Ok so I learned most of what I need to know by reading other threads here. There's still an area I'm hazy on though.

Situation: 97 7.5" stock rear end with Auburn posi and used 4.10 gears. Growling/howling and after inspection the outer pinion bearing is toast. Everything else looks great. Replacing that bearing and race, and now need to properly reassemble and set pinion bearing preload. Will be using new nut (don't ask) and new crush sleeve.

By reading here it seems that 15in-lb is what I'm shooting for when I reassemble. Here's what I don't know:

1) Is 15 in-lb the torque I want to see required to rotate the completely/finally assembled pinion, *without* the differential installed? So, I'm spinning only the properly loaded pinion in its bearings, without the added drag/weight of the differential?

2) If 1 above is correct, then how do I know how much to torque down the nut to begin with so that the sleeve crushes properly?

3) How do I do 1&2 so that I can also get thread lock on the nut without the thread lock starting to harden during the whole process, and therefore messing up any measurements I make on torque?

The reason I'm doing this now (again) is because I just eyeballed/felt/guesstimated it the last time I put it together. I want to be sure I understand it this time so that hopefully it will last long enough that I can save for an 8.8 build. I clearly didn't do it right last time.

 

You're on the right track. You need to put the blue locktite on the threads and splines of the pinion & yoke, then tighten it down until it's snug. Then tighten it in 1/8" steps and measure it with a recording inch lb torque wrench until you get it to 29/30 in lbs on a new bearing or 15 in lbs on a used bearing. And don't worry about the locktite drying too quickly, it will be Ok.

 

Excellent, thanks!

 

Just a quick heads-up for anyone that might be attempting to do this with the rear end still under the car, as I did: There isn't enough room under the car to wrench a 4' extension to get the amount of torque required to crush the crush sleeve. I had the car about 3' in the air and the rear end can twist too much in the suspension to torque it properly. I had to remove the entire rear end.

Also, thread lock sets up enough within 30 minutes to interfere with your torque. Once I realized I wasn't going to be able to do it properly still in the car, I tried to disassemble it and within 30 minutes it was already locked enough that I couldn't back the nut off.

Tomorrow I'll finish it up and report back. I have it out and plenty of room to work now.

 

It's too late now, but you shouldn't be messing around with the crush sleeve in a 7.5" 10 bolt. The spacer and shims are a better, but more tedious solution. It requires a little trial and error to fit correctly, but you wouldn't have to remove the rear to do it and it will keep the pinion bearings at their torque much better than a crush sleeve. However, I agree that it is easier to do the rear out of the car for a number of reasons, and it doesn't take that much time to R&R it..