Solid pinion spacer on diff rebuild

[SciroccoDamonte]

Close enough to get us in the ballpark. Looks to me like they're shipping the 9.5" spacer too long, which would jive with the problem @SciroccoDamonte is having. Won't be an issue for me: I have a lathe, so I can just turn mine down to what I need, but that's pretty frustrating if you don't! Kinda defeats the purpose of the shims.

Yeah just took me 2 hours of filling but I got it done

 

[SciroccoDamonte]

Thanks for the input everyone, I did just end up sanding and filing the solid spacer down. For the front I used the old crush sleeve with shims (I know it’s frowned upon) but it’s what needed to happen with the timeline I’m on. For anyone using this forum in the future, as has been concluded by these other guys, the solid spacer from marlin crawler needs to be turned down. If you don’t have a lathe, using sandpaper on a table or a file and a vice to hold the spacer is how I got it done. Just checking periodically against the size of the old crush sleeve. I am using the commercial shop belonging to my employer and even they didn’t have some of the tools I needed. So be warned you’ll probably need to rent various tools.

Thanks again @aztoyman @Marvelicious @Kernal and the other guys for your input here.

 

[JoeCova]

I’ve built diffs with and without solid spacers, unless I was tearing a diff apart every weekend or month I wouldn’t bother with a spacer.

The only tangible and objective benefit to a solid spacer is service convenience, except you probably won’t service a diff for another 100k miles.

This is just another nail in the coffin for solid spacers for me.

 

[Marvelicious]

Yeah just took me 2 hours of filling but I got it done

Brutal.

I'll admit, I don't use my lathe all that much, but a handful of times a year, it's so friggin' handy.