As far as I know there should be no play at all. Indeed it should be a little tight after you set bearing preload which is around 10 to 20 inch pounds (new) and 6 to 10 (used). That's according to the Yukon gear install specs anyway.

The fange shoud be RIGHT up against the crush sleeve because that's what sets the preload. If it's not then the sleeve is too crushed to be of any good.

 

Could it be that its not ctushed enough? I was talking to jac04, and he said that “the play i describe is not good. The pinion bearings must have a slight preload on them, which means there should be zero in/out and side to side play of the input pinion flange. If the crush sleeve were "too crushed" you would feel increased resistance to rotation, and there would be zero play, so it definitely isn't too crushed.
Assuming the increased play is due to improper initial set-up (and the bearings are still good), then you could continue to tighten the nut to crush the sleeve and set the proper bearing preload. The bearing preload is independent of the setting of gear pattern or gear backlash, so this will not impact backlash.”

 

Yea im not sure if they over crushed the sleeve. I went up to 190ft torque(although i did not notice any movement in the nut from 160ft to 180ft). The aide to side/in and out play on the flange is hairline, although i know it should be none. Thats why im wondering if i can just put a new crush sleeve and start measuring preload without worrying about anything else like backlash, etc..

 

To replace the crush sleeve you need to dismantle the differential. Remove the axle shafts, take out the carrier, pull the pinion gear, etc. If you’re doing all that you might as well replace the carrier and pinion bearings. You’ll need to replace the pinion seal too. It’s a lot of work.

 

Ive removed the carrier, axle shafts, and seals before, but never the pinion. Im not sure how bad the bearings on the pinion/carrier are, but they seemed good to me(not sure how bad bearings look/sound like). So for me to change the crush sleeve, i would need to remove the pinion? When i exchange it and set it back to the right preload would i have to worry about the rest of the gears setup changing? I imagine if i change the bearings id have to buy a press and the other tools necessary to get the measurements, since bearings might not be exactly the same and could have a very small change in size?

 

To replace the crush sleeve you do need to remove the pinion. Do everything you describe and then smack the pinion out with a dead blow hammer or a sledgehammer and a block of hardwood applied to the sacrificial pinion nut. The crush sleeve is located between the inner and outer pinion bearings.

Before you start the work be sure to have a new pinion nut and seal ready for the reassembly. If you will be installing a new crush sleeve (as opposed to a crush sleeve eliminator), I’d recommend having a spare ready just in case you accidentally over crush the sleeve and have to do it all again.

If you’re not changing the bearings and you keep track of the carrier shims (left and right) then you should be able to avoid having to set up the gears. That’s assuming they were set up properly the first time.

 

If you're going that far into it...get a crush sleeve eliminator kit...that way you don't worry about it anymore...

 

Nothing productive to add to the thread, but thank you to those who mentioned the crush sleeve eliminator kit- I learned something today.

 

Crush sleeve really isn't a huge issue IMO... easier in the long run. The eliminator kit can be pretty time consuming because you have to keep popping the pinion out to change/add spacers. With the right equipment the crush sleeve is a 5 minute job. The big thing is to oil (or grease) things up real good. Grease the threads, the nut and the washer. That pretty much cuts the battle in 1/2

 

Well said. I watched a couple quick videos prior to the one you just posted, and it’s very much like what I knew of doing gears from the one time I did it on my YJ. Back then, you had “dummy” pinion bearings don’t you wouldn’t have to pull the bearing off the pinion a million times to set depth. This crush eliminator kit sounds like the same thing would have to be done in some ways as opposed to getting the preload correct and then torquing to spec.

I’m still a ways out from doing gears, but i always like to learn as this stuff is fun.