580c ring gear hub

[James6609]

Hi all. I am doing bearings and seals on my 580c transaxle. I have the final drive removed and the cross shaft in the ring gear hub / wheel is loose in the hub. My book this should be a press fit. On some other forums I have read the spider shafts is all that holds it in the hub. Can someone shed some light on this for me.
Thanks, James

 

[Coy Lancaster]

Hey James welcome to HEF; How much movement is in the cross shaft when it is in the hub? It's been a loooong minute since I've worked on one of those diffs. That's a cast iron hub so I'd check the spline areas in the hub and on the shaft. If it's really loose then you might want to replace both. There are some good sites online to find aftermarket parts for this machine.

 

[James6609]

Thanks Coy. I haven’t pulled the shat out of the diff hub yet and it is still covered with 90wt. The temperature here is around 50 so the 90wt is cold. If I hold the hub and and rock the cross shaft by hand you can hear it suck the oil in and out of the splines. When I get it cleaned up I imagine that slop will increase quite a bit. I’ll get it apart today and check the splines. Since my book says to use a press to remove the shaft I am not sure if it’s a true interference press fit or only a close fit that’s just tight enough you can’t pull it by hand. As loose as it is I would think I need to replace the diff hub at least. Also is it common for this to be worn in this area ?

 

[Coy Lancaster]

Hey James since the diff is still in the trans housing I'm assuming the side shafts are still attached also. You may be feeling the slop in those instead of the actual cross shaft in diff. Let me know what you have found out if you don't mind.

 

[James6609]

No I have it out. There’s slop in the diff. I can push the shaft an inch or so farther than it’s supposed to be. Also the spiders and pins have wear. So I’m going to replace them and the diff housing.