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Rear pinion seal questions

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dixiechevy01

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It's a stock 10 bolt rear the pinion seal was leaking so I pulled the yoke and seal last night but I'm wondering what to torque the pinion but to when I put it back together? I've read things before about the crush sleeve but I really don't wanna pull the whole rear apart. I counted the threads before I removed the but but the but wasn't very tight anyway so I don't think that will be accurate to go off of. Anyone have any advice?
 
I had the same issue and new it would be some time before an axle swap. My pinion nut was finger loose, so i counted the threads, replaced seal. Then tightened the nut back up to thread count it was still to loose so i ever so slightly tightened it up while going back and forth with the yoke until it felt good (very little slop).
Lot's of miles later and no problem's (sure it wasn't the proper way to do it) but i planned on swapping in lower geared axles in anyway...........Good luck!
 
There is no torque setting for the pinion nut. To tighten it you need to pull the axles out and pull the diff out so all you have left is the pinion in the housing. Then you tighten the pinion nut till it takes 10-15 inch lbs of rotating torque to rotate the pinion with a used sleeve or 20-25 inch lbs with a new sleeve. This is measured with a dial torque wrench.
 
AV8TER is correct.

The "wrong" way (which I have done numerous times) is to try and count threads and get it back to where it was, plus a little bit more torque.

If you are lucky, like I have been a few times, no gear howl. If you are unlucky (which has also happened to me), the rear will howl, and you know you screwed up.

Make sure to lube the seal before you put it back together. :)
 
Ok thanks for all the info guys. I might just try to put back together and tightened it up till there's very little play. Not that I'm lazy but don't have much of a place to work on it and I don't have a dial torque wrench

Livid4dirt did you reuse the old pinion but and if so did you loctight it?

Also how much wear would you guys let go on the yokes dealing surface?
 
I don't let any wear go. If you can vary the sealing surface (pushing seal in just slightly more or less than factory) to change the contact point of the seal, that is one option, or buy a speedi-sleeve, which is pretty easy to use. Some are kind of pricey, but I don't like leaks.
 
If you don't have an inch-pound torque wrench you could just hang a weight on the end of your wrench. You measure the distance from the center of the rotation of the wrench to the point where the weight hangs from. Multiply that distance by the weight and it'll give you the torque. Just make sure the wrench is as parallel to the ground as possible for an accurate reading. For example, say you hang the weight 10 inches out on the handle and you have a weight of 2.5 lbs. The torque would be 10*2.5 or 25 inch-lbs. You could do the same thing using a fish scale instead of a weight. This is also a cheap way of calibrating your torque wrench instead of paying someone to do it. Just an FYI.
 
dixiechevy01 said:
Ok thanks for all the info guys. I might just try to put back together and tightened it up till there's very little play. Not that I'm lazy but don't have much of a place to work on it and I don't have a dial torque wrench

Livid4dirt did you reuse the old pinion but and if so did you loctight it?

Also how much wear would you guys let go on the yokes dealing surface?
Click to expand...
Yes i used the old nut then i used Locktite, ( it's a liquid in a little tube). You can buy that at any parts house and once i was happy with the tightness i took a center punch and staked the nut also. Which is no more than boogering over the nut a little to (lock onto the pinion shaft threads).
Like i said this is not the true way a person should do this but maybe i got lucky, no noise or extreme heat. But also to add this was not meant as a permanent fix for me.
 
AV8TER said:
There is no torque setting for the pinion nut. To tighten it you need to pull the axles out and pull the diff out so all you have left is the pinion in the housing. Then you tighten the pinion nut till it takes 10-15 inch lbs of rotating torque to rotate the pinion with a used sleeve or 20-25 inch lbs with a new sleeve. This is measured with a dial torque wrench.
Click to expand...


That is definitely the correct way to do it. Many have had success by marking the location of the pinion yoke, the nut, and counting the threads. Put everything back together the way it was and it will be fine. However, if your leaking seal was caused by another problem, like a loose nut or bad bearing, the cheater method is not the way to go.
 
Ok thanks for all the info and replys. I'm gonna try to just put it back together tonight and see how it goes without a new crush sleeve and just my breaker bar. I may be changing out gears eventually anyway but for I think this will work. Ill let you guys know how it goes
 
I got the seal in the other day finally and the truck for a test drive no leaks or howling in the rear yet. So hopefully I'm good. I just tightened it up till there was very little play and using lock tight on the pinion nut. Have to test it on the highway still to see if everything is good
 
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