UTAHCRUISER
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I've got a question for those of you that have some experience with differential setups. I've got a '73 FJ40 with a sbc 350, 4.88 r&p's with ARB's, and 35's. The pinion uses a crush sleeve to set the preload on the bearings. Ever since I installed these gears, about 60K miles ago, I've had problems: about every 10-15,000 miles or so, the preload on the pinion decreases to the point that the flange starts to move around just a little bit, which in turn destroys the seal, causing leaks, and eventually gets loose enough that I have to tear it apart and replace the bearings and the crush sleeve.
I've gone through this process 2 times now on the rear diff and three times on the front diff- it seems like just about the first time I go and play hard in the rocks after rebuilding the front, it gets loose again. I've built a number of diffs without lockers in them, and have not had the same problems.
It seems that what is happening is that as the pinion rotates against the ring gear, in locked and maximum traction situations, the pinion is being pressed against the crush sleeve so hard that it is compressing and deforming the sleeve, thus loosening up the preload...
Has anybody else had this problem? Am I just messing up on the diff rebuild somehow? I have searched and found that you can buy solid machined sleeves for Toyota mini-trucks that allow you to eliminate the crush sleeve and use shims instead. I assume that the only reason for such a product would be to eliminate this problem. Does such an option exist for Cruisers?
I've tried using both the stock Toyota crush sleeves as well as the Chevy sleeves that are supplied with some of the diff rebuild kits.
Thanks in advance for any ideas/ solutions that you might have!
Chad
I've gone through this process 2 times now on the rear diff and three times on the front diff- it seems like just about the first time I go and play hard in the rocks after rebuilding the front, it gets loose again. I've built a number of diffs without lockers in them, and have not had the same problems.
It seems that what is happening is that as the pinion rotates against the ring gear, in locked and maximum traction situations, the pinion is being pressed against the crush sleeve so hard that it is compressing and deforming the sleeve, thus loosening up the preload...
Has anybody else had this problem? Am I just messing up on the diff rebuild somehow? I have searched and found that you can buy solid machined sleeves for Toyota mini-trucks that allow you to eliminate the crush sleeve and use shims instead. I assume that the only reason for such a product would be to eliminate this problem. Does such an option exist for Cruisers?
I've tried using both the stock Toyota crush sleeves as well as the Chevy sleeves that are supplied with some of the diff rebuild kits.
Thanks in advance for any ideas/ solutions that you might have!
Chad