Ok heres the deal,
About 1.5k miles ago I rebuilt my rear with new 3.73 gears and a used posi unit. Had everything set and aligned properly, checked everything for tightness. Had no problems.. Tranny went bad recently and decided to change to a t-5. I changed everything out and the tranny/clutch seems to be working just fine. I heard and felt a vibration coming from the rear of the vehicle, pulled out driveshaft to find that my pinion gear moves freely up and down when you grab it with your hand. Any ideas what it could be? Have yet to pull the rear apart, hope to have it ripped out soon once again. Thanks

 

does it move up and down like the lock nut and crush washer are loose? is the locknut loose? did you change bearings when you did the gear swap? you could have blown a bearing, but usually if you do the rear would blow.

 

"Had everything set and aligned properly, checked everything for tightness." my guess is that's an incorrect statement. my guess is you didn't have the preload set right or maybe reused the pinion nut.

 

We replaced the bearings with new ones at time of swap. Made sure crush collar was crushed properly, locknut was tightened and checked preload.

 

Sound like either the bearing outer races weren't properly seated; or your bearings are SEVERELY wasted; or the nut backed off.

The 3rd explanation is the most likely (see my signature for a hint as to why I think that), then the 1st, then the 2nd.

This is the #1 reason for using a solid spacer instead of a crush sleeve. You get to tighten the nut to about 2 or 3 times the torque with one of those, than you end up with if you use a crush sleeve.

 

Where can I get a solid spacer? Thanks for the replies

 

I just got a bunch of stuff mail order including the solid spacer from Summit Racing. Part is Ratech 4111 and I think it was about $18.00.