Has anyone changed their pinion bearing? How difficult is it? Swapping this out isn’t the same as setting up gears is it? Is it just a matter of torquing the pinion nut to spec and to set the crush sleeve correctly?
Pinion bearing replacement Dana 30
- Thread starter starkey480
- Start date
It's not an easy job, it involves shimming the new bearing in/out. I'd have it done by someone who knows what they're doing. Plus getting the old bearing off and the new one pressed on/removed several times until the correct pinion depth is achieved
OP
In addition, which pinion bearing? How do you know only one is bad? It's a can of worms when you start pulling things apart.
OP
I’m tracking down a high speed vibration and was thinking about replacing the pinion bearing if it was straightforward. It sounds like a hub kit is the most straightforward path at this point
Sounds like you're all over the place on this. I can say don't try to guess what your issue is because it will get expensive really quick throwing parts at it. In my opinion, bearings are most likely not your problem. If you have vibrations, most will take a methodic approach to narrow down the cause. I have no idea what you've done so far, and we have no idea what suspension components you have (adjustable control arms?).
Remove rear driveshaft and drive in 4hi to see if vibes are still present. If so, you have at least narrowed it to the front (providing rear shaft doesn't also have vibes). Check your pinion angle on the front...dial it in to zero. Pinion angle takes precedence over caster. I wouldn't do anything else before doing that.
OP
I’m not all over the place on this. I was sparing the details as I was only wondering if a pinion bearing was an easy enough thing to replace. If you want the details:
Vibration: constant humming at 70mph
Taking front driveshaft out cures vibrations.
It’s not the driveshaft itself as the driveshaft is a new Tom woods shaft
It’s not the pinion angles as I’ve tried every pinion angle I could (1* high, 0, 1* low all same result)
This leaves the solution to be something the driveshaft is connected to because it’s not the shaft itself which is why my mind was wandering to pinion bearing as a possibility.
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OP
@hosejockey61 Do you have any advice on how to test the components that the front driveshaft is connected to?
Ok good info. Did you re-gear recently or have had the vibes since a re-gear? What tranny do you have?
OP
It was regeared before I got it and the Jeep came with the vibe. I have an AX15. Just checked the yokes and everything is tight. At one point in time probably a year ago or so the pinion nut came loose. I tightened it back up to 160 ftlbs and it hasn’t come loose since. But the reason I was asking about the pinion bearing is who knows if there’s enough torque to actually crush the crush sleeve enough. Which could mean there’s not enough preload on the bearing which could be causing the bearing to go bad. I’m not sure if this is worth looking into or not as there is no play in the yoke at all but it’s kind of my only lead right now.
I mentioned the hub kit earlier because that would be a sure fire way of no more vibes at 70mph albeit would be a bandaid.
Yeah the hub kit would be nice but it's a high dollar fix. When you did the pinion nut, was there any resistance in turning the yoke afterwards? If the original installer didn't get the crush sleeve started and at the right pre-load then the nut could be tight but there wouldn't be any resistance when turning the yoke. If crushed properly, you would check it after making very small adjustments in nut tightness. They are very easy to over tighten. Since your vibe is MPH specific though, I doubt that would be your problem. The next thing I would do is replace your unit bearings if they have a lot of miles on them or you off-road frequently.
I forgot to ask, are the vibrations harmonic in nature or just constant?
OP
Do you think the wheel bearings would be an issue if there is no vibe with the front shaft disconnected? The Jeep only has 80k miles on it. The vibration is constant humming not cyclic. When I first got the Jeep it was cyclic and started at 55 mph. I got the front shaft balanced and then turned into a constant humming at 70+
I would think if they are worn, a vibe might be introduced but it's just a theory. If it change with you getting the shaft rebalanced, then I would suggest that the issue is with the shaft somehow. Maybe they balanced it to "close enough" but not perfect. Can you take it back to who did the work and see if they can try it again or show you?
OP
That’s what I thought as well but I also tried a new Tom Woods shaft and felt exactly the same. To be honest I just ordered a hub kit because I’m tired of banging my head against the wall
The manual describes how to check the pinion bearing preload. You basically have to remove your axle shafts, remove the carrier, and then use a 1/4" drive torque wrench, turn the yoke and measure how many inch pounds it takes to turn the yoke. The pinion nut needs to be tightened until you reach the prescribed preload rotational torque value. 160 ft lbs is the minimum pinion nut torque value to start at when setting pinion bearing preload so when your nut came loose last year it is reasonable to think that just retorquing the nut to 160 ft lbs, you may not have reached the correct preload. Also, you should use a new nut.
OP
Understand you need either a dial torque wrench or a beam torque wrench. Those cannot be done with a click style torque wrench.
OP