Hey guys, over spring break im going to be replacing the crush sleeve in my 89's 10.25 FF rear axle. Has anyone done this before, and if so, can you give me a step by step, or maybe a link to one? Ive got a pretty good idea what needs to be done, but ive never been this deep into this particular axle before. Also, are there any specific tools ill need to take things apart/ put back together? Thanks for any help!

 

Why are you replacing the crush sleeve?

 

Because over the last few years the pinion nuts been loose, over tightened, loosened up, overtightened, and now im trying to fix it right. Already have a new pinion nut and seal also, just looking for as much help as i can get

 

You will need to fabricate something to hold the pinion while you are tightening the pinion nut. You will also need a large impact gun or a really long breaker bar for leverage to start collapsing the crush collar.

I used a long piece of angle iron as the starting point when I made my pinion holder. Ground out a half moon section to clear the pinion nut and two holes to attach it to the pinion flange. To tighten the pinion nut I used a 3 foot breaker bar with a 4 foot length of tubing to get more leverage.

An inch-pound torque wrench is required to properly set the preload. I came into possession of one of those jewels about 30 years ago when I used to do small engine repair. On the beer scale it's about a 12 pack job.

 

Why not just put on the emergency brake to hold the pinion? You can tighten it a bit, then let the brake off to measure the turning resistance with the inch-lb torque wrench. Then repeat as necessary.

Would that work? Why or why not?

Thanks!

 

He probably figured something out by now...five year old thread.

 

Yeah ... I revived the thread because I'm going to be doing this job myself. Is there some reason why I can't use the parking brake instead of a homemade pinion holder?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

You can't use the brakes bc you need the carrier out to properly measure the pinion bearing preload. On top of that, I wouldn't be surprised if you over came the brakes holding power due to the great reduction of the R&P.

 

X2....fab your own pinion holder from a three foot piece of angle iron. Less than $10 at the local hardware store. I still have mine from 12+ years ago.

 

I believe you can get a crush sleeve eliminator kit.

 

Thanks for the reply. Having the carrier installed adds about 3-5 inch lbs to the preload spec. Most people just account for that when setting the preload. The point about the holding power of the brakes is good though.

Also, it would be necessary to remove the brake drums when measuring the preload. Then put them back on again.

It might be time to fab a holding bar.

Any other thoughts on this job would be much appreciated.

Thanks again.

 

Quit thinking about shortcuts to do the job. Do it right the first time and be done with it.

 

Thank you for your advice.

Can you be more specific about how you would do it right? That would be useful.

Thanks.

 

Proper way is to gut everything in the housing, put new pinion bearings on, new crush sleeve and new yoke if your old one is loose, then torque to the required setting and reassemble. If you leave anything connected your going to get an inaccurate preload setting. Remember the carrier has a preload and the wheel bearings too and you can't properly account for those so remove them from the equation.

 

Pretty much everything here is my response.