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real weird 14ff pinion setup problem ! UPDATE !

sweetk30

sweetk30

Back to play nice .
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so i am changing the pinion seal on my 14ff later style with lots of case ribs .

she come apart fine . was driving fine before work was done to it .

i removed the nut / washer / pressed the yoke off the pinion with the outer bearing . no problems there with a 20ton press .

next i cleaned up the whole combo cause it was yucky from leaking . . . just brake cleaner and a scrub brush .

well i installed everything back as was BUT with a yukon crush sleeve eliminator kit . ( i have installed this type of item before no problems ) . all went good on a trial test . bit loose so i pressed them apart pulled .-015-.020 stack out and reset . still little loose . took a few more but i had it barley at 5inch lbs turning force for used bearings . bible spec is 5-15 for used . so i took another few tho out figured i would be all good ready for a seal install and final set with new pinion nut for the last time . . . . .

well sh!t just went down hill real fast and kept getting bad . . . every step i took i got no play but still no drag . . . all the way down to NO shims just the main spacer tube and still no drag .

i removed all the parts from the pinion support bearing housing and looked them over . i did not see any broken bearings / races or cone races . every thing spins super smooth .

WHAT did i do ? ?

only thing left would be pull the inner pinion bearing and check for a broken pinion in the middle of the inner pinion bearing race area you cant see with it pressed on . but how would this happen with just basic tools i have always used . this has got me stumped . :dunno::1zhelp:

@blazinzuk @obijuank5
 
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So the shims are making zero difference? I know there are 2 different eliminators. Older than 88 and 88 and up.

What did the crush sleeve measure?
 
13/16" or 0.82" is my used crush sleeve i took out .

offroad design sent me yukon 55067 spacer kit .

but why would i have had some preload then all gone ?
 
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i just verifyed on randys ring and pinion site the older to newer split in axle take the same solid spacer kit .
 
all torn apart and no broken parts found .

called randys ring and pinion . verified the bearing / race part #'s and all correct for newer 2nd style inner bearing part #'s . they said toss it together with no spacer and snug it down see if i get pre-load drag or not .

he did say i might need to have the solid spacer machined down a little bit but he has never heard of this needing to be done before .
 
so i tried to get pre-load turning force with nothing in there . no crush sleeve or spacer kit . i did get 12"lbs of force :woot:

so at this point what the heck do i do ? say screw it and toss in a crush sleeve and then keep a $68.00 dollar part + s&h i cant use correctly ? or what ?

i even talked with another big name company and there head tech guy who i had to wait to talk with was super cool knew his stuff and said check the inside machined radius on the spacer to the pinion gear were it sits on the bearing . he has seen some of them not fit some gm production gears as they were machined a little different . i checked and mine is not hitting and machined correctly .

ahhhhhhhh :zombie15: 3/4 of a day total time for a simple pinion seal swap .
 
Is the nut bottoming out on the threads?
 
nope . i can still see yoke spline after the press pushes it all tight . and the real thick washer still goes on top so there is a lot of thread .

my buddy is going to show up who has done more regear jobs than me and we will get it figured out .
 
I'm waiting with bated breath. It's hard to figure out weird problems when your not there. But I will say 99 out of 100 are either incorrect or incorrectly machined parts
 
trust me i will post up when i get it .

just figure let it sit for a bit and come back to it . no drive shafts yet anyways . the rest of the 14ff guts are in and waiting to set backlash . otherwise she is a roller .
 
well i started from scratch today . got it dialed in to about 15" lbs turning force with pressing the bearing first then the yoke each time and tighted down using old washer and nut . undid this combo and repeted to check my work to see if it stayed and it did .

so i installed the seal for good and new washer and nut . now i have around 50"-55" lbs turning force . . . . what the FRIGIN HELL :1zhelp:

i even rolled the press out of its corner and put it next to the work bench . this seemed to help a bit dont ask me why :dunno:

i have an appointment to go to now so i will try and redo this when i get back . . . . yet again . :doah:

@blazinzuk
 
so i took the pinion apart again and said screw it keep using the new nut and the seal is in so if i get it there it stays .

well i think i found the problem / AKA monkey in the shop . . . the old pinion nut & washer was not used on the last 3 attempts only the new ones . this was the trick ! i dont know why or care to know at this point . i was able to get 17-18" lbs turning force on the pinion nut with the whole thing clamped in the shop vise . and i have always been told and read 2-3" lbs drag for a seal . so at this point i say RUN IT . :burnout:

i just dont get why the old pinion nut and washer combo was holding me back from getting this dialed in and repeatable results . :dunno:

i also had the carrier assembly installed already so i dialed in the backlash to the 5-8 speck and got it at 5-6 so i clamped the bearing caps down good to spec and adjuster preload was set before on the bearings . the locks are on for them . just got to install cover and shafts .

then hope like heck my shafts are done tomorrow at the shaft shop . i called today just after lunch and he said he would be cutting them apart shortly to be set up with new tubes .

this has to be almost the worst / fussy / cranky rear i have done other than a corvette rear diff i did years ago . but he wanted it as close to min specs as i could and the richmond gear set just wouldnt come off the 12-13 backlash anymore . max spec was just below that # so i said screw it .
 
I have no clue man. Only thing I can think is threads were messed up in the nut somehow, but that doesn't explain it really.

Reality is it's fixed. Maybe a bearing was jacked up a bit and straightened up just by happenstance. Pretty odd deal though
 
i washed the bearings . and had them all jingling in my hand many many times .

i dont give a crap at this point its all bolted together and feels good and even better when it was full of oil .

just need my driveshafts .
 
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