Differential pinion bearings

Most of the service literature is available online on the manufacturer's website. Obviously I don't know your abilities but in all honesty I'd read the manual and see if its something within your skillset. You'll for sure need a big impact gun, a bench vise and a spring scale or direct reading torque wrench to set the bearing preload. Probably a couple other things as well. Now I've never actually attempted to replace pinion bearings on their own without having the entire diff torn down but changing the bearings might affect pinion depth so you might have to pull the diff to make sure you get it set properly. Again the service manual is your best friend with this kind of work.

 

not a difficult job but must be done right
Torque on bearing is quite
specific. I got a inch pound beam wrench for passenger vehicle pinion bearings. Not sure what torque is on big truck but installation is the same

 

Trucks use solid pinion bearing spacers so pinion nut torque is not as critical. You do need play with the spacer thicknesses until you get it right. You'd use the beam torque wrench or a spring scale to check the rotating torque of the pinion shaft to verify correct preload.

 

If there is play in opinion bearings its gonna be howl like a coyote at the moon when you put new bearings in. The play has already cut a new pattern in the teeth. When you tighten it up and rest back lash to spec then its gonna howl

 

You can get a ring and pinion and bearing kit.


Or a Reman and just R&R.

If you build what you have disassemble the pinion shaft that's in it. Mic the shims. Put the exact amount on the new shaft with new bearings. That isn't the service manual method to set pinion depth. It's never failed me though. An old gear head that's long since gone showed me that

 

Info like that is absolutely invaluable for us guys that want to wrench on our stuff and save some bucks by just fixing what is broken and not have to do total rebuilds.

Back when I was in the parasail business with my old old boat with twin 140 Johnson outboards that would cook a piston about every 500 hours.

I got really good at tearing down the bad motor and slapping a piston in the hole after a little honing.

The motors didn't like the load on them from pulling the big drag of the sails all the time.