I have removed the rear axle from my 1972 Grabber in order to rebuild and paint. I am thinking of having a drain plug installed....is this a good idea? Where would I put it?
I guess if it's cheap enough just put one at the bottom of the housing. Since most people only drain the fluid when they are removing the center section not sure it is necessary ....
It's definitely not a bad idea. If I was doing it, I would use a cap system, not a plug. You have so little room in the bousing. I would drill a hole in the bottom and weld on a threaded piece of pipe - as short as your welding and fabricating skills will let you. Of course, find a threaded piece and a matching cap. This will allow drainage without having a plug protruding into housing. I've seen this on custom housings, but mostly on top for filling purposes. I don't know why it can't work on the bottom for drainage. Just my 2 cents.
The 1957-59 Ford 9 inch (and possibly others) Came with a drain plug on the bottom of the housing . I own 2 of them and they both have it.
Like most, I never change fluid untill I remove the center section, for whatever reason. Everytime I remove a center section, I cuss at it because there is no drain plug. Sounds like adding one is an excellent idea. I like Hawkco's idea. If you have a welder, it can be done for about $2 worth of parts.
I too put them in using a 3/8's allen head pipe plug. Just run the tap in enough to have good threads to start the plug and then tighten it up. The cap and pipe nipple would be better idea but I think it may hang down to far and be prone to various items of distruction ripping it off. May be able to do it with a short piece of pipe nipple welded in so that the cap is flush with the bottom of the housing. JMO
Weld a threadolet on it. It is like a bung that is used on exhaust for oxygen sensors only heavy duty. It is used on gas pipe. You can grind it down to fit any curve. I could give you one at Carlilse if you can wait that long. I can give you a couple sizes and you can figure out which size would suit your needs best. Let me know. Nick
If you use a pipe plug, there's enough material in the bottom of the case to just drill and tap threads. I used a plug with a magnet on the end.
Lots of ways to do this as everyone has pointed out. The last rear drain I installed I salvaged a plug and the weld nut from an old smashed oil pan that I had in the scrap pile. I just drilled a hole all the way through the bottom of the housing and welded the metal tab on the inside.(Just be sure to clean all the weld boogers and slag out if you weld around the housing). The weld nut just has to be tacked in because the oil pan plug has the nylon washer on it that will do the sealing. I also took a 3/4" pipe coupler and cut it in half. I drilled out a hole right behind the ring gear near the top back of the housing and welded the coupler to the housing. I use this for filling and you can also use a mirror and flashlight to inspect the ring gear. Just use a pipe plug to cap it off. Cleaver
Here is the finished product. I took the rear end to a machine shop and have them do this. This is the bottom of the axle. It takes an allen wrench to get it out. I haven't screwed it in all the way so you can see it. It is about the size of a dime. Once fully installed and painted....it will be virtually invisible.
Inside shot. The thread part is welded to the bottom of the housing. Totally flush from the outside. Housing was too thin to tap for threads...so they had to weld a "bung" to the inside.
Craig, the factory drain plug set up in both of my (57-59) rear housings looks exactly like what you did to yours. Frank , Lawsons muffler has the O2 sensor "bung" that Nick suggested , and I think that would be a very good set up.
