Stuck Pot Joints

[tmsmini]

I guess this is just a run of bad luck. Diff seals were leaking and I went to remove the pot joints and neither will come loose. They were new from Somerford. I know there was a bad batch many years ago and I got one. Seven was able to press it off once it was removed from the diff with the side cover. But Seven is no longer. All I have done is bend my tool.

[MiniDave]

I use a 12" long brass drift and a 3-lb hammer - they will come out! 

Put the drift against the outer corner of the pot joint and give it a solid whack - you're going for momentum and inertia here, not trying to break the joint. Turn the joint 180* and go again if you need to....

[tmsmini]

I have the tool which has almost always worked in the past, this time the tool just eventually bent. I think the clip is jammed at this point.

[MiniDave]

Probably, but my way has always gotten them out without any damage....if you don't have a brass drift just use what you have - even a piece of angle iron will work. The key is the heavy hammer to impart a lot of momentum to the joint - you're trying to move it, not bust it up.

Good luck!

[tmsmini]

This has worked well, but not this time

[tmsmini]

A little surgery with a disc resolved the issue. I knew better than to use the circlip that came with them, but I could not find my clips, so I went ahead. If you can bend them easily by hand, they are not fit for the purpose.

[MiniDave]

So, did you actually cut the whole joint off or just managed to cut the circlip somehow?

[tmsmini]

Whole joint both sides, just enough space. I did not do it, I had Nick at Boot to Bonnet do it.