Rear axle rebuild

[GreenF350]

I developed a rear pinion seal leak on my truck and decided to see about replacing it. In the process of taking it apart I found that the pinion nut that holds the yoke on was loose. I took it apart and replaced the seal and put it back together with a little extra "oomph" for temporary use (I HAD to have the truck to drive to work). I drove it for about a week and haven't drove it since then. Right after that two of my friends with Super Duties had the exact same problem. None of our rear axles have been apart since they left the factory. Is this a common problem? My truck had about 235k miles and one of the other guys had about 150k, not sure about the third guys truck. I plan on doing a rebuild when I get back to the states, but I have been surfing around the 'net and found that some guys are using 2 shim kits for a 9" to shim the pinion bearing for the preload instead of the crush sleeve. This sounds like a MUCH better option than a crush sleeve, but was wondering if anyone has any knowledge or experience with this.

Also, I currently have 3.73:1 gears and plan on going to either 4.30:1 or 4.56:1. Anyone else with 37's and steeper gears? What's your opinion around town and on the interstate? Which one of the two should I go with?

Thanks.
-Aaron

[Josh99]

I had that happen too. I had a leak and I cracked it open and everything was falling apart. I ended up finding a SD rear end in a junkyard with 27k on it and got it for 300 bucks. I figured it was easier and cheaper to do it that way.

[GreenF350]

Hmm, That is cheaper, but I plan on replacing gears too so I guess it won't be THAT much more. I just want to avoid that nonsense from happening again. I've seen a few threads on other forums talking about the 9" shim kit "trick" and would like to do that if I can get more info on it. Seems foolproof if it works. I'm just worried that if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is.
-Aaron

[Josh99]

You just got to make sure you fix any leak asap and make sure your breather isnt clogged up or anything. Make sure you got good fluid in it.

[GreenF350]

Originally Posted by Josh99

You just got to make sure you fix any leak asap and make sure your breather isnt clogged up or anything. Make sure you got good fluid in it.

Yup, got that....I'm more or less trying to decide to go through and rebuild it the way it is or do some improvement modifications.

On a side note....I saw where you are at. It's been really slow lately since we've all been gone or busy, but you should check out the Panhandle Powerstrokes section in the forums. We usually try and get together at least once a month and anytime someone needs a wrench turned. Good group of guys I think.
-Aaron

[Josh99]

I'll go check it out. I will talk to my buddies with 7.3s too tell them to look.