can some one post a procedure to replace the pinion bearings and seal.in my searching i have found a peice here and there but nothing on a step by step procedure.
is there i difference in the 10 bolt and the 9 bolt pinion gears when it come to installation?pictures would help alot.

 

I can only speak for a 10 bolt.

You'll need to remove the pinion nut, and remove the yoke, and you can replace the seal, and I think the outer bearing and race. To get to the inner ones, you'll need to completely rebuild the rear end basically, in order to get the carrier out, and get to the inner bearing, since it has to go in from the inside.
Someone can correct me if i'm wrong here.

Is it leaking from the pinion seal? You could just try replacing the seal. Theres usually a reason for it to leak though, but it might work as a decent band aid fix, if that's what you're going for.

But if you want to replace the bearings (both of them), then you might as well buy a master rebuild kit and put in all new bearings, and beef it up if need be.

Let me know what your plans are, and I can give some instructions. I have a few good threads with pictures when I rebuilt my 10 bolt a few months ago.

 

i bought a 3.27 gear 9 bolt rear for $50.i've been slowly replacing all of the seals and bearings some of which are detailed here.i probly would of left the carrier and pinion bearings alone but the pinion nut was loose (i removed it by hand) so i desided to replace all of the bearings that way as long as i install the bearings correctly i should never have any problems with this rear end.

 

some ones gots to know

 

I'm a little confused. So you have the guts out right now?

once the nut is off, you should be able to slide the yoke off. Maybe with a bit of hammer persuasion. Then use a screwdriver and hammer to remove your old pinion seal. If the guts are out of the case, your pinion gear (with bearings) should come out of the back side.

You'll need someone to press on the new bearings for you.

I think the 9 bolt might be a bit different though, this is all 10 bolt stuff. If it's the same, then you're golden, if not, then i'll pipe down and let someone with relevant experience chime in.

 

the pinion gear IS out.i'm more concerned about reinstalling the this assembly and torquing the pinion nut.
1 press on new head bearing
2 install new tail bearing pinion seal
3 slide on new crush sleeve
4 slide in the pinion gear assembly
5 slide on pinion yoke
6 thread on new pinion nut and washer
7 torque pinion nut to 24" pounds (2' pounds)

are there any steps that i am missing?

 

starting withthe pinion you should have the shim, bearing, new sleave or spacer, and bearing. install the "pinion assembly" into the houseing. install the yoke, then washer and nut. use a new nut. you'll need to make or rig up some sort of "special tool" to hold the yoke. tighten the pinion nut untill you have 24 in/lbs of preload not 24 in/lbs of torque, you'll need a dial type torque wrench.

 

what's the diference?
and do you mean this type?or this type?

 

you tighten the pinion nut to around 100-150ftlbs or more. Then you measure the resistance, while turning the pinion gear, via the nut.

So I had a 3/4" drive breaker bar, with a 3/4" drive socket (1 1/8"?) to tighten the nut. I used a solid pinion spacer, rather then a crush sleeve.

Then after I tightened it, I grabbed a 1/4" drive torque wrench, and a 1/4"-3/8" adapter, 3/8"->1/2", 1/2"-3/4"....Then turned the nut, via the torque wrench, to see how much resistance there was. If you use a click style torque wrench, it'll just click, whoopie. You need a dial type of one, so that you can turn it, and watch the pointer, to see how much torque you're using to turn it. 1/4" drive is because you need 20ish inch pounds, and inch pounds is such a small measure, it's only used for 1/4" drive torque wrenches.

I ended up having it far too tight, so I could barely turn it at all, so I added a shim on my solid pinion spacer, then tried it again, and it turned, with 0 slop. That's what you're trying to accomplish, the 12-24"lbs torque is kinda just a # to toss out.

Now when you try to tighten that nut, you need to hold the yoke still, hence where you make the special tool. Rb83l69 posted his tool, mine is similar, a chunk of flat bar, with 2 holes in the end. You bolt it onto the yoke instead of a driveshaft strap, then stand on the tool, while tightening.

Clear as mud?

 

oh yea, the 2nd type you posted. but in inch lbs.

I used a click style torque wrench, then realized why that didn't work. Then just did it by feel.

