Pinion nut and collapsible spacer woes... (1 Viewer)

[FJ40_Nut]

Okay...I've rebuilt transfer cases and worked on transmissions for a few years. This is my first stab at ring and pinion work. The dry run without the collapsible spacer went good, all the preload torque values were within spec, good ring gear backlash, and great teeth marks on the face and on the back.

Although the dry run went good, I'm dealing with a challenge. I cannot get the collapsible spacer to crush. I'm fearful I may have stripped the pinion nut. I have exceeded the torque of 250 ft lbs on my torque wrench and moved to a 3/4 inch breaker bar with a 3 foot pipe. I noticed movement on the pinion nut initially and now my breaker bar with the extension is not moving tighter or loosening.

Any ideas and advice is welcomed and appreciated.

 

[Wile E Coyote]

Forget that torque wrench, the spacer doesn't begin to crush until over 300 ft lbs or higher. I've done Dana stuff that easily maxed a 500 ft lb impact. Stick to the 3/4 drive bb and go to a longer pipe if needed. Is the 3rd bolted to a solid bench? Once it starts to crush the torque lessens, so then go back to your torque wrench. If this fails, a solid spacer setup is superior to the crush sleeve, except for a few $ and initial setup time.

 

[FJ40_Nut]

Thanks for the encouragement with moving forward. I do have it secured with a bracket I fabricated and it is in a large vise. 500 lbs...whew!

 

[60Works]

x2 for the solid spacer. $50 from Nitro Gear and Axle and you'll never have to deal with the crush sleeve again. It makes repairing a pinion seal easy.

 

[TobyB]

Yeah, that spacer needs a TON of twist, and feels awful going down. You have to be quite careful when the bearings touch so you
don't overload it, though. I always creep up on it, 'cause I don't wanna have to do it all again...

Just like stretch head bolts, they work OK, but feel SO WRONG when you're doing them. Your hands are trained
(from stripping and breaking so much stuff) to STOP when it starts to feel like that!

t

 

[Tapage]

Solid spacer all the way .. no more nut torque guess when need to replace your pinion seal ..

 

[Pin_Head]

One trick is to start the crush with a hydraulic shop press, but don't make it too short.

 

[Mace]

yeppers, use a pres to start the crush...