my pinion yoke has some play in it and when i put my aussie locker in i noticed one carrier bearing was pretty chewed up, the carrier had zero preload and practically fell out when i took the bearing caps off. so i got a master overhaul kit with all new bearings, seals, shims, marking compound, ring gear bolts, pretty much everything. so i just want to make sure i have my process straight.

i want to pull carrier, then pull pinion. remove bearings and create setup bearings. measure shim packs from pinion and both sides of carrier. measure new shims and set up pinion with old crush sleeve and torque. set up carrier with shims and set up bearings, put in with bearing caps hand tight. check backlash. mark a pattern and check pinion depth. mess with pinion shims until the depth looks good. check backlash again. change shims on either side of the carrier to get a good pattern and still have good backlash. make sure pinion depth is still good. pull everything apart and put back together with new bearings and new crush sleeve and pinion nut. put .005 shim on both sides of carrier for carrier bearing preload and pound it home with a deadblow. check pattern one more time. bolt up cover and fill up with oil. sound right?

so here are a few questions.

1. do i need to use a clamshell style bearing puller or will a two jaw style one be ok?
2. should i make your setup bearings from old ones or new?
3. you set everything up with the old crush sleeve and then install the new one at final assembly?
4. how tight do you get the pinion nut when setting up pinion depth?
5. what did you use to load the ring gear when rotating to make a good pattern? i've heard prybar, arm, put the axles back in and use brakes, piece of wood...
6. axle in jeep or out of jeep, obviously out would be easier but is it necessary?
7. for setting pinion depth should i use the old pinion nut as is, tap out the old pinion nut, or get a regular nut to use instead of the deformed thread locknut? anyone know the pinion thread size and pitch? so i can get a nut or a tap?
8. what should i use to hold the yoke still while i tighten the pinion nut on final assembly?
9. i should pre-crush the new crush sleeve to a little bigger than the one that came out on a press, right? then tighten with new pinion nut on final assembly until correct rotational torque is achieved.

any other words of advice? gonna give this a shot on saturday.

thanks all.

My friend and I did mine yesterday.... well he did most of it while I watched and handed him things :laugh:

I'll answer the best I can:

1. do i need to use a clamshell style bearing puller or will a two jaw style one be ok? I used a new carrier and we used a three jaw on the pinion.
2. should i make your setup bearings from old ones or new? We used new bearings on the carrier and used the old ones on the pinion
3. you set everything up with the old crush sleeve and then install the new one at final assembly? yes
4. how tight do you get the pinion nut when setting up pinion depth? I don't remember, sorry
5. what did you use to load the ring gear when rotating to make a good pattern? i've heard prybar, arm, put the axles back in and use brakes, piece of wood... We used a pry bar and turned the pinion with a socket and ratchet
6. axle in jeep or out of jeep, obviously out would be easier but is it necessary? Yes, axle out of Jeep
7. for setting pinion depth should i use the old pinion nut as is, tap out the old pinion nut, or get a regular nut to use instead of the deformed thread locknut? anyone know the pinion thread size and pitch? so i can get a nut or a tap? We used the old pinion nut. That one gave out after the second time we removed it so we bought another one
8. what should i use to hold the yoke still while i tighten the pinion nut on final assembly? Pipe wrench tightened down then turn it so the handle presses against the LCA as you tighten
9. i should pre-crush the new crush sleeve to a little bigger than the one that came out on a press, right? then tighten with new pinion nut on final assembly until correct rotational torque is achieved.
We installed the new bearings and crush sleeve and preloaded with the new pinion nut. We didn't pre-crush the sleeve. We set preload and then checked the rotation to between 25-40 in/lbs

Hope that helps. Good luck.

 

do you remember how tight you had to get the pinion nut on final install to get the rotational torque right? i've heard of people needing like, 3 foot pipe extensions on a breaker bar to get it tight enough to crush all the way and that just doesn't seem right...

