Loose pinion nut?

mistermeeseeks

mistermeeseeks

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Dec 20, 2020
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Aurora, CO
I just did a gear change. All new bearings and seals. I'm tightening the pinion nut and it just doesnt seem right. I have a 4 foot breaker bar on and a pipe wrench and I'm cranking this thing down as hard as I can and it still seems loose. Should I keep cranking this thing down? I feel like I'm going to break something.
 
What axle? If a Dana 35 you use the old pinion nut to start compressing the crush sleeve,or a press if its tough. Dana 44 and you don't have the shims right
 
If you don't have any pre-load, then keep tightening. This is where an impact shines because you can make small adjustments while checking pre-load along the way. If your impact isn't up to the task, then you will need a cheater bar.

Sometimes crush sleeves can be a bear to start.
 
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hosejockey61 said:
If you don't have any pre-load, then keep tightening. This is where an impact shines because you can make small adjustments while checking pre-load along the way. If your impact isn't up to the task, then you will need a cheater bar.

Sometimes crush sleeves can be a bear to start.
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I have a pretty good impact wrench, I went at it with that till it wouldn't turn anymore. Then went at it with the cheater bar and gotten about 6 more full turns. I feel like the last couple turns it got way harder and I'm pushing it so hard I'm just nervous something is going to snap. Maybe I need a longer cheater bar.

When I take off the pipe wrench and turn it with my hand there is no preload and it even wiggles in an out a little bit.
 
mistermeeseeks said:
I have a pretty good impact wrench, I went at it with that till it wouldn't turn anymore. Then went at it with the cheater bar and gotten about 6 more full turns. I feel like the last couple turns it got way harder and I'm pushing it so hard I'm just nervous something is going to snap. Maybe I need a longer cheater bar.

When I take off the pipe wrench and turn it with my hand there is no preload and it even wiggles in an out a little bit.
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Do you have the tail bearing in there?
 
mistermeeseeks said:
Yes I do. Should I just get a bigger cheater bar and go to town on it?
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I couldn't get mine to budge with anything other than my Milwaukee on the 3 setting. I marked the facets of the pinion nut with a sharpie and hit with the impact maybe 10-15* at a time until I actually had some preload. And I just repeatedly checked the rotational resistance. If I ever do it again, I'll be sure to have a pair of 1-1/8" sockets to avoid the hassle of switching back & forth constantly.
 
hosejockey61 said:
Do you have the tail bearing in there?
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You can see her how far down the nut is on the pinion. Does that look about right or does it look like it needs to go further on?

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It sounds like you haven’t crushed the crush sleeve yet. It takes a lot to start it. Crappy aftermarket sleeves are worse. It helps to use anti seize under the nut so that it spins against the yoke a bit easier.
 
Also make sure the yoke isn't just crushing the seal. I had that happen once. Overhaul kit came with two seals. Learned the hard way which one was the wrong one for my setup.
 
machoheadgames said:
It helps to use anti seize under the nut so that it spins against the yoke a bit easier.
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I never use anti-seize on the pinion threads. To hard to get it all off even using brakleen. Loctite will act like a lubricant and you're going to add loctite to the final nut anyway. The problem is we want the nut to stay on. Anti-seize will make it far easier for it to come loose.
 
hosejockey61 said:
I never use anti-seize on the pinion threads. To hard to get it all off even using brakleen. Loctite will act like a lubricant and you're going to add loctite to the final nut anyway. The problem is we want the nut to stay on. Anti-seize will make it far easier for it to come loose.
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He's not saying on the threads, he's saying on the flange that contacts the inner face of the yoke, to lessen that resistance while tightening. You can still hate the idea, I'm just adding clarity. :)
 
hear said:
He's not saying on the threads, he's saying on the flange that contacts the inner face of the yoke, to lessen that resistance while tightening. You can still hate the idea, I'm just adding clarity. :)
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Gotcha. I just don't like the idea of anti-seize anywhere near the threads.
 
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