Pinion seal on a 489 case 8.75 rear

[chargd72]

I have a leaking front seal on my 489 case.  I know the pinion pre-load gets set by a crush sleeve.  I want to avoid messing with the sleeve even though I know they make a solid spacer replacement, but I don't want to mess with used gears and make them whine even more.  So my question is this.  Can I make reference marks on my case, yolk & nut before I remove the seal then line them back up when torquing the nut back down?  If it's all in line the pinion should be in the same spot giving it the correct pre-load, right?  Please let me know if this is possible or if this is just a dumn idea.

***This will be just a temporary fix until I have some money/time for a suregrip unit***

[cdr]

you can do it that way,its not THE RIGHT WAY but it can be done,also known as a flat rate repair,IF you do it that way get some RED THREAD LOCKER & use alot on the threads,if you over crush the sleeve the bearings will be to tight & BURN UP

[Plumcrazy]

Disconnect the drive shaft and remove the brake drums.
Measure the turning torque of the pinion gear. Remove the yoke and replace the seal.

When you replace the yoke tighten the nut until the turning torque is the same as before

[John_Kunkel]

The FSM condones the OP's procedure provided the nut will torque to 170 ft. lbs. before the marks line up.

[resq302]

cant you just use a torque wrench to take it off and note what the torque is by slowly going up to what the nut finally starts moving and then torque it bakc down to that?

[cdr]

cant you just use a torque wrench to take it off and note what the torque is by slowly going up to what the nut finally starts moving and then torque it bakc down to that?

no it takes more torque to break it loose

[chargd72]

cant you just use a torque wrench to take it off and note what the torque is by slowly going up to what the nut finally starts moving and then torque it bakc down to that?

no it takes more torque to break it loose

Correct, I wouldn't trust the numbers.

Thanks for the responses, fellas.  I'll give it a shot.  What were they thinking using a crush sleeve