 

my pinion yoke has some play in it and when i put my aussie locker in i noticed one carrier bearing was pretty chewed up, the carrier had zero preload and practically fell out when i took the bearing caps off. so i got a master overhaul kit with all new bearings, seals, shims, marking compound, ring gear bolts, pretty much everything. so i just want to make sure i have my process straight.

i want to pull carrier, then pull pinion. remove bearings and create setup bearings. measure shim packs from pinion and both sides of carrier. measure new shims and set up pinion with old crush sleeve and torque. set up carrier with shims and set up bearings, put in with bearing caps hand tight. check backlash. mark a pattern and check pinion depth. mess with pinion shims until the depth looks good. check backlash again. change shims on either side of the carrier to get a good pattern and still have good backlash. make sure pinion depth is still good. pull everything apart and put back together with new bearings and new crush sleeve and pinion nut. put .005 shim on both sides of carrier for carrier bearing preload and pound it home with a deadblow. check pattern one more time. bolt up cover and fill up with oil. sound right?

so here are a few questions.

1. do i need to use a clamshell style bearing puller or will a two jaw style one be ok?
2. should i make your setup bearings from old ones or new?
3. you set everything up with the old crush sleeve and then install the new one at final assembly?
4. how tight do you get the pinion nut when setting up pinion depth?
5. what did you use to load the ring gear when rotating to make a good pattern? i've heard prybar, arm, put the axles back in and use brakes, piece of wood...
6. axle in jeep or out of jeep, obviously out would be easier but is it necessary?
7. for setting pinion depth should i use the old pinion nut as is, tap out the old pinion nut, or get a regular nut to use instead of the deformed thread locknut? anyone know the pinion thread size and pitch? so i can get a nut or a tap?
8. what should i use to hold the yoke still while i tighten the pinion nut on final assembly?
9. i should pre-crush the new crush sleeve to a little bigger than the one that came out on a press, right? then tighten with new pinion nut on final assembly until correct rotational torque is achieved.

any other words of advice? gonna give this a shot on saturday.

thanks all.

do you remember how tight you had to get the pinion nut on final install to get the rotational torque right? i've heard of people needing like, 3 foot pipe extensions on a breaker bar to get it tight enough to crush all the way and that just doesn't seem right...

1) A clam shell puller is not needed but nice. I just got mine from Durasolid the day after I finished my install. Came from India but was only $200 shipped.
2)I just used old bearings. They are a HUGE time saver.
3)You dont need to put the old crush sleeve in durring trails. Only the new one at the end. Get pinion preload close just with a nut. Go get a normal nut (not an old pinion nut) to use as a pinion nut for setup. On my 4.88 gears it was 3/4" 16tpi.
4)Tight enough to have approx 10-15in lbs of preload. Didnt take very much.
5)Used my hand with a glove. Or a friends hand on the pinion. You will know when you need more pressure.
6)In the jeep you will be saying, ******** ****ing good for nothing piece of **** (insert which ever you just hit your head on; steering box skid/track bar/frame/crossmemeber/license plate). :brickwall
7)GET A REGULAR NUT. As i said above 3/4" 16tpi. Less than $1 at NAPA after tax. Might as well pick up a spare deformed pinion nut while your there Part number 4867-036
8)I used a transfer case drop clamped to the yoke. Also have used a really big pair of channel locks, or big cressent wrench.
9)I precrushed one sleeve and that worked. Be careful not to crush too much they dont take a lot. For my final assembly I didnt precrush it. IFthe parts are correct and not messed up it is easy to crush it with a 2' breaker bar. My "580 ftlb" impact wouldn't do it, but I was able to easliy do it with a breaker bar. Despite what everyone was saying in my other thread about the destroyed pinion threads.

If your decently strong you wont need a cheater bar. I though I would need one on my first install and things got ****ed up. I believe the pinion nut was bad. Others said it was it was because I used a cheater bar instead of an impact. I call BS and question either their experience with crush sleeves or arm strength.