 

Clear as mud!
so you put the pinion assembly in and torque it down to 100-150'pounds?

then you need 12-24 inch pounds to move the pinion gear?

sonix i'm not questioning your know how but i need some hard number.

 

Well, if you're using a crush sleeve (like I said, I used a solid pinion spacer, really strengthens up the rear, and helps it last longer.... I'm not sure if you can get one for a 9bolt though...)
....then you torque it to 125ft/lbs or so, totally vague #, 'cuz you see, you're crushing the sleeve to be shorter. So you tighten it up, then try and turn the pinion gear. (that's why you need the inch pounds torque wrench).

If you tightened it up too hard, and you've crushed the crush sleeve too far, and you'll notice that it's very hard to turn the pinion gear. The crush sleeve is basically a variable spacer. You tighten that big 'ol nut to crush it up to a height, then spin the pinion gear and check it's resistance. Well now i'm just repeating myself...
Anyway, tighten, spin, check with tiny torque wrench, tighten more, check again, rinse and repeat. Until you've gone too far, then take it apart and put in a new crush sleeve.... start again. Until you've got your 12-24inch pounds of resistance.


Good idea to buy a handful of crush sleeves, ($3 per or so) since it's your first time, you'll wreck a couple unless you're really good.
Oh yea, for some reason I remember hearing to use an old tail bearing, that's loose on the pinion gear, so that you can put it on and take it off easily, since you'll be removing the pinion gear a few more times. Then once you've crushed your crush sleeve to the right length, and you're ready to go, you put on your final, real tail bearing.




oh ps, use red loctite on that giant nut. I've also heard to use a chisel and cut the tip of the nut when it's in place, to also lock it in place... (theres a word for that, and i'm having a brain fart and can't think of what it's called...)

 

so is the 12-24 inch pounds a range to shoot for?
after you achieve this do you just snug up the nut with loctite?or do you torque it down?

i've always called it pinging.what i would do is you would take a hammer and a center punch and place it towards the inner edge of the nut.tapping on the punch with the hammer pushing the material towards the bolt or in this case the pinion shaft threads

BTW thanks for your help

 

the hole in the nut is out of round, there's no need to stake it in place. use som loctite if it makes you feel better, it won't hurt. i use antiseize for lube on the threads. you don't torqe the nut if you're thinking that, you tighten it and as you tighten it you check preload. when the reading on the dial is around 20in/lbs and no more than whatever the max listed is you stop. don't get confused with break away torque, or the number you see before the pinion starts to spin. it'll go to some number then fall off as it spins. if you go over the preload spec you'll need a new nut and crush sleeve.

 

oh, it's a distorted thread type of nut? oops, I guess I shoulda replaced mine when I did it.... damn.

 

I noticed in your list, and in the whole post, nobody mentioned knocking the old pinion bearing races out of the housing and replacing them with the new ones.

 

Anyone able to enlighten me as to what size the nut is that holds that assembly together inside the yolk? Also, what kinda torque should be used when retorquing it down? I need to replace my pinion seal while I got the rear out of the car.

Thanks in advance.

 

1 1/4" I believe.

I used a 3/4" drive socket, with an 18" sliding t-bar, and a 4' snipe. Then a gizmo to hold the yoke still while I torqued down the nut. Roughly 125ft lbs is enough to get that crush sleeve going. I used a solid pinion spacer, so 200+ ftlbs

 

If you're replacing the pinion seal only, and not putting any other new parts (i.e. bearings, crush sleeve, etc.), then you'll want to scribe a mark in the pinion nut and the threads on the pinion itself since you want to re-torque the nut to the exact same spot it was at before removing it. If you get it too loose or too tight, you'll mess up the pinion bearing preload, which can make the new seal leak worse than the old one, and also cause clunking noises, etc. I've found the best method for marking the nut and pinion threads is to use a dremel or something similar with a small cutting disc, and cut a really small line in the nut and the threads sticking out. It won't hurt anything, and it sure won't rub off either. You also want to count how many threads are sticking out of the nut before loosening it. IIRC the pinion nut is 1 1/8". I've done several pinion seals this way with great results. Good luck!

 

Did this over the weekend. Worked like a charm.

Thanks for your help guys.