Yes. In order to extract the broken differential pinion shaft lock bolt you don’t need to take off the rear end. What once took hours of time and frustration to repair is done in about five to ten minutes with a specialty tool kit we carry on our website, the Differential Pinion Shaft Lock Bolt Extractor Deluxe Kit. We just spoke to a mechanic yesterday in our tool store and he was telling us that most of the time these bolts break in the rear ends of GM cars and trucks, specific models and years – the ones that have integral rear ends. These kits do work on certain Ford and Jeep models and in those instances the rear end does not have to be taken off in order to get the pinion shaft lock bolt out.
What happens is that the lock bolt is left with one thread, but the kit has a 12 inch long Cobalt drill bit that threads onto one of two bolts and used in conjunction with one of the extractors included, will grab the broken lock bolt in between five and ten minutes. We have an article on how to remove a lock bolt that is really giving you a hard time and you can view it by clicking here.
