Rear diff Pinion seal

[island Noel]

Hello all, Ive got a leaking rear pionion seal and I am getting conflicting information so I thought I would post here,
Ive been told to block both tires and get the pinion nut off simply take out the bad seal and put in a new one, OK I have a new seal, happen to have that on the shelf.
HOWEVER, Ive also now been told by a couple peoplt that if I take off that nut that it will let loose the guts of the third member, and the backlash will be out .
So can some of you more mechanical guys let me know and preferably if someone knows FOR-SURE, rather than a guess.

 

[Radd Cruisers]

Hey Noel;

You NEED to change the crush sleeve any time you go to re-torque the pinion nut or replace the seal. Crush sleeves are a "once only" part and they control the pre-load on the pinion bearings.

The backlash is the clearance (or play) between the ring gear and the pinion gear, that is NOT set by the pinion nut, but by the adjusters on the side of the carrier.

In a nutshell: you will need a pinion seal, a crush sleeve and (ideally) the stake nut. The pinion pre-load is best set with the diff on the work bench, but it can be done in the car if the axles are pulled back so that you're just turning the diff (ant and not the wheels, brakes etc...).


hth, John

 

[island Noel]

oh, hell, well your just full of good news arent you.... ok, well at least i know what i have to do, thanks for the info,
Noel

 

[seapotato]

so, anyone have a pic of what a crush sleeve looks like compared to the solid spacer that some have?

all the ones I've taken apart have had a washer that's about 1/8 " thick,and really doesn't look like it would crush..but be nice to see the difference...

 

[Stumpalama]

11/84 and later pinions, and probably most aftermarket gear sets use a crush sleeve.

I just happen to dig into my fron pinion tonight to replace a leaky seal (old style) and pulled the pinion bearing to see what lied beneath... no crush sleeve, just two shims. Yeah!
You can tell if you need a crush sleeve by looking at the pinion shaft and if it has a step (thin then fat) you use shims.