Miller factory service tools for MoPars

[Meep-Meep]

I've been looking at expanding my tool collection for rear end related stuff so I looked up Miller Tools, who is the factory tool supplier for MoPar dealerships. While searching out the 9.25" tools for my 02 Durango I noticed familiar part numbers so I got out my 68 Plymouth service manual and sure enough tool C-293 is being used to pull pinion and carrier bearings off an 8.75", Dana and others! Some of the block sets are still available as well. I thought it was cool some 40 years later and some of the tools are still available and have the same part number. It makes sense since the bearings haven't changed but how often does something like this happen with 40+ yr old stuff? Check out the torsion bar remover, and yep, the same number as in the 68 factory service manual.

Anyway, have a look -

http://millerspecialtools.spx.com/DisplayByCategory.aspx?id=5&page=12

 

[Cranky]

I've managed for a lot of years without the special tools. I'm sure some of them would have made my life easier tho....

 

[65-440]

yeah man, alot of the Miller tools we have are OLD !! steering/suspension **** will always be the same !

 

[Meep-Meep]

I've managed for a lot of years without the special tools. I'm sure some of them would have made my life easier tho....

Yeah, me too, but I needed a better way to remove pinion and carrier bearings without destroying them.

 

[Cranky]

I worked as a machinist (machineass?) for 26 years at a refinery and the consensus there was if a bearing was pressed on then removed....even if it wasn't run, install a new bearing. Sure seemed like a waste to me most of the time but we used ball bearings in most of the pumps. Gear boxes etc used Timkens and we usually left those in place if they looked good. There hasn't been very many times that I wanted to reuse a bearing if it was pulled off tho but I would leave them in place if they looked good but from time to time, the bearing fit would be way over size and I would throw the pinion in the lathe and polish it down some. One Dana 60 pinion was .005" tight!! The bearing was on size too. .001" tight is plenty enough to keep the bearing from spinning and also makes it easier to get it off if need be and it doesn't 'stretch' the inner race any...

 

[SUPERSTOCKRACER]

the miller torsion bar tool is a excellant tool. i have it and a valueable addition to your tool collection. imo

 

[Meep-Meep]

I worked as a machinist (machineass?) for 26 years at a refinery and the consensus there was if a bearing was pressed on then removed....even if it wasn't run, install a new bearing. Sure seemed like a waste to me most of the time but we used ball bearings in most of the pumps. Gear boxes etc used Timkens and we usually left those in place if they looked good. There hasn't been very many times that I wanted to reuse a bearing if it was pulled off tho but I would leave them in place if they looked good but from time to time, the bearing fit would be way over size and I would throw the pinion in the lathe and polish it down some. One Dana 60 pinion was .005" tight!! The bearing was on size too. .001" tight is plenty enough to keep the bearing from spinning and also makes it easier to get it off if need be and it doesn't 'stretch' the inner race any...

I rebuild stuff that goes really fast and nothing less than an ABEC 7 runout tolerance will do, not to mention balancing to 1 mg-in or better. And yes, I can easily make an ABEC 7 bearing into one of those Chinese wheel barrow replacement bearing you see in hardware stores by jamming it onto a shaft that's too big!!! .005" interference seems crazy, especially with the modern tooling, but it's stuff like this that gets overlooked and can turn an otherwise nice job into a disaster. I can't stress enough to people that when dealing with a precision assembly you must pay attention to the details. That's where the Devil is, and the sooner you find his hiding place the sooner you can get rid of him!

 

[Meep-Meep]

the miller torsion bar tool is a excellant tool. i have it and a valueable addition to your tool collection. imo

I have one my buddy and I made in shop class 25+ years ago. I looked at the factory manual and just copied it. Works like a charm!

 

[Cranky]

Meep, years ago I was rebuilding a Dana 60 for someone and my little 12 ton press wouldn't take the pinion bearing off so I took it to the NAPA store because they had a much bigger press but when I saw this thing grunt, I left the room and when it popped off, it sounded like a small explosion lol. It even pulled some metal off! I started doing rear end work around 85 and have never seen anything like it since...

 

[Meep-Meep]

Meep, years ago I was rebuilding a Dana 60 for someone and my little 12 ton press wouldn't take the pinion bearing off so I took it to the NAPA store because they had a much bigger press but when I saw this thing grunt, I left the room and when it popped off, it sounded like a small explosion lol. It even pulled some metal off! I started doing rear end work around 85 and have never seen anything like it since...

I can relate. I was working on an 8.25" for a buddy and I couldn't get the pinion out of the case!! I noticed that the whole rear end was kind of rusty and when I took off the pinion nut it was rusty under there too. The yoke came off with a bit of a struggle but that's as far as I got. My guess is the car was in a lake or was used to launch a boat or something and the water creeped it's way through the splines. Even the gears were pitted. Anyway, I have a 20 ton press and I leaned on it pretty good and that rusty pinion just laughed at me. My buddy took the rear end down to some shop where they had a 50 ton press and the Aussie guy that ran the place just threw it on there and hit the button (while holding a beer). I wasn't there for that explosion but I can imagine it was quite dramatic. I am pretty new at rear end service and certainly don't want to see this movie again.