Put new pinion and carrier bearings in my dana 30 today. Set my pinion pre-load and went a bit high by mistake. It's sitting at 23 inch pounds. Do I need to pull the pinion and start over or would I be safe at this spec? All help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

Should be 12-15 in-lbs. I would redo it if it was me. You'll need a new crush washer/washer.

 

If you look around, you can find the preload on a 30 to be most anything you want it to be.

From the 2000 SM:

 

thanks I decided on leaving it the way it is. I will post an update when I've got some miles on it. Currently I'm the process of a full front end rebuild.

 

Bit of an update. I've replaced the track bar, ball joints, tie rods, drag link, hub assembly on both sides and U joints on both front axle shafts. Took it for a short drive (needs an alignment) and noticed a squeaking coming from the front end when turning at any speed. Sounds like the U joints to me. Replaced with sealed spicer units. The noise is more aggressive the more I turn. Sounds just like belt squeak. Jacked the jeep up and turned the wheels and spun them in full lock on each side. Didn't notice any binding or squeaking. Alignment is WAY out. I can get two full turns of the wheel to the right and one full turn to the left. Any possibility that this squeaking is just an alignment issue putting extra stress on the U joints?

 

Is it, in fact, belt squeak? Dust plates bent? Any U-joint shaft ears bent from removal/install? Get the string and do a redneck alignment.

 

Everything seems to be in order. It's going into the shop this week for an alignment. Only thing I'm thinking it could be is the possibility that the caps aren't properly aligned in the ears themselves. The joints were a bit stiff when I pressed the new ones in but no binding.