HELP!!!! Tightening pinion

[l.groves]

I installed new gears with the old shims and my pinion barely moves it is so tight. sounds like it may be rubbing on the differential assembly. Should I tighten more or loosen it up. Tried loosening but the nut just gets loose. Do I have to knock it back out after loosening with a rubber hammer???????? So confused!!!

 

[Bullitt347]

Is the pinion tight with or without the ring gear/carrier assembly installed? The pinion bearing preload should be set BEFORE the carrier is installed back in the housing. If the tightness happened AFTER the ring gear/carrier assembly was installed, then you will have to re-shim the carrier to the right/passenger side of the differential, as the pinion gear teeth meshed to deep into the ring gear, causing the bind. Any time the pinion nut is loosened up, the crush sleeve should be replaced as that is what sets the pinion bearing preload. If you re-use the crush sleeve, you may shorten the pinion bearing life and ring and pinion life by a great deal. If you have to re-shim the pinion gear itself, then the pinion bearing has to be pressed off a new shim installed to change pinion depth, again a new crush sleeve SHOULD be used.

 

[NIKwoaC]

Is the pinion tight with or without the ring gear/carrier assembly installed? The pinion bearing preload should be set BEFORE the carrier is installed back in the housing. If the tightness happened AFTER the ring gear/carrier assembly was installed, then you will have to re-shim the carrier to the right/passenger side of the differential, as the pinion gear teeth meshed to deep into the ring gear, causing the bind. Any time the pinion nut is loosened up, the crush sleeve should be replaced as that is what sets the pinion bearing preload. If you re-use the crush sleeve, you may shorten the pinion bearing life and ring and pinion life by a great deal. If you have to re-shim the pinion gear itself, then the pinion bearing has to be pressed off a new shim installed to change pinion depth, again a new crush sleeve SHOULD be used.

+1

Always use a new crush sleeve. The best way to install the pinion is tighten the nut down by hand, then use an impact wrench to tighten the nut to crush the sleeve, but here you have to be VERY careful to torque the nut down right. You can tighten it a little bit then feel the pinion to see if there is any play and how much force it takes to turn it (which should be very little, IIRC its something like 10 INCH-pounds torque). In my experience, the more time you take carefully installing the pinion, the less time you deal with disassembling it and starting all over again.

 

[DEFWISH]

this is the "pita" part. i went thru 6 crush sleeves before i was happy. What does your contact patternt look like?

 

[l.groves]

Haven't checked it yet but Im sure not good. I didn't use a new crush sleave. I feel doomed at the moment so Thanks for the replys and help. Sick of dealing with it now so I'll Tear it down AGAIN later... Thanks.

 

[strtrcr50]

I used this from latemodelrestoration when I had my gears done..

Description
Drop the 4-foot breaker bar and step away from the vehicle! This spacer is designed to take place of the crush sleeve that such a pain to crush when installing new gears. It is adjustable to allow the needed preload without having to crush a sleeve.

link