Could I have stripped my pinion and nut?

[Regger]

Hey Folks,

I'm just wondering if its possible to strip my pinion & nut on my Dodge's rear D70?...

See, I went to replace the pinion seal, and it required me to re-torque the pinion nut to 440 ft-lbs.. and then check the rotational torque and set to 10-15in-lbs.

Well I torqued it to as much as my impact could(guessing about 250ft-lbs), and then using a breaker bar and cheater pipe, I kept tightening and re-checking the rotational torque, and it still wasn't near spec.(~5in-lbs) and the pinion still felt loose. Then all of a sudden, it got real easy to turn the nut!!!.. And thats where I stopped!!.. Cause I dont believe I could ever get near the 440ft-lbs they required, but was hoping I could at least get to the bottom of the rotational torque requirement.. The rotational torque is still around 5in-lbs but I didnt want to go any further.. and now I'm concerned that I might have stripped the threads...

Is this possible?.. Should I be planning to do a re-build in the very very near future?

Thanks,
Ryan

[501]

if its ****ed its ****ed. driving on a loose gearset will just take out either the ring gear or pinion. no harm in backin it off again and chcking... very expensive to drive it while its fuuuuuuuuuuucked... must i reiterate driving on it will ruin your day 99% of the time.
not sure how a dana is setup... if it has a crush sleeve it would explain it getting loose again and would b no harm to tighten to the correct rottational tourqe. but i was pretty sure danas dont use the gheyness that is a crush sleeve

[Regger]

No, its doesnt have a crush sleeve...

And double checking my FSM, i was looking at the torque specs for the D80, not the D70. So my pinion nut should be torqued to 215-330ft-Lbs. But I dont know if I met or exceeded that value.. At any rate, I still didnt reach my rotational torque requirement.... Could these mean bad bearings?

I'm guessing a rebuild is in order now?

Ryan

[501]

well since at this point u have nuthing to loose tear it down again and inspect. like i said not worth runing the r/p as is. and you will see if its stripped or what went on. bearings i would just visualy inspecet and feel for tightness. how old are they how many miles ect.
then if all looks ok just tighten er up again to the correct amount and it is peachy, if not redue your bearings and start of with the stock amount of shim.. should b same pattern as it was before

[ynotrusty]

Use the same brand bearing and it will be almost perfect.
Check you pattern and back lash before you tear it apart.
Make a record of it and check to see if it is the same after the new bearings.

Call me if your in a jam.

Tony

[Dodgeboy96]

No, its doesnt have a crush sleeve...

And double checking my FSM, i was looking at the torque specs for the D80, not the D70. So my pinion nut should be torqued to 215-330ft-Lbs. But I dont know if I met or exceeded that value.. At any rate, I still didnt reach my rotational torque requirement.... Could these mean bad bearings?

I'm guessing a rebuild is in order now?

Ryan

Yes, it does have a crush sleeve. Hence the massive torque application. Been there, done that.

[Regger]

Tony, at this moment I think I'm just going to pray that I only stripped the nut and just replace it, and torque the nut to the proper requirement and leave it at the for this weekend. Then when I have some time next weekend, I'll go back into the diff for some in depth inspection and see if it needs some new bearings and what not..

Dodgeboy, I just re-checked my FSM and even my crappy Haynes manual and both say that my D70 does not have a crush sleeve. Both say it uses solid shims. So I dont know where you when when you did that, but it couldn't have been on this D70

Ryan

[ynotrusty]

You won't get the rational toque if it's not a crush sleeve because the bearings are used, and it is adjusted by your shims. That spec is probable for new bearing only. The only way now to know is pull the nut back off. But it sound like the nut is stripped.

Best of luck

Tony

[Regger]

Tony, The spec in the FSM calls for a Rot. Torque of 10-20in-lbs or 5in-lbs greater than what was measured before dis-assembly for used bearings. New bearings calls for 15-35in-lbs.

At any rate, bought a new nut and spun that back on to the correct torque setting. But I'm afraid I can still feel a little slop in the pinion. So it looks like I might need a re-build.. at best new bearings and shims, and at worst a new ring and pinion.. But this wont be until I get back in July..

Tony, you available in July to give me a hand??? :)

Ryan

[Dodgeboy96]

Dodgeboy, I just re-checked my FSM and even my crappy Haynes manual and both say that my D70 does not have a crush sleeve. Both say it uses solid shims. So I dont know where you when when you did that, but it couldn't have been on this D70

Ryan[/QUOTE]

Sorry, checked my notes and it tured out it was the FRONT diff I was workin on. Dana 60. 94+. Sorry, I will now remove my head from my ass.

[ynotrusty]

I will try and help you out the best I can. I have a lot of things going on I July but I will try to make some time when you figure out when you might tackle it.

:beer_cheers:

Tony

[gears]

On the Dana 70 to increase your preload you will need to remove the outer pinoin bearing (the one closest to the front of the truck), under it you will find some small shims (about 1" in diameter) remove one of the thinner shims re assemble and check. In all likely hood your pinoin bearings are starting to break down causeing the loss of preload. If you are going to change the pinoin bearings becarful when driving the races out of the housing as the inner race (the one closest to the rear of the truck) also has shims under it to set the pinoin depth.

Good luck