Pinion bearing preload 9" & reading gear pattern

[casadejohnson]

I'm finding conflicting info on setting the preload with new bearings. My Ford shop manual says 22-32 in/lbs when using new bearings and 5-8 for used. Other articles I'm reading say 5-8 for new bearings and 8-10 for used. I'm inclined to believe the shop manual. Just to be sure I'm not doing this wrong, measuring pinion bearing preload is the same as measuring rotational force, correct?

 

[bmc69]

I'm finding conflicting info on setting the preload with new bearings. My Ford shop manual says 22-32 in/lbs when using new bearings and 5-8 for used. Other articles I'm reading say 5-8 for new bearings and 8-10 for used. I'm inclined to believe the shop manual. Just to be sure I'm not doing this wrong, measuring pinion bearing preload is the same as measuring rotational force, correct?

I use..and have used for decades...15 in-pounds for new bearings and 0-5 for used bearings.

And that is without any pinion seal in place. And yes..that is simply the torque required to uniformly turn the pinion.

 

[broncnaz]

I set mine similar to BmC69's specs. Use the specs out of a book not whats written in some article as articles can be wrong.

 

[casadejohnson]

I use..and have used for decades...15 in-pounds for new bearings and 0-5 for used bearings.

And that is without any pinion seal in place. And yes..that is simply the torque required to uniformly turn the pinion.

Sounds like a nice compromise, I'm using a new crush sleeve and I didn't want to go too far and have to start over. Getting the pinion nut torqued down is a PIA working by yourself. I didn't have a good way to hold it so I put it back in the housing to hold it steady, put a Giant pipe wrench on the pinion and walked the nut down in 1/4 turn increments got it down to 2-3 inch pounds so far, looks like I have a little further to go.

 

[casadejohnson]

I set mine similar to BmC69's specs. Use the specs out of a book not whats written in some article as articles can be wrong.

That's why I wanted to ask first, I know you can't undo it if you crush the sleeve too much.

 

[Timmy390]

Sounds like a nice compromise, I'm using a new crush sleeve and I didn't want to go too far and have to start over. Getting the pinion nut torqued down is a PIA working by yourself. I didn't have a good way to hold it so I put it back in the housing to hold it steady, put a Giant pipe wrench on the pinion and walked the nut down in 1/4 turn increments got it down to 2-3 inch pounds so far, looks like I have a little further to go.

Go with a solid spacer. Much easier to deal with than a crush sleeve. Also makes it easy to change pinion seals down the road.

Got mine off eBay $28

Tim

 

[garberz]

Go with a solid spacer. Much easier to deal with than a crush sleeve. Also makes it easy to change pinion seals down the road.

Got mine off eBay $28

Tim

X2, the crush sleeve can keep crushing under a harsh load. Like big tires and low gearing. A solid spacer will ensure the bearing preload stays the way you set it. Once the preload gets loose, the pinion seal starts leaking. I ordered mine with the 9 inch install kit.

 

[cs_88]

According to the Badshoeproduction video 15-29 inch lbs. with new bearings, crush sleeve and seal installed.

 

[casadejohnson]

I got it up to 12 inch pounds, turned it about another 1/8-1/4 turn and I was at 26 inch pounds. Thats inside the specs from my shop manual so I went with that. I dropped in the carrier and set the backlash at .009 per the shop manual. I ran gear marking compound several times and tried to compare it to the manual and I'm not sure what to make of it.

Here is what I got. I think I have way too much compound on there from trying it so many times.

 

[casadejohnson]

For reference, this is what it looked like when I took it out with the open carrier.

 

[Viperwolf1]

Hard to read. You need more force and less compound. It kind of looks like you need more backlash.

 

[broncodriver99]

You can use a piece of 2x4 leveraged off of the case against the outside edge of the ring gear to give you more drag and get a better more prominent pattern.

 

[casadejohnson]

Hard to read. You need more force and less compound. It kind of looks like you need more backlash.

I agree, Too much compound. I'm going to try cleaning it all off and try again. I was at about .011 on the backlash before the change. Stay tuned for another try.

 

[casadejohnson]

Not sure how much better this is, I used a broom handle to create some more drag but its still not a great read on the drive side. Here is what I got this round.

 

[casadejohnson]

Here is how it looks with more backlash (.012). It was at .008 in the previous photos.

 

[Viperwolf1]

Kind of looks like the pinion is just a little too far out. Try a few thousandths less pinion shim.

 

[casadejohnson]

Kind of looks like the pinion is just a little too far out. Try a few thousandths less pinion shim.

I think my problem might be my own ignorance, I was thinking I needed some sort of sealer at the pinion retainer where the shim is when the o ring on the retainer should create the seal. I used some anaerobic sealant where the shim is. I'm thinking the sealant might be the problem. Could the sealant cause a couple thousandths difference in the pinion location? I'm using the same shim that was in there before.

 

[Viperwolf1]

Maybe too much sealer but aren't you using a different case too.

 

[casadejohnson]

Maybe too much sealer but aren't you using a different case too.

I decided against the donor case. The other case I had was machined differently to the point where the pinion pilot bearing was measurably different than my original case. The pinion location was about 1/8" off from my other case. I wasn't comfortable with the amount of grinding that I would have had to do to get the 4.11's to clear in the case that was set up with 3.50's originally.

 

[casadejohnson]

Pulled it back apart and there was a lot of sealer in there. The shim that measured in at .015 when I started now measures in at .019 in a few spots with the sealer on it. Got it all cleaned off and I will try again tomorrow and re run the gear pattern.