solid spacer or crush? id help please

[deathpunkbaby]

rebuilding a HJ60 rear diff, wanted to use a solid spacer, ordered the NITRO part kit (2.17") but it's too long, by about .04”. the original spacer i took out is beefier than the nitro solid, and way beefier than the crush spacer that came in the bearing/rebuild kit, so i'm wondering if it's a solid spacer that I can re-use? it wasn’t installed with shims that i recall or can find (i disassembled it about 3 weeks ago and i don't usually throw old parts away). any idea anyone? i thnk i may just install the crush and move on, but the crush sleeve is much longer (.22”). The og is on the left, solid in the middle and crush on the right. I’m not certain what’s what and don’t want to f’ this up.

 

[Prairie Swamp]

The outside 2 are def crush sleeves and I wouldn't reuse them.

I ordered a solid spacer for the front on my late 1999 62. It was also long by about that much. Fortunately I have a lathe problem solved.

I say find a friend with a lathe get your solid spacer cut down and set up the diffy properly with shims and be good for a long time. Have you done the process before?

 

[deathpunkbaby]

nope, this is new territory for me. thanks for the info.

 

[deathpunkbaby]

i thought about grinding it down, but i'm sure it needs to be flat and 90 degrees, which is beyond my garage tool's ability. guess i could find a machine shop tmoro and see if they could knock it down a few .01's

 

[cruisermatt]

i thought about grinding it down, but i'm sure it needs to be flat and 90 degrees, which is beyond my garage tool's ability. guess i could find a machine shop tmoro and see if they could knock it down a few .01's

Yes, that needs to be cut straight. Find a lathe.

 

[deathpunkbaby]

Shout-out to Macfab in Austin Tx, knocked a few .01’s off while I waited and didn’t charge me a dime. Thru mechanical difficulties come greater appreciation for our fellow man!

 

[Zjohnsonua]

Randy's sells the shim kits.

My rebuild kit came with the wrong crush sleeve, but luckily it included the shims so I went that route. 5k miles later, it's still running well, knock on wood. Mechanically, I'm partial to the shims because they will not move if I ever have to replace the pinion seal. The same can't be said for the crush sleeve.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Wait, how do you know that the solid spacer is too long? Are you comparing it to the crush spacer you took out?

Leave the solid spacer as is and set the diff up. You need to buy a shim kit to do so. The solid spacer is not too long.

 

[cruisermatt]

Wait, how do you know that the solid spacer is too long? Are you comparing it to the crush spacer you took out?

Leave the solid spacer as is and set the diff up. You need to buy a shim kit to do so. The solid spacer is not too long.

Too late now, but that’s what shims are for right??

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Comparing a solid spacer to a crush spacer makes no sense. A used crush spacer is going to be shorter (duh, it crushes) than a new one. The solid spacer is longer because it can be, and doesn't require a huge stack of shims to get it to set up properly!

 

[cruisermatt]

Comparing a solid spacer to a crush spacer makes no sense. A used crush spacer is going to be shorter (duh, it crushes) than a new one. The solid spacer is longer because it can be, and doesn't require a huge stack of shims to get it to set up properly!

Yeah, you're right. Except in this case, he's going to need a stack of shims now

I should have read the original post instead of just the one about grinding the spacer.

 

[Prairie Swamp]

Not speaking for the OP - but on the front of my November 89 build the solid spacer I received was in fact too long. As in couldn't get any pinion preload regardless of torque on the nut. (Zero shims.)

I insist something is different with the last two months of 62 production. The parts catalogs lists some axle parts split down the Nov 89 build date.

The OP didn't specify his build date but I assumed he measured properly. Maybe not. But in any event nothing that shims can't fix.

 

[deathpunkbaby]

When I put the solid in, it was too long, as in there was a space between the bearings and the race. Adding shims would have added length making the gap even greater.

 

[deathpunkbaby]

so i've got the milled solid spacer installed w 2 shims and nearly 200 ft/lbs of torque on the flange nut, and i have just under 2" lbs of preload, so i think i'm close. can't go any further at the moment cause i broke the tool i made to hold the flange lol. got stronger steel, so after another hour of tool building i'll get back to the actual job. i'll keep y'all posted

 

[deathpunkbaby]

ok, with no shims, and 190 ft/lbs torque, i have 30 in/lbs of pre-load, and with the thinest shim, i can only get 10 in/lbs of pre-load with as much f'n torque as i can put on it, which is over 250 lbs. the fsm calls for 19-29 in/lbs for new bearings...
better to go light or heavy with the pre-load? i installed new bearings...

 

[Prairie Swamp]

More preload with new bearings. They will wear in initially and preload will drop a bit.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Interesting. Sorry man, I assumed you were doing something wrong. TIL!

Out of curiosity, how much did you mill off of the spacer already?

IIRC 190ft/lbs is too little. I'd mill another thou out of the spacer and use the thinnest shim.

 

[deathpunkbaby]

i didn't measure it, but nitro says it was 2.17 and the crush sleeve that came out of it was around 2.135, so around .025. my FSM gives a range of 190-345ft/lbs for the pinion nut, but yea, everyone says 225-250ft/lbs is the target. also, i have no lock washers on the bearing cap main bolts, i plan on using red locktite, do i need spring/lock washers also? thanks again for the input, it really helps to sort it out.

 

[Zjohnsonua]

Locktite. Spring/lock washers don't compare to locktite when used and applied correctly.

 

[deathpunkbaby]

everything is back together, and looking good. i went with about 11in/lbs of Pinion preload (w new bearings) after reading thru Toyota Gear Installs write-ups and finding another reference on a Yukon Gear Install manual. Also,the TGI guy only hits his pinion nut with 150-160 ft/lbs torque? it does seem as though he knows his stuff tho. i'll make sure the combined R&P preload is 18-20 in/lbs. i've played with the carrier bearings and got to a .007 backlash with good amount of preload. it's kinda weird to me, as .OO7 seems loose, but i guess they need room to heat up. i have yet to do a contact test, that comes tmoro. i didn't change the gears, and i'm hoping the original main pinion shim will be sufficient. thanks again to all those who chimed in, your input is valuable.