So, got the spare rear axle dis-assembled.

Bought it from guy who said...'came out of a running car'..ok. Sure. Was painted nice black on the outside.



Wondered why the left axle shaft dropped down so much when I pulled the outer Hyatt?



Only thing a bit strange right out were the 3 housing bolts, not Ford, some big hardened bolt with self-locking nuts instead of castle nut and wired....will have to change those out for sure.


At least there are new bronze thrust washers there, no babbitt.



So took apart the stuff, all seems pretty good really, the ring and pinion gear very good for used, the axle shafts good too.



Then checked on the housings, those little studs for the washers are always ground away, but hey! These are good to go, nice I thought.



Then I looked again at the left housing, the one where the axle shaft plopped down....oh oh

Who ever got in here before me forgot to place the inner sleeve for the Hyatt....that ex'planes it!



No sleeve in the housing!

So moral of the story, a 'running car' might not mean a 'moving down the road car'

Dan you were really lucky. Good job of investigation. And looks like a great rear end after your fix!!

Yes, best to check the whole rear end.

Here is what the outer sleeve looked like after this axle must have been run some.



Without the inner sleeve, the inner Hyatt was just tumbling inside, so a lot of offset wear on the outer Hyatt, cutting into the sleeve in this area.

Wrecked the inner Hyatt too, the cage is twisted since there was no sleeve for the inner to ride in.

Time to order some new Hyatt sleeves...and get out the puller

OK - bad rebuilding, but salvageable as I read it? And when fixed you have yourself a very nice rear-end, right?