[spnkr94]

My rear pinion seal is leaking pretty good. It's the stock d35 93 yj.
I don't have an impact and was wondering if a breaker bar will be enough to break the pinion nut loose...and will i need a new pinion nut or crush sleeve?
The manual says 210 flbs for the nut but my torque wrench will only hit 110.
Has anybody done this the "backyard mechanic" way and just cranked the hell out of it with good results? Just want some advice before i tackle this..any help is appreciated.

[spnkr94]

bump....anyone? Still on the fence about getting into this job

[leftlanetruckin]

Here is the cheating way of doing the seal.
Use a breaker bar and count how many turns it takes to remove the nut from start to finish.
Replace the seal.
Start the pinion nut and rotate it the same number of turns as you had to do to remove it.
Not as accurate as resetting the preload etc, but is 99% of the time near enough.
This method obviously cannot be used with an impact gun, so that is out anyways. Do not "crank the hell out of it" as this will really mess up your preload on most axles.

Martin

[wushaw]

I did the backyard mechanic way 91k miles ago, I think it's fine Just tight is fine.

[spnkr94]

Thanks guys, sounds like its not a bad job at all. Some guys say you have to replace the pinion nut because its self locking? I'm assuming thats the correct way to do it but you can get away with the old one?

Also assuming the crush sleeve can be left alone? Have to take care of this soon I leave small puddles everywhere i park and I'm tired of topping it off

[ecaps]

spnkr94,

There is the correct way and then the "correct way." I've done it both ways without problems.

Most manuals say to get a new pinion nut & crush sleeve when taking them apart. Then tighten to spec with an inch/lbs torque wrench.


You'll be fine if you follow the "correct way" that has been mentioned.

1. Break the pinion nut free.
2. Count the number of turns it takes to remove it.
3. Replace the bad seal.
4. Thread the pinon nut back on the number of times it took to take it off from step #1.

If you're worried about the "used" nut backing off, you can put some red loc-tite on it.

Few helpful hints:

• Mark the pinion nut & "bolt" with a marker, whiteout, etc...so you know when you've made a full rotation.
• Also, when I replace the seal I put a small amount of gray silicon RTV on the back of it to help "seal." It's totally up to you...

[chainz]

It is nearly impossible to overtorque the pinion nut on that axle if you got to 250 lbs it will be fine. There is no difference in pinion bearing preload from 180 lbs to 250 lbs that is one of the reason for the shims. This is a very very very simple job I know that the book says 210 lbs and that would be best if you have to do it then put locktite on a new nut and torque the hell out of it until it feels like 200 pounds and I can pretty much promise you it will be fine. I have rebuilt quite a few rear ends there is nothing to be afraid of with just a pinion seal. the only time super proper torque is super important is when you have a crush sleeve.

[spnkr94]

Ok thanks guys. I'm def going to do it myself and save some $$, I always worry about a job that turns out to be simple.

[1998zj]

Originally Posted by chainz

It is nearly impossible to overtorque the pinion nut on that axle if you got to 250 lbs it will be fine. There is no difference in pinion bearing preload from 180 lbs to 250 lbs that is one of the reason for the shims. This is a very very very simple job I know that the book says 210 lbs and that would be best if you have to do it then put locktite on a new nut and torque the hell out of it until it feels like 200 pounds and I can pretty much promise you it will be fine. I have rebuilt quite a few rear ends there is nothing to be afraid of with just a pinion seal. the only time super proper torque is super important is when you have a crush sleeve.

The Dana 35 has a crush sleeve. It is the 30 that has the shims. Yes it is possible to over torque the pinion nut and burn up a bearing. Just mark the nut and the yoke and put it back where it was and you will be fine.

[spnkr94]

Ok got around to doing the pinio n seal today and it was very easy. Everything went well but I have a few questions...when i took the nut off it had very fine metal threads (shavings) that came with it so I cleaned the threads added a lil locktite and put it back on without issue, what were those metal shavings about? Is that common?
Next thing is i cleaned up the diff cover and changed the fluid. While i was at it i did notice some "pitting" in the carrier gears, how bad is that? The ring gear and pinion looked fine...i'm just worried about the pitting causing the rear end to blow up on me. Wondering what could have caused the pitting in the first place? The fluid was filthy. Any ideas?

[1998zj]

I wouldn't worry about the threads, the spider gears in a 35 are well known for being weak. I would keep running them and keep an eye out for a set of spider gears real cheap. They are easy to replace when these go bad.