rear diff appairently had gotten water in the oil by previous owner.....
Pinion input had about 1/2 inch of slack (WOW)
May be the previous owner had a look-see as the nut was loose about 10 turns- but the front bearing (and race) was not
wildly trashed- maybe useable. However the ring and pinion were pretty pitted. So I decided it was overhaul time.
Put in a new Yukon 373 r+p and a Detroit truetrac diff. I think I have the variables mostly figured out-
(ford sterling 10.5) the preload on the pinion about 28 in-lbs- and about 7-8 thousanths backlash.
Paint pattern is basically centered in both directions on both sides.....
Here is the question- I made a fixed length sleeve to take the place of the crush sleeve. Don't want to deal with a
500 ft-lb torque to crush the thing. (if I can help it) Made a non-crushable sleeve out of seamless chrome-molly like
race car frame (about 1/8 wall). gradually cut it down in the lathe till it gives the correct pinion pre-load when using the
OLD front pinion bearing (which slides on and off the shaft - no interference fit)
At some point - (or now) I have to install the NEW front pinion bearing. It has a lot of interference to get pushed on.
So much so I am worried that once it is pushed on- I wont be able to remove it again. My concern is if the old and new bearings have a slightly different stack height- my carefully cut non-crushable bushing might be too tight or too loose-
and I wont be able to make adjustments because I wont be able to remove the front bearing.
I don't really see a good solution here ! Seems like too big a chance to take. This crap HAS to be right. Do I need
to abandon the non-crushing spacer and use the crushable one and bite the bullet and do a 500 ft-lb torqueing ?????
(and hope I don't overshoot.....)
(sorry - I never seem to have easy problems
)I have a new NAPA 3/4 inch drive long length flex handle - may have to get a 3/4 socket- not sure a 1/2 inch socket will do it-
Any thoughts will be appreciated !
Tim
PS - also working on lowering the suspension back down from a 9 inch lift - great fun.......
Are you speaking of the pinion yoke nut? Don't those have to be tightened to spec regardless?