Pinion Setup

Hi,

I am setting pinion with crush sleeve.  I'm getting so many conflicts on spec.  I'm  reading 15" up to 25".  Also seeing it with oil seal in or out while preloading.  One guy preloads crush sleeve then takes the nut off, installs seal, and then torques to spec like somewhere in 175 lb range.  We did a test to see what the drag on the seal was...about 5".  Any thoughts?  I'm at between 15" -17" now with seal in and torque for that is over 200lbs.

Thanks,

Darren

Set the preload with seal in. Once you back the nut off all settings are null until you set the preload again.  Taking the nut off to put on the seal and then torqueing to 175 ft lbs does not guaranty that the preload is still correct.  I try to set mine a 20" which is in the middle.  I found that using a cheater on my long breaker bar allows me to dial it in easier by having to apply less force to turn the nut giving me more control on how much I turn it at a time.  I won't dispute your 5" of seal drag but if the seals does adds 5" of torque then setting at 20 to 25 would still put you in specs -15" actual preload torque plus your 5" seal torque = 20" total. Same goes for 20" actual preload. 

Here's from the '71 Ford Shop Manual, the specs clearly say "with oil seal". Make sure the seal and yoke are lubricated:

That's what we did with the breaker bar.  I'm going to bump up to 20 -22.  So much different info out there.   My buddy found a 65 shop manual today for a Mustang and it stated 22 to 32.  So I think around 20-22 will do the trick.  Wanted to get another opinion before locking in on a number.  Just read your attached lit after my writing above.  Thanks for posting that and for your advice.  Great stuff!  Get it down the road the right way!

I believe that where you're getting the big difference in pre-load values is the difference between with the old bearings or with new bearings.

Darren 72 said:

That's what we did with the breaker bar.  I'm going to bump up to 20 -22.  So much different info out there.   My buddy found a 65 shop manual today for a Mustang and it stated 22 to 32.  So I think around 20-22 will do the trick.  Wanted to get another opinion before locking in on a number.  Just read your attached lit after my writing above.  Thanks for posting that and for your advice.  Great stuff!  Get it down the road the right way!

Click to expand...

Don C posted the info from the Ford manual.  You are correct about the numbers being all over the place.  Strange Engineering list it as 15 to  20" lbs.  The 20 to 25 " lbs. as listed in the manual should be the number to go for.   If anything I would rather be a little on the light side then to much.   To tight and you will wipe out the bearing fairly quick.  Seen it happen several times over the years.