Davehimself

why is that. I have to take the one off of my old axle then onto the replacement because the replacement part i bought I couldn't find with it so ill just use the old one I think i can handle it. the seal is there and still good so. hopefully all goes well it the specs say that used ones torque to 6-8 in lbs.

dave1123

Yeah, that's torque-to-turn the pinion only. It sounds like you have the knowledge to do it.

Sorry, but I had a bad experience with a transmission shop on this same thing. The trans in my 97 ZJ was slipping badly starting from a stop if I didn't soft-pedal it so I took it to a national brand transmission shop to have it rebuilt. The rear pinion seal was leaking so they asked me if I wanted it done while it was there. I said "Yes, if you know what you're doing." The guy looked at me like I had 2 heads. He said "Of course we know what we're doing!" SO, I agreed to it. When I picked it up after the rebuild, it shifted perfectly.

The next day, I left my house to go see my brother who's about 1.5 hours away on the highway. I got 1/2 way there and the rear axle exploded! I removed the rear shaft, put it in part time 4wd, and nursed it back home at 40 mph on surface streets. The shop rebuilt the rear diff for $250 in parts, eating the labor which came to $1200. The pinion bearings had disintegrated.

2 days later, it started whining so I took it back! The shop was closed and when I called the national headquarters, they said it was a franchised shop so I had to deal with the owner. After doing some research, I found the guy's address and sent him a registered letter to which I got no response. His wife signed for the letter. I drove that jeep for another year with the whining slowly getting worse. This was a brand new ring&pinion gearset.

SO you can see why I'm a little gun-shy about diffs.

BTW, this was NOT Aamco! I knew better than that!

Davehimself

Damn dude that's crazy kinda makes me a little edgy but I'm pretty confident I think that ill chech the old pre load from the old diff then set the new one (because its used it says to torue to 6-8 in lbs.) I'm gonna check the old torque then se how much its off from the reset specs jus to make sure of that thanx for the info and se how close i can get to the old set torque specs then go with it. hopfully that will help counter that kind of prob. yea that kinda thing happened almost to me
I had a nice 90 4 runner i bought from a local dealer and the engine blew up on the freeway same kindof distance and spot lol, and the dealer said sorry that's your problem and then i decided to but the r22 crate engine for it and then i took it to a local shop it install the guy took 2 months to break my ac and i drove it for a week with a motor mount missing so that's why i do everything my self. thanx for the drop tho I'm new to cars and stuff had to teach myself

dave1123

Smart guy there. Everything I've read about pinion preload says to check torque before and make sure the final torque is no more that 2 or 3 inch/lbs more. You can do it with the wheels and brake discs removed with an assembled axle, but it will change the torque reading. As long as you match whatever the assembled torque was, your good.

The pinion nut requires around 200 ft/lbs to turn so you need to tighten it until all the slack is gone, then turn it a scoch and check the torque-to-turn, a little more and check, a little more and check, until it's right. It's going to require a long breaker bar and something like a pipe wrench to hold the yoke, probably with cheater pipes. Some guys say to mark the shaft and nut with white paint to return it to it's original spot, but I can't see that working at all.

Davehimself

Wow that took forever, sorry if I didn't reply I have been preoccupied with another job. I replaced the head gasket on my moms Chevy cavalier so my Jeep got pushed aside. However on that note the assembly that I bought from my local yard was missing it so I need to use the old one off the old assembly. Sucks but I think I can handle it ,my question now is what else can I replace like bushings should I do so if anyone has some ideas I would be grateful.

Davehimself

Ooooh yea, what about a torque wrench I don't have a dial one nor can afford one right now but there is an old style bar torque wrench I can afford does anyone know if this tool is sensitive enough for this pinion yolk situation?

dave1123

If you're talking about a bendy-bar inch pound wrench, I'd be careful. As long as you match whatever it says before you take it off, you should be okay.

I have an old one that doesn't read 0 at rest, but I figure the error into whatever I'm doing and it seems to work out.

Davehimself

Right on thanx, now i just wanna get new bushings

Davehimself

Ok so I have the pinion yoke off does anyone know about putting and black sealant on the teeth I saw that in a vide o but it doesn't seen to be consistant info any idea s??

dave1123

You mean on the splines? I suppose you could, but I've never heard of lube wicking out thru them. The inner end is seated against the crush sleeve and the outer end is under the washer.

Davehimself

Well thnks to all those who gave me great advise on this project it turned out to be nice and easy and done well so thanx to all who helped I really appreciate it. and thanx Cherokee forum for being here