I changed out my ring and pinion gears now i have a problem. I ended up going with 3.73s (from 2.73s)with one of those slp posi units(the $99 one),I put it all back together and now the problem is you can move the pinion gear shaft up and down with your hands. So I took the yoke back off and tapped the bearing back in the carrier a little bit and it seemed a little tighter not moving around as much. I put everything back together and start the car and put it in gear with the rear of the car on jack stands everthing seems fine until about 55 mph then you start hearing a clonking noise(not a whinning noise,clonking). I used the new bearing in the rebuild kit but i didnt replace the carrier,should I take both of the new bearings off the pinion gear and use the original bearings since i am not replacing the carrier could tht be the source of my problem.?Other then the pinion gear being lose its good to go. Thanks for any help you all give me.

 

There shouldn't be any play in the pinion. Possibly you didn't tighten it enough. It could be difficult to crush the crush sleeve, even with an impact. Then again too tight will overheat the bearings. I usually pre crush the sleeve a little in a vise then tighten the pinion bolt down until theres no play, then snug it up until it takes 24 lbs/in or so to spin it, around 15 lbs/in with old bearings.

 

BTW, did you drop a .035" shim on the pinion before you pressed the bearing on? You should check pinion depth with a dial indicator, but every 10 bolt I ever did needed .035" of shim.

 

yea i used a .035 shim on the pinion.

So if I keep on tightening the pinion bolt with the driveshaft yoke on it should take up the play??

 

You need to take the carrier back out; make a tool to hold the yoke still (I use a 4' piece of 1½"x¼" steel strip stock with 2 holes drilled near one edge to bolt to 2 of the yoke bolts); and tighten the nut until it takes about 10 inch-pounds to turn the pinion. Eat your breakfast before starting if you use hand tools. Expect the nut to take somewhere between 150 and 250 ft-lbs of torque to cruch the crush sleeve.