Garyde

I have enclosed pictures of a piece in the differential of my 2004 f150 that I can't identify. I took it out when I was replacing oil seals. I have not seen it in any images on the web or any manuals that I have. I don't see what purpose it has. I am having trouble getting it back in. Can it be left out.
Gary


Z
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Garyde

It looks like only one picture made it. Here is another one.
Gary

NFortin1966

It must be put back in as it locks in the spider gears and keeps them from falling out. It should not have been necessary to remove this to remove the axles. You will find it very difficult to get it back in.

Garyde

Thank you so much NFortin1966 for your reply. How can the spider gears fall out with the pinion shaft in place. I am not a mechanic so I'm just trying to understand how it works. I have not seen seen this piece in all of the other images that I've seen. Thanks again for your input. Garyde.

NFortin1966

The pinion shaft only drives the ring gear, it does not touch the spider gears. The spider gears do not rotate until you take a corner or curve. These gears allow the outer wheel to turn faster than the inner wheel. Two of the gear are splined onto the axle shafts and the other two in most cases, are held in by a shaft that runs through both, however on certain types of axles, they replaced that shaft with a special spring clip. This clip holds those two gears in place when they need to rotate. Without the clip, those gears will be spit out by the forces exerted on them when cornering.