pinion play

[dually]

I have a 9 in. posi with 3.00 gears. I replaced the crush sleeve and tightened down the new pinion nut till i had no play, i thought. We set the 3rd member into the housing and snugged 2 bolts to keep it in place. I jiggled the yoke and could feel and hear a small amount of play. Do i need to give the nut another tug and take all of the play out till i dont feel or hear anything?? If so i'm going to try to do it under the truck. I dont have a garage or a concrete pad to work from just plywood and a tarp. So if i can do this without pulling the pumpkin again it will help my mood..Thank you,, Mark,

 

[caspianwendell]

Hi Mark and welcome to the forum from Arkansas. Do you have a dial indicator? Did you paste the teeth to check the contact?

 

[dually]

Hi Mark and welcome to the forum from Arkansas. Do you have a dial indicator? Did you paste the teeth to check the contact?

I dont have the paste but im thinking i should have picked some up to check the contact. I do have a dial indicator and checked the ring gear back lash which was .008. Within spec i believe. I need to get the dial indicator torque wrench to check the pinion play but its around 300.00. I went and bought another dial indicator that fits between the socket and ratchet but it was in degrees not inch pounds. Should i pull the 3rd member out and paste the gears? Ive never worked on rear end so i wont to do it right. Thank you for responding, i need the help. Mark, Seatac wa

 

[Don C]

With the collapsible spacer you need to torque it to 175 ft.lbs. If the preload is out of specs you'll probably need to put in a new spacer. You didn't say what kind of other work you did on your axle. If you replaced the pinions bearings you'll need to check the pinion depth, maybe put in different pinion shims. If you replaced the carrier bearings you'll need to reset the backlash after the pinion depth is correct. If you just replace the seal, all you should need is the new collapsible spacer torqued to specs, unless the pinion or carrier bearings are badly worn.

 

[dually]

With the collapsible spacer you need to torque it to 175 ft.lbs. If the preload is out of specs you'll probably need to put in a new spacer. You didn't say what kind of other work you did on your axle. If you replaced the pinions bearings you'll need to check the pinion depth, maybe put in different pinion shims. If you replaced the carrier bearings you'll need to reset the backlash after the pinion depth is correct. If you just replace the seal, all you should need is the new collapsible spacer torqued to specs, unless the pinion or carrier bearings are badly worn.

The only thing i did to 3rd member was replace the front housing on the pinion shaft with a new cruch sleeve and o ring seal. The shim on the housing i didnt replace. I did check ring gear back lash, it was ok. I had new bearings, race and seals replaced on the axles. Should i tighten the pinion nut till i have zero play?

 

[Don C]

I wouldn't torque it more than 175 ft.lbs. or you risk damaging the pinion bearings. If you don't torque it to that torque you won't get the correct preload.