Re: Help. Pinion shaft torque spects

Posted by JWL On 2008/7/5 11:14:12

I do not know if the Packard differentials are the same as early Cadillac ones, but I had an experience replacing the pinion oil seal in my 1939 Cadillac Sixty Special. It was not a straight-forward job. The complication was that once the spacer had been collapsed by tightening the pinion nut to set the pinion bearing preload, it would no longer provide the proper preload when retightened. To overcome this, a fellow Cadillac owner suggested using shims to restore the length of the spacer so that when it was retorqued, it would again be the proper length, and provide the proper preload. The tightening involved two parts; first, tighten the pinion nut with a considerable torque reading (200-300 lbs). To assure that it was not too tight or too loose check the overall torque to turn the pinion nut, with the brakes completely backed-off, to indicate a small torque reading in a few INCH pounds. Failure to provide the proper bearing preload would result in premature bearing failure. Included with this is a procedure that I helped him write describing the procedure to follow.