Rear Pinion Nut Torque?

[FJKai]

I was looking for the recommended torque on the rear pinion nut please. I've seen everything from "snug" it up a bit to over 160 ft/lbs of torque. Can someone give me the answer? I had to change a leaky pinion seal after a Detroit locker install and still not totally sure of the "recommended" pinion nut torque. Thanks

 

[KLF]

My '84 FSM says 181-325 ft-lbs. I read that as minimum is 181, but then you keep cranking on it till you get within the range of 7.8-11.3 in-lbs of preload torque on the pinion. That's how I've always done it.

 

[muddogbob]

wont this mess up the bearing preload by screwing with the crush sleeve?

 

[agent orange]

wont this mess up the bearing preload by screwing with the crush sleeve?

Not necessarily, i pulled my pinion nut off after setting the preload with the spacer so that i could put the seal in. I think i put like 200 ft-lbs on it and it still didnt even torque the nut completely as tight as before, once you hit the full torque it takes a lot to crush the sleeve more. Its within spec so i left alone with the stake and red loctite, but it just goes to show you that its no bid deal.

On the other hand, i swapped a pinion seal a while back and didnt put nearly enough torque on it. I wondered what that sound was for a long time, and then i was like huh, this whole thing kinda wiggle here. Thats not what you want to do.

 

[FJKai]

181 to 325 lbs? Wow, that seems like a big range. Either way, looks like you want it pretty dang tight. I guess the ole' "crank it as tight as you can" wouldn't hurt in this case. Thanks for the info. On the other hand, what is the downfall of NOT tighting enough? I mean, not loose to where it's jigglin around per say, but one can snug it up pretty tight, but still not be in the 181 to 325 lbs range, know what I mean? Either way, thanks for the info guys.