I am rebuilding my 12 bolt with the help of BGH via email. I ran into a big problem when I started tearing the 12 bolt apart. The carrier bearing spun on me and cut into the carrier really bad. But I found another carrier and am waiting for it to arrive.


Anyways I am wondering once all is said and done setting the gears up. Which would be easier to do use a crush sleeve or a solid spacer?

My thoughts on the crush sleeve:
Im a strong guy but to get to 300lbs to crush the sleeve is a bit above my max strength and I dont have much help (other strength) to crush the sleeve. Yes I could do it but I would probably hurt myself doing it. But once its on its on and done.

My thoughts on the solid spacer:
I have plenty of time to build this 12 bolt I am in no rush. So taking it off and on off and on is fine by me. And the 200lbs to preload the bearings with the solid spacer is easy enough for me. A LOT eiser then 300 lbs


But is the solid spacer more hassle then its worth? Like I said above once the crush sleeve is on its on and done. But I cant mess up and over tq the solid spacer.

The solid spacer will require installing and removing the pinion several times to get the shims right. The bearign preload can be changed slightly (maybe +/- 1 inch pound) with the solid spacer by changing the torque on the nut. The crush spacer is done in one installation. The Yukon kits come with 2 crush spacers so you can mess up once.

Well I already have the install kit from richmond and it comes with one crush sleeve.

I have more time then strength when it comes to the crush sleeve.


on a side note should I change the races for the pinion bearings?

I am just about to button mine up, and have 2 new crush sleeves and a Ratech solid to choose from. Having removed the pinion a few times in my setting iterations, I am getting nervous about pounding it out of the front bearing. But... they are cheap and don't affect the gear set up. I have waffled multiple times on this choice, but I think I am going to go with the solid cuz I don't want to be yanking my car around with several hundred foot pound of torque while it's on jacks which are sitting on my lift's runways.

The only problem will be finding the starting point, how much shim for the first check. I am thinking about mic'ing my old crush sleeve, add .005, and carefully go from there. Freddie, does that work?

Gibbons, that seems like a reasonable approach. I had no old crush sleeve.

It seemed to be a guessing game on the pinion head to housing shims. I started with .025" & this worked out fine when later checking pinion depth into ring gear. Range seems to be .025-.035"

If you use the crush sleeve method & go a little too much (say 350 ftlbs), you have to start over with new parts.

I like the solid spacer & shim method. I seemed pretty easy to get the pinion bearings preload (I forget, something like 12 inlbs)

note: this assumes 70*F parts & grease.

BBP

I've been using Royal Purple synthetic on the bearings for set up, since my temp is usually 30 degrees or so. I have some synthetic bicycle grease called "slick honey" that's pretty thin ans slippery for the pinion seal. If I ever get to that point...

BBP, so you used the shims between the housing and shim instead of between the pinion head and bearing? Man, my race was tight, and I was using a race driving aluminum punch thingy. But in retrospect, that's a lot easier than running to a shop to have it done on the pinion. I hope I just have one more iteration.

Ryan, If you are using new bearings then you must use new races too.

Gibbons, you can put the pinion shims in either placement.

I have read that you can mix new races between new bearings, like axle bearings.

The outer race is not factory matched to specific bearing, just to a tight spec.

BBP

Ryan, If you are using new bearings then you must use new races too.


Is it a difficult task? how would I go about changing the races?


I have them they came with the bearings.

Drive them out from the back side with a long punch and hammer and then drive the new ones in with a bearing driver, or carefully drive them in with the punch.

Drive them out from the back side with a long punch and hammer and then drive the new ones in with a bearing driver, or carefully drive them in with the punch.


Is it worth the time to rent the tool from autozone? They rent tools for free here.

Or is it easy enough to just punch them in then out?

I think Ill go with a solid spacer. I think it would be easier for me to do that. I read on here big guys are standing on there breaker bars to cursh the sleeve. Im not a big guy Im tall and built but not heavy enough lol.


Ill just take my time and mess with the solid spacer.

You can do it with the punch. Just be carefull and work it in evenly all the way around.

Not understanding the big deal about 300 ft lbs of tq on the pinion nut. It is not hard to do. I weigh 185, not muscular either. It is simple, bolt just about anything to the yoke that allows access to the nut . A 4' piece of 1/4" steel 4" wide is plenty strong. Then use a 3/4" breaker bar with a 1 1/8" 6 point socket with a 3-4' long pipe to leverage it together. If it is still in the car, use a ratchet strap to hold the yoke steel to the car. Tom

300 ft*lb is just that, a distance times a force. So, it can be 300lb applied at 1'... or 100lb at 3'.... or 50lb at 6'. Or 3600lb at 1" :D Get creative with your cheater bars, and it's not hard to get it. I am just nervous about doing that with my car on stilts.

Setting my pattern, I have been using an impact gun to rattle down the yoke and bearing preload. On the lightest setting, I have to be careful to not overtighten the preload with the strong resistance from the front bearing and yoke sliding on. The spec on a Ratech solid is 125 ft*lb, that's easy.

Not understanding the big deal about 300 ft lbs of tq on the pinion nut. It is not hard to do. I weigh 185, not muscular either. It is simple, bolt just about anything to the yoke that allows access to the nut . A 4' piece of 1/4" steel 4" wide is plenty strong. Then use a 3/4" breaker bar with a 1 1/8" 6 point socket with a 3-4' long pipe to leverage it together. If it is still in the car, use a ratchet strap to hold the yoke steel to the car. Tom


The problem isnt tightening to 300 its more how would I do taht with what I have.

I dont have any steel to bolt to the yoke. I have a 1/2" drive torque wrench that goes to 200 or 250 lbs (I cant remember) with a pipe to slide over then end as a breaker bar

The rear is out of the car. To me it just seems like a smarter idea to use the solid spacer. Kind of a "think smarter dont work harder"

I will be putting the pinion in and out till I get the depth right. So why not put the spacer in and out till I get the right shim for that?

I think Ill go with a solid spacer. I think it would be easier for me to do that. I read on here big guys are standing on there breaker bars to cursh the sleeve. Im not a big guy Im tall and built but not heavy enough lol.


Ill just take my time and mess with the solid spacer. I used a 3/4" drive ratchet, with a 4 foot long black iron plumbing pipe slid over the end of the ratchet for leverage. A 4 foot length of iron pipe gives you plenty of leverage.

The problem isnt tightening to 300 its more how would I do taht with what I have.

I dont have any steel to bolt to the yoke. I have a 1/2" drive torque wrench that goes to 200 or 250 lbs (I cant remember) with a pipe to slide over then end as a breaker bar

The rear is out of the car. Oh, the two gear swaps that I did, were both with the rear end still in the car. Do you have an air compressor? I think it can be done with a decent impact gun.

To put things in perspective, the lug nuts on my F250 are 150ftlb. The wrench they provide isn't very long, maybe 18". Of course, in my underseat toolbox, I had a 1/2 ratchet with a pipe cheater so it's really easy for me. Anyway, 300ftlb isn't that hard to generate, but it's still a goodly amount of torque. If you housing isn't in the car, that would make it much easier.

I think it can be done with a decent impact gun.
Yes.

A big one with a lot of pressure, I have 120psi and my 1/2" drive gun has a hard time taking my 150ftlb lug nuts off.

A big one with a lot of pressure, I have 120psi and my 1/2" drive gun has a hard time taking my 150ftlb lug nuts off. Yeah, you need a good one. I have a Ingersol brand 1/2" drive impact gun that will supply up to 350 ft/lbs of torque from 100 PSI of air pressure, and it wasn't a cheapie piece, but it wasn't the most expensive one around either.

I have a 600 foot pound impact wrench and it will sometimes crush a spacer if I hold it tight enough. I use a 3/4 drive breaker bar with a long pipe on it if the erera end is out of the car. If the rear end is in the car then I use my 4:1 torque multiplier.

My impact gun is so weak I never use it. I can out do it big time lol. Well Ill see what I can do to use the crush sleeve.

Im still waiting on my part to ship. I bought it from a far far away land lol. But im willing to wait for how cheap it is.