Pinion seal

[Jay in Gray]

I have a 2003 Rubicon with the Dana 44 air lockers. Anybody know the rear pinion seal number (Mopar preferably) ? And would anyone suggest replacing the U-Joint while doing the pinion seal replacement?

 

[Rob80x]

Remember to use blue Loctite on the threads and it will stay put. Also, FYI, the crush sleeve has a certain amount of elasticity once crushed so the exact ft-lbs. used after replacing the pinion seal is not as critical as some claim. Some whack nuts even go so far as saying a new crush sleeve should be installed and crushed if that nut is removed. They're nutso. A new pinion nut is never a bad idea.

Yup I just changed my pinion bearings today in the rear and reused the crush sleeve with a new nut and it felt fine.

 

[Nick Honeycutt]

Pinion bearings hard to do? I just did my rear pinion seal .. not sure what the number was just went to AutoZone and they looked it up.. everything seems fine but how much harder is it to do the bearings?


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[RaymondT]

Pinion bearings hard to do? I just did my rear pinion seal .. not sure what the number was just went to AutoZone and they looked it up.. everything seems fine but how much harder is it to do the bearings?
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Wayyy more work. The axles and carrier have to come out. This is a job best left to a good gear shop because of the complicated set up procedures. You typically do not change the pinion bearings as a matter of routine - only when they get noisy or some other indication of failure.

I managed to find a modern shop a few hundred miles away that ONLY does axles. https://www.iwerearendsonly.com/
You might have a similar choice in your area.

 

[RaymondT]

Get a flat head screw driver and pry the old one out get a flat small piece of a 2[emoji808]️4 and beat the new seal in very slowly and very light after you do that got to your parts store and buy the actual diff cover gaskets for your dana 35 in the rear and the Dana 30 in the front. Take the diff covers off drain fluids get a few pieces of 100 grit sand paper and clean up the diff and the cover as much as possible. Now the fun part get you a spray bottle and some kerosene and spray out the doffs to get and debris and muck out of there let the kerosene dry put the gasket and covers back on and fill up with 90 weight gear oil which is recommended also do not let some stupid redneck talk about you into using rtv to seal your diff cover they are stupid and they make a gasket for a reason enjoy have a nice day and be careful in the woods
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Some models call for a gasket, some for oil-resistant RTV. For the Jeep, the Mopar rednecks call out RTV.



I use a Roloc bristle disc in the drill or a fine wire cone chucked into a 4-1/2" angle grinder to make short work of any old silicone residue. Smooth as a baby's ass in about 90 seconds on the cover.

 

[Rob5589]

Yup I just changed my pinion bearings today in the rear and reused the crush sleeve with a new nut and it felt fine.

Curious as to why not use a new crush sleeve? With all the work pulling it down seems kind of silly to not put in a new 3 dollar part.

 

[Rob5589]

Some models call for a gasket, some for oil-resistant RTV. For the Jeep, the Mopar rednecks call out RTV.

We used nothing but 3M RTV, never an issue.

 

[RaymondT]

Curious as to why not use a new crush sleeve? With all the work pulling it down seems kind of silly to not put in a new 3 dollar part.

After doing a bit of research, it turns out that the crush sleeve is not a one-time use part. Assuming the axle was factory or set up properly, the bearings may have loosened ever so slightly after tens of thousands of miles. If the pinion seal failed for the normal reasons - dirt/rust on the yoke/seal surface, a new seal and nut is all you need. The crush sleeve can still be compressed a tiny bit more to get the play out of the bearings. Bearings don't swell, they wear into the race. So in theory you will always have to compress a tiny bit to compensate for the miniscule wear. To do this properly, you still need a good quality inch-lb torque wrench and follow the factory procedures in order to tell that exact point where the bearings start to indicate a rise in the pre-load. It would appear most shade-trees just fudge this part - and they're still driving.

And why replace a good quality Spicer part that still usable/compressible with a $3 after-market POS?

 

[Rob80x]

Curious as to why not use a new crush sleeve? With all the work pulling it down seems kind of silly to not put in a new 3 dollar part.

I had a new crush sleeve that came with the bearing kit. But why re-set up the crush when nothing else but the bearings were changing.

 

[Rob80x]

Pinion bearings hard to do? I just did my rear pinion seal .. not sure what the number was just went to AutoZone and they looked it up.. everything seems fine but how much harder is it to do the bearings?


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The only hard part is pressing off the old and on the new inner bearing and changing out the bearing races. It was a 4 hour or so job for me yesterday taking my time. It was the first time I have done that.

 

[RaymondT]

The only hard part is pressing off the old and on the new inner bearing and changing out the bearing races. It was a 4 hour or so job for me yesterday taking my time. It was the first time I have done that.

Curious how you knew the bearings had failed. Movement or noise? I'm taking care of a worn AX5 and doing the transfer case also but I still can hear/feel a subtle pattern that seems like a wheel bearing at 40mph. Up on stands, I can't detect any movement in the wheels and I can't hear anything from the rear wheel bearings or pinion/carrier with a stethoscope while the wheels are spinning in 5th.

 

[Rob5589]

And why replace a good quality Spicer part that still usable/compressible with a $3 after-market POS?

A crush sleeve is simply a short metal tube that compresses. There realistically is no quality difference between brands.

I had a new crush sleeve that came with the bearing kit. But why re-set up the crush when nothing else but the bearings were changing.

Because you are installing new bearings and need to set the proper rotational drag.

 

[Rob80x]

Curious how you knew the bearings had failed. Movement or noise? I'm taking care of a worn AX5 and doing the transfer case also but I still can hear/feel a subtle pattern that seems like a wheel bearing at 40mph. Up on stands, I can't detect any movement in the wheels and I can't hear anything from the rear wheel bearings or pinion/carrier with a stethoscope while the wheels are spinning in 5th.

Started getting a howl on acceleation. Pulled the cover and could see the pinion move up and down if I moved the ring gear. After unhooking the driveshaft I could grab the yoke and move it in and out a little bit too.

 

[Rob80x]

And why replace a good quality Spicer part that still usable/compressible with a $3 after-market POS?

A crush sleeve is simply a short metal tube that compresses. There realistically is no quality difference between brands.


Because you are installing new bearings and need to set the proper rotational drag.

I had the proper drag using the old sleeve so no need to mess around with the new one. Checked it with the old nut before putting the new one on incase I needed to switch it out with the new crush sleeve.

 

[Rob5589]

@Rob80x, hey can you do me a favor and post a pic of the new sleeve? My diff building days pre-date the 30 using a cs, it was shims then.

Thanks!

 

[Rob80x]

@Rob80x, hey can you do me a favor and post a pic of the new sleeve? My diff building days pre-date the 30 using a cs, it was shims then.

Thanks!

This is a Dana 35 crush sleeve. My old one was only 0.122" shorter then the new one so not much crush was required.

 

[Rob5589]

I thought you were doing a Dana 30 frt end. My mistake, but thanks for taking the time!

 

[Jay in Gray]

Anyone know an easy way to tell if I have Trulok Diff or not? I have the Dana44 on a 03 Rubicon. Thanks