Pinion Bearing wobble (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Box Rocket

SILVER Star
Joined
Jan 2, 2003
Threads
147
Messages
5,666
Location
Syracuse, Utah
Last night while doing all my Pre-Cruise Moab checks on my truck I noticed a very slight amount of up/down movement at the pinion flange on my front diff.

The diff has 4.88 Nitro gears and install kits from @justdifferentials that were installed just last summer, so I'm a little surprised to see this so soon.

Can the pinion nut be tightened up or am I looking at a full tear down of the diff to replace the bearing?

Timing sucks since I'm supposed to leave Saturday.
 
Did you use a solid pinion bearing spacer?
 
You can tighten it up a little bit, but it is just going to be by feel. Not perfect, but better than leaving it loose to kill the bearing.
 
You can tighten it up a little bit, but it is just going to be by feel. Not perfect, but better than leaving it loose to kill the bearing.
Yeah. I had a trusted tech take a look at it with me yesterday. It's going to need to come apart, but I'm on the hook for stuff at Cruise Moab so it's going to wait until I get back.

The nut was still staked and appeared to not have moved. We retorqued the nut in small increments back up to spec and restaked it. I've got the front driveshaft off and will leave it off for all the highway travel to and from Moab to reduce some of the wear on the bearing this next week and cross my fingers it stays together until I get back. Then the diff comes out.
 
Yeah. I had a trusted tech take a look at it with me yesterday. It's going to need to come apart, but I'm on the hook for stuff at Cruise Moab so it's going to wait until I get back.

The nut was still staked and appeared to not have moved. We retorqued the nut in small increments back up to spec and restaked it. I've got the front driveshaft off and will leave it off for all the highway travel to and from Moab to reduce some of the wear on the bearing this next week and cross my fingers it stays together until I get back. Then the diff comes out.
What spec are you referring to?
 
My old girlfriend!

Olga Guttentite!

I usually tighten things to the correct number of elbow-pounds.

Once the crush-sleeve has loosened, they will continue to loosen, and you may actually be over-tightening the bearings because the sleeve is no longer providing the proper resistance at the correct length.

Definitely keep an eye on it and make sure your fluids are up to snuff.

That's why it's always nicer to have a solid spacer than a crush sleeve because if it was jut a spacer, then the torque does not overload the bearings themselves. Then it is specific wear.

Good Luck.

Call Zuk early to get in line!
 
My old girlfriend!

Olga Guttentite!

I usually tighten things to the correct number of elbow-pounds.

Once the crush-sleeve has loosened, they will continue to loosen, and you may actually be over-tightening the bearings because the sleeve is no longer providing the proper resistance at the correct length.

Definitely keep an eye on it and make sure your fluids are up to snuff.

That's why it's always nicer to have a solid spacer than a crush sleeve because if it was jut a spacer, then the torque does not overload the bearings themselves. Then it is specific wear.

Good Luck.

Call Zuk early to get in line!
Yes. Rotational movement still feels fine and we were careful not to overtighten (as much as we could). Like I said before, it's clear it is going to need to get pulled apart and fixed and the solid spacer will be used.
Fluids were ok and I drained and refilled the diff two days ago when I found this to check for metal. Nothing alarming was found. So it's got fresh fluid in it and there are no leaks at the pinion seal. I'll have some gear oil with me next week at Moab just in case.
 
Yes. Rotational movement still feels fine and we were careful not to overtighten (as much as we could). Like I said before, it's clear it is going to need to get pulled apart and fixed and the solid spacer will be used.
Fluids were ok and I drained and refilled the diff two days ago when I found this to check for metal. Nothing alarming was found. So it's got fresh fluid in it and there are no leaks at the pinion seal. I'll have some gear oil with me next week at Moab just in case.


May want to CONSIDER having a spare 3rd being built while you are traveling (Zuk) with new gears and all. That way you can carry it as a "spare" when it does finally go, or at the very least, it's ready to install as soon as you have time to do it instead of having to let the truck sit while it's being rebuilt.
 
May want to CONSIDER having a spare 3rd being built while you are traveling (Zuk) with new gears and all. That way you can carry it as a "spare" when it does finally go, or at the very least, it's ready to install as soon as you have time to do it instead of having to let the truck sit while it's being rebuilt.
Would be nice, but my wallet isn't going to allow that.
 
Did tightening it take up any of the sideplay?
 
That's a strange one though @Box Rocket . It almost sounds like the pinion bearing races were not seated properly when installed. No recourse with the installing shop?

I too, can give a strong recommendation for Zuk's (@gearinstalls.com ) work. I've had him do 4 for me in the last 6 months. Other than the expensive shipping, it's a great way to go to have it done well.
 
That's a strange one though @Box Rocket . It almost sounds like the pinion bearing races were not seated properly when installed. No recourse with the installing shop?

I too, can give a strong recommendation for Zuk's (@gearinstalls.com ) work. I've had him do 4 for me in the last 6 months. Other than the expensive shipping, it's a great way to go to have it done well.
The shop is taking care of it.
 
I do not recall, do you have a part-time conversion?
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom