Im about to replace the pinion seal in my rear end. I need to know the size of that big nut is on the front of the pinion where the rear end comes together with the yoke. Its looks like its gona take a big socket. What size do I need to buy and is there anything tricky about this replacement. Other than the seal itself, will there be anything else that I will need to purchase from the part store to complete this replacement. Surely the seal is not pressed in there. Any tricks or shortcuts that you guys know about that would save me a little time or money? Im going to int

 

yes it is tricky. you have to maintain the preload on the crush sleeve when you zap the pinion nut back on. you will need to clean the nut real well as well as the pinion itself and make match marks so you can re-establish preload again when you re-tighten the nut. you tighten to the original mark and then just a blond p-hair past it. i wouldnt recommend that you do this yourself. you need to watch someone who has done it before. incorrectly done, it will ruin your rear end.

 

The pinion nut is a 1.25" socket. I just did mine last week and I have NEVER messed with a rear end before. It is beyond easy I thought, probably one of the easiest things I have done on my car! And if you wanna get specific I didn't even mark the nut or anything because my pinion nut had backed out so much I took it off with my fingers!!! Yea not good! Also I wouldn't worry so much about the crish sleeve because it takes alot of torque to crush it anymore than it already is. I mean I am 250lbs and I was literally hanging on the ratchet when I tightened it back up and I have no problems.

1.Drain your gear oil out because it will leak when you pull the pinion seal
2.Get the rear of the car as high as you can to prevent tranny fluid from dripping out when you pull the driveshaft. I put the jackstands on the frame and let the rear hang just because it is easier to get at the seal this way.(You could leave the DS in the tranny but it is just in the way IMO)
3.Use an 11mm socket to take off bolts on rear of driveshaft.
4.Drop rear of driveshaft down and pull it out towards the back. (Thats the only way I could get mine out because the 3' Magnaflow was in the way up by the transmission)
5.Mark the nut and yoke with a punch or even paint so you know where it was tightened to. Also mark the orientation of the yoke so you can line everything up when you put it back together.
6.Use 1.25" socket to take off pinion nut.
7.Pull yoke off pinion.
8.Use seal puller to pop out old seal. I tried prying mine out with a screwdriver for 30min and didn't succeed. Seal puller popped it out in 2sec.
9.Clean EVERYTHING as good as you can! I used brake cleaner sprayed on a rag and wiped everything I could...housing for seal, pinion, nut, washer.
10.Here I used Permatex #2 non hardening sealant and smeared it around the seal where it met the housing.
11.Lube rubber on new seal with gear oil and tap it in as evenly as you can with a hammer and piece of wood. Or heck if you have something the same diameter as the seal and that would keep it even too as long as it goes in straight and even.
12.Here I also smeared Permatex on the splines on the pinion and pressed the yoke on with my hands.
13.With the yoke on I also put sealant on the washer and blue loctite on the nut and tightened everything up. MAKE SURE YOU LINE UP YOUR MARKS!!!
14.Refill with gear oil and posi additive and throw driveshaft back on and thats it, your done! You might possibly want to let it sit a few hours for the sealant to cure.

 

It's not near as hard as people make it out to be. The permatex isn't necessary but I used it as a precaution. I know almost all F bods have a pinion leak and so did mine. It was always wet back there before but since I used permatex this time it is not even damp anymore! I'd recommend it.

 

Thanks. I guess Im going to try this thing then. Oh yeah... what type of posi additive is required. Im using Lucus Gear lube. Is the posi additive required?

 

Some say you don't need it with synthetics, but if you get noise (noticeable when turning), use this: