Differential Guru's, need your help

[raymar58409]

Hope I make this understandable. On disassembly to replace all the differential bearings on the 58 Impala noticed that the pinion flange nut was not very tight and the crush sleeve had a burred edge near the gear side of the pinion as thought there were no longer any preload on the bearings. No big deal on these items. Now the question; on removal of the gear from the pinion noticed the shim used for setting the pinion depth looks as though it was being used as a thrust washer in that it is worn from what appears to be .040 on the inner edge to .028 on the center of it where it rides against the inner race of the bearing. It does not appear that the inner race had spun on the shaft and was fairly snug on removal. So now what do I use as a reference for the shim size (.040 or .028) when checking with the new bearing to determine the pinion depth. Anyone seen this or think maybe someone had been inside this before and used a thrust shim from something else??

Thanks
Ray

 

[models916]

sounds like....

Maybe the yoke was replaced at some time and the crush sleeve was not re-preloaded and the pinion moved in the bearing. I dont see you being able to replace the bearings yourself and get the gear pattern correct. When you replace the bearings everthing changes and the pattern needs to be reset. You will need a tool to hold the pinion while you crush the new sleeve. Generally it goes like this. Remove old bearings, replace with new bearings and old shim on pinion and check pattern with lead marker and the old crush sleeve. Set side play and then reassemble with the new crush sleeve. I have a friend in Wood Dale if you need a guy to assemble (reasonable cost).

 

[raymar58409]

Models916

Mike,
Thanks for your input, I suspect you are right in that they probably replaced the yoke as they were trying to get rid of a vibration in the rear end. They had even had a one piece drive shaft built (which is at least 1/2" to long). Too bad they didn't just change the wheel bearings which was probably the original noise as they were junk. On closer examination and thinking of how the bearing pulled off (not as tight as I remember others being) I would say at this point that the pinion bearing races (both) were definitely spinning on the shaft when warm. This would have caused the shim and crush sleeve to show the signs of spinning. Anyway guess I'll see if I can find a new 3.08 gear set to install.

Ray

 

[409z28]

rear

Raymar you have E-mail. Mike

 

[raymar58409]

409z28

409z28, Mike ,sent you an e-mail.
Ray