installed a new 4.10 motive gear with all new bearings "broke it in" had about 400 miles on gear... got on intersate last night stabbed throttle on the entrance ramp the rear end starts howling and screaming.. make it back to the shop found the pinion nut backed off some..removed cover found excessive amount of metal on the magnet and the fluid very glittery...tooth pattern looks very rough on pull side but coast side looks perfect checked carrier and pinion bearings all look good.. any ideas??? thanks

 

did you use a new crush spacer on the pinion, how did you tighten the pinion nut to crush the spacer, what did you set the pinion bearing pre-load to?

 

had all new bearings and crush sleeve the rear end guy at work set up the pinion hes bein doing for 50 years so i dont think it was anything he did what is the actual spec on the pinion nut how much drag is to much or not enough?

 

when i set them up, 25 inch lbs rotational drag pinion alone, 35 inch lbs drag with carrier installed and preloaded.

and throw that silly crush collar away, more trouble then there worth. i can garantee you it was the collar that caused the problems. ive been setting up rearends for years, none of which had crush collars installed. no complaints yet

 

No crush collar and red loctite on pinion nut. The nut itself is what sets and holds the preload.

 

thanks for the input i'll do that tommorrow and try it again

 

Sounds like your gears are trashed, though...

 

thats kinda what i was thinking even though the gears are only 2 weeks old...i set it up again tonight with 28inch lbs of drag on the pinion what do you guys usually set your backlash at? thanks

 

your gears sound like there cooked, you CANNOT have any sharp edges on the faces or edges of the gears or they will make more noie then u can imagine and tear themselves apart. even with brand new gears i take a scotch brite pad on the angle grinder and smooth/polish the leading and trailing edges of the gear set.

its usually in the neighborhood of 8-12 thousandths but the gear should have the spec scribed into the ring gear. my richmonds were 10 i believe.

i do all my setting up with an old pinion nut, get the pattern back lash etc etc down pat.

when u go to install the pinion for the final time......
put silicone sealant on the splines of the pinion and inside the yolk to guarantee no oil will seep past the bearing. use red loctite on the nut!!!!!!! once the carrier is in and u have verified the backlash, preloaded rotational drag, and pattern you can spike the pinion nut for some extra security

just use a chisel and at 1 or two places along the edge of the nut where it makes contact with the pinion give it a good wack or two just to cause an indent.