Sterling 10.5 pinion seal replacement

953 Views 11 Replies 4 Participants Last post by ZMANN, 9 d ago

gephro

Discussion Starter · 15 d ago

2004 early
I was slinging so much fluid out the pinion seal on the rear diff I had to stop and fix it en route to our destination. I'm in a campground and just replaced the seal and went to find the spec on the nut torque and don't see anything that fills me with confidence. In fact the opposite. New questions based on googling...
What's the crush-whatever - sleeve? Washer? Apparently it must be replaced as well as the nut. Hoping I don't have to rip out the new seal for this.
How do you get the correct torque on the nut? I see stuff about rolling torque in inch pounds but no idea what they mean by rolling. Literally tighten to xx in/lbs while allowing the truck to roll??? What's the value for x? I'm used to torquing bolts and tightening by counting revolutions but rolling torque is new to me.
Looks like this is critical stuff and I don't want to mess it up. I'll have to guess at it to get back to the parts store (2 miles) to get a torque wrench and parts.
Quick help would be appreciated. I didn't want to ask on Facebook because I don't trust the responses there
Thanks,
Jeff

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bismic

· #2 · 15 d ago (Edited)

Pinion bearing preload..................................16-29 in-lb

Pinion nut............................................... ..220-280 ft-lb

I replaced the bearing, but did not replace the bearing race and it has worked very well for quite a while.

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gephro

Discussion Starter · #3 · 15 d ago

Video covers what I did pretty much, though I'll need to get some lock tight. I didn't count threads - too late for that now. I get the pinion bolt torque bit but not the pre load bit. I didn't remove the bearing. So I need to worry about pre load, and if so what is it?

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gephro

Discussion Starter · #4 · 14 d ago (Edited)

I found a couple videos on setting pre load and assuming :correct

1) with all the guts of the differential removed, insert pinion gear from the rear with bearing and crush washer on it
2) On the other side, install pinion yoke with bearing and torque until you reach the pinion nut torque spec
3) tighten slowly and keep testing until it takes the set amount of in/lbs (16 - 29) to spin the assembly.
4) if you exceed the pre load torque, get a new crush washer and start over.

I'm in a campground site trying to stealth repair my truck - do I really need to disassemble the entire differential to replace the crush washer and get an accurate pre load? Or can I torque to the pinion nut torque and call it a day?

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bismic

· #5 · 14 d ago

I don't think you need to. Just follow FordTechMakuloco's procedure.

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gephro

Discussion Starter · #6 · 14 d ago

He counted the threads and clock position of the nut, and unfortunately that's ship has sailed already. He talks about tightening until the slop is just out. So I believe that's the way at this point considering my situation, and to ignore all the torque specs and just tighten until snug. Please correct me if I'm off track here. I may have already over crushed the crush washer for all I know.

I have about another 800 miles of towing to go. 7500lb trailer. After that I have the option of doing a full tear down.

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bismic

· #7 · 14 d ago

I would go past the snug point, but not go crazy. Probably the best you can do at this point and just keep an eye on it.

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gephro

Discussion Starter · #8 · 13 d ago

So here's what I found/did. threw it back together after a torque guess and went to the parking lot behind the parts store and loosened things up again to retry with a rented torque wrench. This time I removed the tires and calipers. Tightened the pinion nut a bit, checked pre-load torque, and never hit 20 (torque wrench wouldn't go below 20 in/lbs). I cranked that nut as hard as I could and still not much pre-load drag. Went with that.

I'm guessing that my crush washer is already crushed, and without replacing it that's the best I can do for now. It may technically be a little loose but there's no slop at all. So I got back on the road and 400 miles later, all seems OK. Though I did hear a couple noises back there - not sure if it was the trailer hardware, paranoia or if it was the rear end chattering around a corner. Probably trailer hardware. But since I added 1.5qts then 2.5qts to the system, maybe I need to get some friction modifier. I'll probably grab some when I get a new clutch hydraulic cylinder (yep, that's going out pretty bad too right now).

When I get home in another 500 miles I'll pull it all apart and start fresh. Thanks for the help guys!

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SuperDave23

· #9 · 13 d ago

I used the FTM procedure above about 2-years/20k miles ago and no issues with the diff since. Anything he does is usually solid.

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ZMANN

· #10 · 12 d ago

It may technically be a little loose but there's no slop at all.

better than too tight IMO ,, dang if you had just counted threads this would be a non issue even if it is not the right way ,, you can also eliminate the crush washer with a kit ( crush a new one then remove it and replace with a solid stack to match the crushed height

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gephro

Discussion Starter · #11 · 9 d ago

ZMANN said:
better than too tight IMO ,, dang if you had just counted threads this would be a non issue even if it is not the right way ,, you can also eliminate the crush washer with a kit ( crush a new one then remove it and replace with a solid stack to match the crushed height

I didn't know that - I wonder if it already has a kit - I was making an assumption the crush washer was the only option.
I made it back in one piece. It did some chattering when going slow around corners while dragging the camper (8000) which I'm thinking was the reduced level of friction modifier - first I added 1.5 qts, then 2.5 qts all without modifier - it was probably getting a bit thin.
I'll be pulling it apart within a week to see what's what. Aside from the crush washer, bearing & tooth inspection and fluid change, any automatic 'must do' items in there?

Thanks for the info everybody.
-Jeff

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ZMANN

· #12 · 9 d ago

I doubt you have the crush washer eliminator ,, it is not a common item since really the crush washers issues are rare ,,

no must do items I can think of ,, ,,

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