[99 to Life]

I have an s-10 3.42 4x4 rear end. I changed the pinion seal and ujoint. I'm wondering how much play the flange that bolts to the pinion should have? Mine seems to have about .5-.75" of play ( I am guessing as I didn't actually measure) Is this normal or is something worn out? basically if you grab the flange where the u-joint bolts into it will move the pinion left and right a bit each way. I have footage of me wiggling it if none of this makes sense.

just thought I'd ask, I don't have much experience with rear ends yet (on vehicles that is)

[S10xGN]

Not good... Shouldn't any play at all. Once you removed the pinion nut to replace the seal, you created a whole new problem. That nut controls the amount of preload on the pinion bearings. If it's not within spec, the gears will be destroyed in no time.

Russ

[99 to Life]

thanks for the reply.

It had play before I removed it. When I removed it I marked the nut and counted the threads so it would go back on the same. I suppose I could look up the torque specs and do it that way. I am going to change the whole rear end out for something different soon anyway. But I don't want to ruin this rear. I thought I'd ask, cause I just wasn't sure if there is suppose to be any play. I guess, I could have checked my other vehicle to compare. thanks

[SSedan64]

Are you referring to (side to side / up & down) play or (back & forth, turning left & right) play? Turning the Yoke would be the Gear Backlash.

[99 to Life]

yeah left to right, it moves the pinion both ways about equal amounts. travels about .5-.75 inches each way

[S10xGN]

Originally Posted by 99 to Life

yeah left to right, it moves the pinion both ways about equal amounts. travels about .5-.75 inches each way

OK, I misread your original post. Sounded to me like the pinion/flange was moving in & out of the housing that much. It's normal to have some "rotational" movement of the pinion.

Russ

[68NovaSS]

Originally Posted by 99 to Life

yeah left to right, it moves the pinion both ways about equal amounts. travels about .5-.75 inches each way

For turning play, which has to do with the pinion depth, half an inch is a little sloppy, probably normal wear for a mid to high mileage differential. Excessive play can be heard as clunking when moving the trans from forward to reverse.

Correct pinion depth and preload is measured in inch-pounds rotational force, some people reuse the old crush sleeve and tighten the pinion nut until the rotational force is at spec. New sleeves can be a real bear to crush, I've had to use a hydraulic jack on a 4 foot breaker before, after splitting two good (not hardened...) Craftsman sockets. There's a torque spec somewhere for solid spacers, which I use in my 9 inch. Strange Engineering is one maker. You could ease up on that torque spec, being careful not to over crush the sleeve, checking often, and use loctite on the nut.

Looks like S10 and I almost collided mid air on that last post, lol.

[99 to Life]

ok guys, thanks. I'll prolly just post a vid on here of me turning it.
I didn't seem have any noises coming from it or anything. But my breather was clogged, so I'm wondering if that is what lead my pinion seal to start leaking. Either way, I have it behind an nv3500 and sbc .030 over and I don't beat on it, I want it to last until I build or buy something a bit beefier.