Just wanted to see what someone else out here had in the way of a tip for getting a pesky pinion nut back onto the pinion shaft? I noticed a bulb on the end of these in at the threaded section, making it a delight to get the darned thing back on! LOL! Dont want to mung up threads now..

 

You should not be re-using a pinion nut I don't think. I'm pretty sure your supposed to use a new one everytime, but get it started on there then use an impact to get it on.

 

I don't recall having any trouble getting the pinion nut on my front diff last month. Didn't know that I shouldn't re-use it. oops.

 

I have heard of not re-using the nut too but I have only take pinions nuts off of my jeep axles and really don't have any concers about reusing the nuts on them.

 

are you talking about a bulb on the end of the pinion or on the nut. If you are talking about it being on the pinion i have never seen this before and if it is on the nut then just buy a new for $5 rather than tear up the threads on your more expensive pinion. can you include a pic of your issue, having a hard time picturing the issue

 

I will get some pics up tomorrow, LOL!

On the very end of these pinion gears where the thread is that you spin the nut on, as it nears the end of the pinion shaft where you start the nut on, the diameter of the shaft if greater at the start. This makes getting the nut on a challenge, as if the nut isnt placed on down right perfectly, you can mung up the threads. I think these threads are NF (national fine) depth, which means individually they can bend fairly easily.

 

Travis.......Wrong! Chris, if you are working on a Sterling 10.50, it uses a crush sleave instead of shims. If you run it down with an impact, it will crush the sleave, bind up the bearings, and eat the bearings up, and possibly gaul the housing. If you are talking about a Dana, you can use an impact. Supposed to use a torque wrench, but most people don't have a torque wrench that goes above 400ft/lbs.

The pinion nuts on the sterling have a staked (smooshed) upper ring on it kinda like a nyloc nut. But with out the nylon. However, I myself changed gear sets in my truck and the nut does not run all the way down on the pinion shaft leaving the smooshed locking part exposed and not able to do it's job. So my pinion nut has loosened on me twice now. This last go round I staked the whole nut with a punch and BFH. We'll see if it holds. I installed a used gear set, and not sure why the nut doesn't run all way down before pre-load is correct. They both measured out the same.

Anyway, Travis is correct by saying, you should always use a new pinion nut. But I too have reused my pinion nuts on just about everything I have. Never had a problem till now.

Hope that helps some.

 

Thats EXACTLY what I was needing to know! Big time! Yup... Sterling here! So what technique was it you used to get that danged nut on there, now that its off??

It almost has me wondering if I need to torch up and heat the nut red hot, the try to spin it on!?!?!?

 

I haven't done the sterling yet. Only the D60. So much for my advice. Thanks a bunch Cody.

 

get a new nut preferrably, hand start it then with the wheels off the ground use an impact to run it down. Hopefully the crush sleeve isn't crushed too much already. You need to keep feeling the pinion. It needs to rotate freely but not have any in and out movement or up and down. When you just barely start to feel a little drag on it then it's tight enough.
An impact will not hurt a crush sleeve if you are careful. Just take it slow. THis is the only way I have ever done then and the only way I ever will. The most important thing is knowing when to stop. YOu have to know the feel of it.

 

Here is how I did mine: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...dif-today.html
Tap and tighten..tap and tighten seemed to be the way...

 

Chris, it sounds like to me that someone had taken a hammer to your pinion. Like you installed a used set of gears, and during uninstall out of the donor axle, someone had trouble getting the pinion out and resorted to the hammer. Those threads should not taper in any way.

 

That is what it sounds like to me, too. Along with the new nut, you are supposed to use a new crush sleeve as well. You cannot properly set the pinion preload with the ring gear installed. If a used set of gears are not set up EXACTLY as they were before something was changed, they will make loud noises.

Why do you have the pinion nut off? Are you changing a seal?

 

Yes to both of the above, Tbone and Rubber! LOL! The gears were a set of used 4.10 LS and I am in the process of finishing up installing new seals. I am going to have to look at this dang thing again.. if these threads are munged in any way, maybe with the use of a "moddified" threader and some heat, I can get this issue resolved. Thanks for all the help though.. Very good to know about the crush nut for these sterlings!!!!

 

If this happened, the nut woulda really sucked to get off like we did on that D80???

So your just installing seals. Did the pinion nut come off easily or did it have trouble coming off the last inch or so? If it had trouble coming off, your going to have your work cut out for you getting it back on there..