V8-Ranger.com

Yesterday I installed a new seal and rear end flange. Gears are out of the rear end so it's just the pinion.

I didn't mark the nut/flange because I was putting another one in.

Will 160lb be tight enough? Do I need to wait to put the gears back in the rear end before I tighten all the way?

Also thread lock on the bolt?

You don't tighten a pinion bolt to a specific torque. You tighten the bolt until you get the preload drag stiff enough. I can't remember the exact spec, but I do recall having a tiny frail little inch/lb torque wrench on that big gigantic bolt spinning the pinion back and forth looking for the amount of torque resistance. The other thing I remember is having about 4 feet worth of breaker leverage and pulling as hard as I could to get that center bolt to turn to crush the crush sleeve. You cannot reuse a crush sleeve. Or more correctly said, you shouldn't.

They do make crush bushings instead of crush sleeves that you can use instead of a crush sleeve. The benefit of them is you don't have to torque that bolt down so tight to get the preload. The downside is you often have to take the pinion on and off a few times shimming the bushing to get the spinning preload correct.

If none of this makes sense to you and you thought it'd be just a simple matter of turning a bolt, I recommend a rearend rebuild video. While you may not be rebuilding the entire rearend, a rearend video would include this info. Second thought, you may find a Youtube video that talks about setting up the preload on a Ford 8.8" rear.

I defiantly don't want to cut corners but there are dozens of videos where they just replace the pinion seal and just re-tighten the bolt. My only problem is since I'm using a new pinion flange I don't have a mark to know the exactly how tight it should be.

There's this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8APYO2sZyJU but I'm not sure how much this applies to me.

Can I be sure it's tight enough when there's no sloppiness?

Should I wait to tighten this anymore until I put the gears back in?

If youre reusing the bearings go for about 15 in/lbs of rotating torque. That means tighten the nut until a dial inch-pound torque wrench reads 15 in/lbs while spinning, after the initial break away to get it spinning. I would suggest a decent impact wrench, and being careful not to over tighten it. On used bearings I would keep it in the 8-15 in/lb range. For new pinion bearings, go for 20-30 in/lbs. Personally I go for 22-25 on a new gear set.

I've got it tightened down decently. Theres no sloppyness and I'll check the preload once I re-install the gears.

Thanks for the advice. Won't be able to test drive for a year or so. Guess I'll have to wait and see.

You don't want to test the preload rotating force with the gears and carriage in place. It needs to be tested with the pinion free and not spinning anything. The only resistance you want to have registering is just the resistance the bearings are putting up due to your nut tightness.

cgrey8 wrote:You don't want to test the preload rotating force with the gears and carriage in place. It needs to be tested with the pinion free and not spinning anything. The only resistance you want to have registering is just the resistance the bearings are putting up due to your nut tightness.

Awesome! Thanks for the advice. I think I'm good to go.