Pinion depth (1 Viewer)

[mwkojack]

I’m rebuilding my rear axle/third member. I thought I would have an issue with my pinion being too deep because my new inner race was a little taller than my old one. But set it up like the old one to get a starting idea. Now I have this pattern and I think it’s telling me my pinion is too shallow. Tell me what you think.

 

[sogncab]

From Chris:

"Thicker pinion shim increases .005 and less backlash. Spec is .006-.010

Thicker pinion depth shim will square up the pattern and less backlash will spread it across the tooth. "

 

[sogncab]

Also from Chris. (He can't log in.... I'm not saying he's retarded, but I'm also also not saying he isn't retarded)

 

[mwkojack]

I was afraid I was too shallow after looking at my pattern. Backlash was good at .007 or so but gear patterns don’t lie. I’ll add a shim or two and see if I can’t square it up. Might end up having to find a skinnier pinion nut.

 

[sogncab]

Also from Chris:

"He posted about needing I different nut.... he is doing something wrong or had wrong parts. Or a combination of the two*


Chris was a driveline mechanic for 20 years, he knows his stuff

 

[B y r o n]

If you want some expert advise contact Zuk at "gearinstalls@gmail.com". You can look at some of his work here. It's been awhile since I rebuilt mine but he was more than helpful when I asked for help.

 

[mwkojack]

Bought a rebuild kit. Came with all new races, bearings, shims, crush sleeve, thread locker, sealant, marking paste, and a pinion nut. When I changed everything out I noticed my inner race was taller than the one I took out which made me think I was going to have too deep of a pinion. My original set up also had a washer between the drive flange and the pinion nut. I put it all back together with the same thickness shims and washer in place. My pinion nut also seems taller. (Need to get the calipers out and measure them) Anyway now that I have it all back together with the right amount of preload my pinion nut isn’t seated completely on the threads (at least not really good enough to indent the nut). Now that I have to add more shims under the race to increase pinion depth the nut will be even further out on the pinion making it harder to indent the lip. I’m thinking either shave down the washer between the flange and nut or try to find a shorter pinion nut.

 

[peesalot]

Just observation of your pattern and having done this. You say to deep or too shallow which I think you have backwards .
The pinion is too close to the carrier and IMO you should try removing the shims as your original thought seems to have played out.
IMO the pinion is too far away from ring gear, try moving carrier closer to pinion with side adjusters, try another pattern.

In the rebuild kit was there instructions regarding set up vs final assembly & how the crush sleeve plays into that. Your nut may not be all the way down as the crush sleeve may not have crushed ? and/or some come with a solid spacer. Plenty of threads on here regarding that procedure and how not to over crush the sleeve which renders it useless.

 

[Mark Jennings]

If you haven’t crushed the sleeve yet, that would hold the nut out or if your pinion was originally a shim instead of a crush sleeve, the pinion won’t be long enough to use the crush sleeve….

 

[mwkojack]

Didn’t use a crush sleeve. I have solid spacer. The kit just had one it it. This is what I used. Kit

 

[sogncab]

That is a crush sleeve

 

[peesalot]

Are the races fully seated ?

 

[Mark Jennings]

The funky mushroom looking pipe is a crush sleeve. So what year diff are we talking about? Early rigs use a pinion with a ‘square shoulder’ for shims and later pinions are more or less straight for a crush sleeve. You can’t mix and match. One way to tell is fine spline pinion would generally be a crush sleeve.

Did you have a crush sleeve when you disassembled? Or were there shims at the end of the pinion? If you did remove the sleeve, there should be a height difference between the old and new (old one shorter) and that height difference should equate to your lack of thread engagement on the flange nut. You probably haven’t reached the flange nut torque to crush the sleeve.

 

[mwkojack]

My pinion doesn’t use a crush sleeve. It uses solid spacers/shims to adjust preload. I started out using the exact number of shims spacers to adjust preload but there wasn’t enough preload so I removed the smallest one and this took care of it. As for the pinion nut. I found the difference. Didn’t need the washer because the nut I’m using has a washer built into the nut.

 

[peesalot]

you dont need the washer with new nut, the " solid spacer" replaces the crush sleeve. ditch the washer and make the above mentioned adjustments, what was your backlash at the pictured patter ?

 

[Mark Jennings]

My pinion doesn’t use a crush sleeve. It uses solid spacers/shims to adjust preload. I started out using the exact number of shims spacers to adjust preload but there wasn’t enough preload so I removed the smallest one and this took care of it. As for the pinion nut. I found the difference. Didn’t need the washer because the nut I’m using has a washer built into the nut. View attachment 3577077

Well that’s pretty cool, washer and nut all in one….learn something new every day

 

[mwkojack]

well after adding another shim under the inner race I finally have an acceptable pattern. And without the washer my pinion nut sits pretty

Thanks for the input

 

[Mark Jennings]

well after adding another shim under the inner race I finally have an acceptable pattern. And without the washer my pinion nut sits prettyView attachment 3577178View attachment 3577179
Thanks for the input

Awesome, I love it when DIY’ers noodle it out. And really, as important as pinion depth is, Toyota 9 inchers are very forgiving. Great job and I learned something new about flange nuts.
Be Good, Be Safe….keep the shiny side up.