Pinion bearing ?

Coyote Jack said

Mopardude,
I saw that article, I am going to print it out and study it throughly.

Chris,
You may get a phone call from me, I had already figured getting rid of the crush sleeve. Now I have to get to the point where I am comfortable getting into this.

Jack

Click to expand...

If you are going to put together a rear end don't forget you need some tools that are not in the typical shade tree mechanics tool box. I appologize if you are familiar with these tools but I didn't wnat to see you get into something without having the correct tools.

1. You need a dial indicator with either a magnetic base or a base you can bolt to the rear end. The dial indicator is used to measure the backlash between the ring and pinion as you move the side adjusters in an out.

2. You need and in-lb torque wrench, either a bean type of dial type is prefered to the click type. Do not confuse this with the torque wrench you use on head bolts, the typical bearing preload is less than 2 ft-lbs on the the typical troque wrench. Whether you use a crush sleeve or the solid spacer and shims you need to tighten the pinion nut enough to load the bearings so there is somewhere on the order of 15 in-lbs required to spin the pinion (without the ring gear contacting it).

3. A conventional torque wrench to set the side bearing preload and torque the bearing caps.

4. Either make or borrow a tool that will fit the 1 1/2" hex hole in the side adjusters that you can connect to your torque wrench. An old torsion bar will work in a pinch with a socket on the other end.

5. You will need some way to hold the pinion yoke while you tighten/lossen the pinion nut.

If you are going to call Randy's they have a video showing you how to do it. It was well worth the $15 before I did my first one.