87 Ranger Rear Pinon Nut Size??

[4x4junkie]

Hmmm... somehow I missed this one 6 months ago.

Definitely looks like mass confusion over torque numbers. A pinion nut torqued to 50 inch-lbs will lead to a broken rear end REAL quick.

(wondering how long it lasted )


As for reusing crush sleeves, I don't see the issue if everything is put back together EXACTLY how it was, with the EXISTING parts (not new parts- nut, yoke & seal excepted), and maintaining the same amount of preload that was there initially. In this case the sleeve would still be maintaining pressure on the bearing race preventing it from spinning.
In ANY case where any bearings are replaced however, the sleeve must also then be replaced.


I've only worked on a small number of diffs (mostly my own), but I've never run into this issue with races not being seated.
What I did was make an installer tool using a long threaded rod and some large thick washers sized to fit against the races, and seated the races in the housing by tightening a nut on the end (not a whole lot different than the machined dummy pinion thing you mentioned). During final assembly I also gave the pinion a few smacks with a hammer from the front and behind just as an added measure that they were seated. After 4 years, the pinion still has enough preload on it that I can feel it when rocking it back and forth within the gear backlash.

 

[bottledgt]

umm, nobody tightened a nut to 50 in lbs....

 

[MAKG]

About that holding fixture....

Someone on the board (I forget who) suggested just threading a bolt through the flange, so that it contacts the side of the axle housing snout (along with a nut to keep from flattening the threads). I tried it on a recent pinion bearing replacement on my 8.8, and it seemed to work just fine. I was concerned about bending the bolt with the kind of torques we were talking about, but it didn't happen. Came out just fine.

 

[bottledgt]

shouldnt bend if the bolt aint that long. torque is usually only maybe in the 250-300 range anyway...not 400 like i keep seeing

 

[4x4junkie]

umm, nobody tightened a nut to 50 in lbs....

.........

I just changed my pinion seal a few weeks ago. You should use a very sensitive inch-pound torque wrench to put the pinion nut back on. One that measures beween 0 and 80 in-lbs would be great but I could only find a cheap 0-800 in-lb one. The specs said something like 30 in-lbs for used bearings. I just tried my best to keep the torque less than 50 in-lbs when putting it back on with the cheap wrench. It has been a few weeks and it still hasn't leaked or suffered any ill effects. You should also use a new pinion nut. Mine was crimped on the top end I guess to make it harder to twist off, sort of what lock-tite would do. I didn't have a new nut so I used a dremel and grind stone to grind the crimped part off. Without doing this or using a new nut, you won't be able to torque it. You should be able to finger tighten the nut all the way before using the torque wrench.

 

[bottledgt]

wow, i forgot about that...my bad,... you gotta question the mentality of someone who cuts the crimp off a nut.