pinion seal replacement trouble

[alignman88]

Shame you didn’t get much response to your questions. It’s never a good idea to not replace a pinion crush sleeve once it’s been loose. Unless someone put a crush sleeve eliminator kit in it there is a crush sleeve. By the sound of what’s happening that’s why you don’t re-use them. I’d say you could get a sudden surprise when the pinion bearing (the super hot spot) leaves the chat at speed and the rear end eats itself alive. It’s not a hard job to do differential work but it has to be very very precise. Time to either pay a pro or find another rear just like it at the treasure yard. Walk away and remember the lesson learned, you’ve paid some tuition for this education already.

 

[Isaacmacleod]

Shame you didn’t get much response to your questions. It’s never a good idea to not replace a pinion crush sleeve once it’s been loose. Unless someone put a crush sleeve eliminator kit in it there is a crush sleeve. By the sound of what’s happening that’s why you don’t re-use them. I’d say you could get a sudden surprise when the pinion bearing (the super hot spot) leaves the chat at speed and the rear end eats itself alive. It’s not a hard job to do differential work but it has to be very very precise. Time to either pay a pro or find another rear just like it at the treasure yard. Walk away and remember the lesson learned, you’ve paid some tuition for this education already.

Thanks man.

I got some quotes for the job.

All the rear end shops I’ve called are weeks if not months out availability.

And i got 1000$ for quotes so far

The do it yourself center where I caused this mishap has an experienced owner who knows a good rear end guy.

I’m now trying to get in touch with him through the owner, which is what i should have done to start with.

But even if i can’t get in touch with this guy,

I’ve watched two or three complete 10 bolt gm rebuilds on youtube and I am starting to wonder if I can’t finish what I started

 

[Isaacmacleod]

New crush sleeve and a bearing ,
some gear marking paint to check the gear pattern, and an actual in-lb torque wrench applied to a proper flange holder.
Probably get a new Pinion nut and maybe even a new yoke..
Am i missing anything? how hard can it be.

 

[Isaacmacleod]

Figuring out how to fix this mistake myself will be my rear axle rite of passage.

Then I’d feel more confident throwing a 14 bolt axle back there in the future..

 

[Schurkey]

If at all possible, bypass the "fixing" part. Go directly to 9.5" axle, do not pass GO.

The 8.5" axle in a full-size truck is totaled when it needs the gear lube changed.

 

[Isaacmacleod]

If at all possible, bypass the "fixing" part. Go directly to 9.5" axle, do not pass GO.

The 8.5" axle in a full-size truck is totaled when it needs the gear lube changed.

funny you say that because this all started when i changed the gear oil.

It started leaking from both a spot weld on the left axle shaft and also the pinion seal started leaking.

Perhaps the pinion bearing had also decided to go bad which may have caused the leak.

Either way I’m now stuck with this predicament.

I want to upgrade to a better axle. but this is my main mode of transportation. I lack the money and I can’t afford to keep my truck on the side lines until i find everything I would need.

One day…

 

[Isaacmacleod]

After some more research, I can get a new crush sleeve for only 5 dollars.

Or a timken pinion kit which comes with that plus inner and outer bearings and races, a new pinion nut,
pinion seal, and some yellow paint to mark gear pattern.

It seems to me that If i reuse the shims on the left and right of the differential,

And i reuse the pinion shim which sets its depth,

I will have the same gear pattern as before, since i am not changing anything regarding gears or shims, just changing the pinion crush sleeve.

Is it as simple as
A)taking out my “C” clips,
pulling the axle shafts,

B)Rolling out the differential gears and carrier while keeping shims intact.

C) knocking out the pinion, replacing the bearings and races, but keeping the same shim,

then replacing the crush sleeve.

Reinstalling the pinion onto the yoke, with oil on both bearings to get an accurate torque,

Then tightening the pinion nut to 14-19 inch pounds carefully while seating the races and bearings by tapping/ turning the yoke.

 

[Isaacmacleod]

I mean seriously am i missing anything?

I’m even willing to buy a dial gauge with magnetic base to check the backlash before and after,

And check gear pattern with paint before and after

This doesn’t seem like such an impossible task after getting thousand dollar quotes that are months away…

I’m loving this

 

[Isaacmacleod]

It seems from videos i’m watching where people are changing the carrier,

or changing the gears

They have to fiddle with the shims and the backlash and gear pattern

But if i am reusing all things except one crush sleeve on the pinion,,,,,

Doesn’t that mean I Technically don’t need to worry about those things, just reinstalling everything the same way after i set the new crush sleeve ????

 

[alignman88]

I mean seriously am i missing anything?

I’m even willing to buy a dial gauge with magnetic base to check the backlash before and after,

And check gear pattern with paint before and after

This doesn’t seem like such an impossible task after getting thousand dollar quotes that are months away…

I’m loving this

When you change crush sleeve, and the pinion bearings and races you absolutely are changing 50% of the rear ended setup. Chances of returning the pinion to the exact distance it was from ring gear would be a long shot. Old bearings need pressed off or cut off, and save the shims under it as the starting point for new stuff. I bought a cheap set of new pinion bearings and grind with a carbide bit the inside races down smoothly where they will just slide on and off by hand. Then put pinion in without crush sleeve and tighten the nut with a beam style inch pound torque wrench to 15 pounds of rotational resistance-can only be a beam style torque wrench. The ring gear and carrier go back in and start checking gear pattern to determine amount of shims under pinion bearing. Last one I did probably had the pinion and carrier in and out 5 times getting pinion shimmed and depth into ring gear correct. Once that’s set take your “test fit bearings” off pinion leaving the shims and put the new bearing on and place in the press getting it into position.

IMO it’s best if you have someone with experience to guide you through the job. They do make pinion depth setup tools that are $200-$300 bucks then you can reference the numbers stamped into pinion to set proper depth that way. It’s the next tool on my list for sure. Check out Quick Performance they have the best deals on differential kit parts and tech tips, very nice people in Ames, Iowa.