We're trying to tighten the pinion nut to the point where the play is gone and the preload will begin to be set, but so far no matter how much torque we put on the nut, it won't get any tighter and there's still about an 1/8" of play. Have you had this before? I'm going to fashion something to hold the yolk better, but so far the air wrench can't even do it.
What diff are you working on. I dont know about GM models but I know it takes alot of torque to collapse the crush sleeve on a 9". More than most air wrenches can muster. See big cheater bar and a yoke holding device/fixture.
Yeah, it takes alot to collapse the crush collar on a 8.2 rear.....I'm talkin a 3 ft long breaker bar to get it there. But be carefull....once you get to zero play, the preload will increase QUICKLY, so go very, very slowly. You only get one shot.
these guys have it right. The collar is tough to get started crushing, get a BIG breaker bar and a solid yoke fixture. There was that "magic stick" tool too that can be used to hold the yoke, basically a breaker bar with a kind of loop on the end that bolted onto the yoke somehow. I have gone so far as to try to get the crush collar started in a Hydraulic press, but you do need a fixture to hold it to the correct diameter ot it will deform to an unusable extent. Once the collar starts crushing it will move Easier. For a Impact wrench, the IR titanium 1/2" units work well. I have the model just below those and it is just enough to get the job done.