Impact wrench is a must have for assembly and disassemble (U need a 1-1/8" socket for the pinion nut). I cant even recall how many times I put it together and took it apart. Probably over 20. Part of that was because I had issues with my pinion being too deep and didnt know I could leave out the oil slinger on the low pinions.

 

thanks a lot for the detailed reply. still not sure if i am going to pull the axle or not. definitely going to get a normal nut for the pinion. what did you all use to press the races for the pinion into the housing and for pressing the carrier bearings on. i have access to a shop press for the carrier bearings but what did you use on top of the bearing to not damage it?

 

I used a brass drift I got from harbor freight. Just be super careful to get all the pieces of brass out of the diff before you seal it up. Especially between the two pinion races a lot gets in there.

A socket on the bearings worked well for me to press them on the carrier. Also used a piece of 1.75 tube for some part but i don't remember which.

 

did you use the tube to press the inner pinion bearing on? thats the one i'm most concerned about.

 

Yup thats probably what I used it for. That on top of the press plate, what ever they are called. Did it that way to be putting the pressure on the inside of the bearing instead of the outer bearing retainer ring, again what ever its called.

Oh about pulling the axle. Im not sure if its worth it. Its only 10 bolts or so but then just to have to move it plus supporting the jeep dealing with springs bleeding brakes yeah probably not worth it.

 

thanks again for the help. i'm looking forward to this, i think it will be fun. we'll see how i feel saturday night. if you think of any other advice don't hesitate to post it up, please!

 

It is fun. Its frustrating but when you start making progress its fun.

This was my 1st axle I have ever done. I ran into the issue of my pinion being too deep with all the spacers removed. Thanks to guys on pirate and mudb8 I figured out I could lose the oil slinger which let me get the proper pinion depth. If you have problems post up, be patient and have a back up vehicle:laugh:

 

leave the axle in the jeep...

 

mud i was looking at those clamshell pullers and they are sweet, but a good bit of coin. do you think i can get away with using a two or three jaw puller on the carrier and pinion? if this goes well and i start doing them for friends i will probably get a nice puller like that. for setting the pinion bearing can i just use some tube to push down on the bearing or do i need a fancy bearing setter or something?

 

thick tubing is what I use to install bearings with a 20 ton press, the problem with using a 3 jaw puller is you'll wreck the bearings removing them, the clam shell keeps presure on the bearing cage with a race, so removal is simple and can be done over and over without messing up a bearing,
I never use set up bearings, I don't like doing the whole set up process over again when the set up bearing needs a different shim stack than what's going in em. if you do make set up bearings, use brand new ones. and start with the stock shim for the fist pinion depth set up no matter what kind of ratio change you're making, although some gear sets require a totally different depth, then set the backlash as needed. if it's not quite right, make a .010 depth change as the pattern indicates, if you need more, put another .010 in, if it's to much, make a .005 change, at that point ya pretty much have it done or are only .003 away from it. anymore I generally only have to knock the pinion out twice for changes, use an air hammer with a punch tip to avoid messing up the threads with a hammer and punch, the third time is to put the crush sleave in or set the preload with shims, I will, however do it 20 times if that's what it takes to make it right.

last week I regeared a JK rubi to 5.38 for Warn industries general manager.... while he stood there watching and BS'n, got the rear in two tries and nailed the front on the first.. to bad I put the locker indicator in after the carriers cuz it held the locker engaged, I ended up pulling the carriers back out to let the pin pass the plate.... after it was all buttoned up, aligned and ready to go.. that sucked and I felt like a moron for not catching it or even spining a tire while it was still on the rack..

one way to look at the spendy bearing puller is, how much will it cost to have the gears done?.... you'll have a new tool in the box collecting dust or if you figure out gears, you'll be volunteering to do gear swaps and eventually it'll pay for it'self.

 

well, at this point its a little too late to order one cause i'm doing this tomorrow, but i am going to be making setup bearings with brand new ones cause i know mine are shot so it wouldnt make sense to use them for setup. i'm also not changing gears, just the bearings, so i'm hoping the shim stacks on the pinion and carrier should be pretty close, though i know the carrier needs more preload.