gear lube on fire). Still nothin. Then today I put a longer cheater on my 3/4 drive ratchet and cranked on the puller a little more, this time I broke one of the mounting points off of the yoke.



Now I'm out of ideas. I'll obviously be buying a new yoke but still need to get the old one off. If anyone could give me some advise I need it. I've been working on this on and off for almost a week now and have no clue how to get that yoke off now.



Thanks in advance.

 

[DKnowlan]

Oh yes. My homemade puller is a piece of 1/2" flat stock with a hole in the middle. And a nut welded over the hole with a 3/4" diameter bolt run through it. With 4 holes to attach it to the u-bolt mounting points. I had enough pressure on it to start bending the plate before the yoke broke.

 

[BILLVO]

I use a 2 jaw posilock puller. They are excellent pullers and I use an impact on them all the time.



If you had that much force on it "Even though 1/2 inch flat stock isn't that strong. "just wrap it with a hammer on the back side between the ears not on the yoke ears and it will a lot of times pop that way.



Posi Lock™ Puller, Inc.



Best pullers there are I have several different ones.

 

[JFaughn]

When using pullers , and the part does not start coming off , I tighten the puller bolt , then give a hit with a hammer [ bigger pull , bigger hammer ] , then snug up bolt again , hit , snug , hit , as often as needed .
Some times you need to hit from the side , the part your pulling , helps to break free , expand .
Using pullers is got a lot to do with experience & fineness [ you can see fineness at work = makes it look easy ] .

 

[DKnowlan]

Thanks. I'll try to see if I can dig up another type of puller and give that a try.

Should the yoke be on the pinion this tight? I realize that the nut has over 400 ft/lbs on it but wow I didn't expect it to be this difficult to get off.

Thanks again
and keep'em coming

 

[BILLVO]

Its normal for the yokes to fit hard tight on Danas. You will have to pound it back on also.

 

[kentdiesel]

The pinion yoke can be extremely hard to pull off. The Manual shows a plate style puller which would be easy to make. I used a huge 2 jaw puller and I had to tighten it with a 1/2 drive impact wrench far beyond what thought it would take to remove the yoke.

 

[EdK]

Cutting wheel

If you have an air grinder, you can carefully use a thin cut-off wheel to cut a slot front to back (as far back as you can reach). You will be cutting in the same direction as the splines. Stop just before you cut all the way through to the shaft. Then stick a chisel into the ground slot and hit it a few good licks, hopefully enough to crack the cut the rest of the way through. That should relieve it enough to be removed.



Don't forget to put some anti-seeze on he new one!!!



Good luck.



Ed