If you’ve ever rebuilt, re-geared, or fixed a pinion seal on a differential, you’ve likely monkeyed with a pinion crush sleeve. But do you know the purpose of the pinion crush sleeve?
Most people think it’s to set the pre-load on the pinion bearings, but it does not. People are just repeating what they’ve been told by the automotive industry. And I don’t believe the automotive industry is trying to mislead anyone, they are just trying to use terminology that gearheads will understand. A crush sleeve or spacer/shims is not needed to establish pinion bearing preload. You can set the preload without it even installed. The problem is that if you set the preload without it installed, there wont be enough backpressure on the pinion nut to keep it from loosening. So the crush sleeve is added to put back pressure on the outer bearing inner race, which puts pressure on the yoke, which puts pressure on the pinion nut.
The only thing that crush sleeve is doing is acting like a lock washer for your pinion nut. It’s adding back pressure to your pinion nut so it wont back off, causing you to lose pinion bearing preload. But it does not create preload. It just helps maintain it by keeping the nut from backing off.
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Your oxygen sensor does not sense oxygen, but it is easier to understand if you think of it that way.
So with this knowledge, on an AAM 11.5 when replacing a leaking pinion seal would you remove the crush sleeve and not use a new one, use a new one, or leave the old in?
i think you are missing something; look, throw AWAY the crush sleeve, and tighten the big nut to the HORRENDOUS torque factory says to; what happens when you go drive? DIFF EXPLODES within 500 feet; so, the crush sleeve( or a solid sleeve AND shims-
-a lot of tries needed, if you are n ot a machinist…) is there for YOU to set the preload with the big nut; YOU CANNOT back up if you overdo it, need to remove and use a NEW sleeve then( i NEVER needed a new one on our race cars, i ALWAYS RE-USE the old one… HOW??? SIMPLE—get a 3/4 extension (1/2 may do too) inside the sleeve and hammer all around it,on an open vise, to make it LONGER again; PALEESE do use a caliper at least to GAUGE your work, the PARELLELISM of the 2 end faces; OR you can cut a washer of .010 or .015 and put it with the crush sleeveHey i learned something here! Dont tuch it till it blows up and then buy a new rebuilt axle! Haha. Man i dont want to get into this……
For real though, I checked ring and pinion lash and I'm about
15 thousands My real question here is can I continue to drive like this. Dana 80 open diff truck has 325,000 on it. Hearing that haunting howling noise on acceleration only between 40 and 50 mph. Consistently getting worse over two months. Now it's pretty prominent. I assume if I put a passenger in the truck they'll notice it right away. I'm assuming it's lash noise because as soon as I let off the throttle it completely goes away. And considering the fact it's a 15 thousands
Some say the possible "stetch" you get from pinion shaft from the crush sleeve tension helps maintain preload as bearing wears? But id have to measure a pinion with and with out to see if it actually stretches.
So if you over tighten the pinion nut its not a major problem?
And this is the reason when you change a seal, you use lots of thread locker and tighten to a mark that you put on before you loosened the nut.
THAT"S WHAT I SAID TO A AUTO SHOP TEACHER AND HE SAID I WAS WRONG…I cannot see any other reason for it, so i kept it to myself, till now, Thank you for telling the world.
This guy must build door plugs for Boeing
Assuming they could just make the outer bearing an interference fit, I'm more inclined to look at it as a pinion shaft quick release facilitator.
All this talk off nut crushing is making me feel ill…..wait
If you use a crush sleeve eliminator, will the nut be more likely to work loose over time?
Okay so I'm kinda new at this
So you're saying I don't need to crush leave to when I replace my opinion bearings?
I have it and would like to use it but I don't want to tighten it too tight…..the point I'm getting at
I don't have one of those rotational torque tools, And I'm liking what I'm hearing from you
So I'd like to hear from you or anybody else on here I simply just want to do this job and get it all over with, So should I just tighten it down to where there's no playbe another touch tighter and call it a day?
I just want to get this done without any drama
So i dont need to replace the crush sleeve when i change out my pinion seal?
I just watched your video twice and I never rebuilt a diff before. But the way I’m seeing it and I may be wrong is that the crush sleeve in this diff is to keep from putting too much preload on the bearing as you tighten the yoke and then to achieve the right amount of preload. And without see it better or in person the inner outside bearing race.
It is not a lock washer for your pinion nut I don't even understand how you can possibly think that because otherwise they're not wooden back off on its own if it was just a regular nut not a crush nut it's called a crush sleeve because it helps determine preload this is by the manufacturer by the people that designed the axle and the pinion that you're holding in Your Hands by Dana this is not an argument this is a fact I have been building differentials for over 30 plus years I understand you're trying to do the myth but there is no myth there's only fact and the fact is the manufacturer and the original creators of Dana call it the same thing Crush collar sleeve that determines preload in the original Dana book that I own it's on my shelf otherwise there would be no need for a crushed collar but you can remove that crushed collar and put a solid collar and guess what it does when you put that there you guessed it it determines preload you can't s*** on a stick and say well it's a corn dog now it's still s*** on a stick
Thank you!!
Great video, I've been trying to explain this for years! But your explanation is way better to understand.
The 4wd world thinks you must use a solid spacer for added pinion strength, they think that the pinion will flex more with crush sleeves and will also crush under driving and shock loads, lol… I get so frustrated when these so called "experts" get it sooo wrong.
One question please, say if I'm just replacing just my pinion seal, and I measure and count the turns of my pinion nut, why shouldn't I re-use my existing crush sleeve? As long as I'm getting the right back pressure on the pinion nut and not changing the preload, all should be good, theory?
So by your theory, the crush sleeve does not compress. Does that mean that, prior to manufacturer's suggestion, the crush sleeve is reusable?
that crush is to expand and contract while under use.. Hot and cold cycles.. yes you could not run one but its there for expansion. to keep the same preload at any temp. If it was not needed you think that gm, ford ect would save 3 dollars per unit per mill trucks they sell.. As it gets hot with no crush the preload goes lower. with crush the heat and thin crush keeps pre-load correct..
That's why if you overload the crush sleeve you have to replace it… once it deforms a certain amount it loses its elasticity. Lock washers do the same thing and you're supposed to replace them when removed.
the crush sleeve is a spring, as the bearings wear it maintains some preload which makes the bearings last longer. I see the inner and outer bearing have spun quite often.
Hello. It is possible to make a hole in the pinion shaft and put cotter pins to lock the nut if the nut started to unscrew?
but if the preload was correctly set and you crush the crush sleeve more, your preload is now out of spec.
It's funny. I've been reading up on and looking at videos on the Dana 44 / M226 axle and no one actually explained why the crush sleeve was there or why the eliminator kit was required. A Youtube Shorts video concisely explained what a couple of hours of other videos never did.
My pinion nut came loose how do i figure out how much i need to tourq it down too or figure out the pre load