8.5 rear end had too much torque on pinion nut

[tobyp]

As I was working on rebuilding my 8.5 I remember the pinion nut taking quite a bit of torque to remove. I believe that this rear may have been set previously with too much preload, or torque in this case. What I have is a little noise when rotating by hand. I dont mind tearing back into now before I place the trans in, just looking to be proactive and research before doing anything. If I decide to replace both pinion bearings and add a new crush sleeve is there a a bunch of measurements and tools that I need to aquire to do the job correct?

 

[LS1GN]

yes, you'll need at least dial indicator for sure. I know lots of smart car guys who do NOT do their own gears. I have helped put gears in two cars, but wouldn't do it myself.

 

[khan0165]

very good question.
you will need a pinion depth gauge. It measures the distance between the center line of the bearing saddles to the top of the pinion gear.

It's possible to use just a dial indicator and get a good contact pattern on the teeth. But unless you've set your pinion depth properly, the carrier could be sitting a way off and you wouldn't know it.

as a general rule, if you're reusing parts, you can assemble everything in the same order and stack it came out, and it's fine. But if you change gears or have a new crush sleeve or bearings, you need to set it all up again.

 

[pontiacgp]

 

[tobyp]

Backed off the pinion flange this eve and took out the crush sleeve to replace it with a new dorman part number which is aparently wrong.