so I've been working on my gears for a week or so now, completed the front with minimal issues, was buttoning up the rear last night and tightened the pinion nut. There is a crush sleeve and i was told around 250 ft lbs to tighten. I used my impact and was never able to get the slack out, so I assumed I wasn't even close to the crush sleeve. I used a pipe wrench on the flange and a breaker bar on the nut and broke my 1/2" drive. Trying to see what the issue was I backed the nut off with my impact till it wouldn't move anymore and used the same set up and broke another 1/2 drive trying to get the nut off. Now the nut is stuck on the pinion and will not budge. I put it back together using all the same spacers, seals, shims etc. but somehow, I feel sure it is crossthreaded. I was wondering if anyone had any similar issues, or any pointers on how to get the nut off. I am looking at 3/4" drive with a 1 5/16" to match but that combo is not readily available. I cut the bushing off my old control and used it to extend the torque on the pipe wrench and used my hi-lift handle to extend the torque on the 1/2" drive. It started to moved slightly with all my weight on it (170) before it snapped.

 

Interesting problem. Since you said that you had the nut on already and you were able to partially remove it, it probably isn't crossthreaded. That only happens if you 'start' the nut wrong. If I didn't know any better I would say by the sounds of all the torque that you were applying that somehow you crushed the nut so it is out of round. Sort of like the locking nuts they use. If It was me I would try heating the nut with a propane torch to try to expand it.
Good luck and I will check back to find out what really happened.

edit: Thinking more about it you may have galled the threads on the nut/pinion shaft. If thats the case then your screwed. Your only hope is to use a Dremel or similar tools to cut through and split the nut. Then you may be able to save the pinion. Again, good luck.

 

i would never use a impact gun to tighten a crush sleeve. i dont know how much torque it takes to crush it but i have use i breaker bar and put a 3 or 4 feet cheater bar over the breaker bar. if u use heat be careful to not damage the seal. this is how i do it, i tighten the nut by hand until it hits the crush sleeve, it will come to a stop. i know that i havent crush the sleeve. so i get my breaker bar. pipe wrench and cheater bar. i start tightning the nut with the help of the cheater bar and after you crush it will be easier to keep crushing it.so you have to be really carefull not to crush it too much. you tighen it until you get your correct pinion bearing pre-load drag.

 

i was just using the impact to get the slack out out, then I use the cheater bar system to crush the sleeve. Something happened to the nut before sleeve had made contact with anything, because there was still a bunch of play in the pinion itself.

 

well as you can see this is the final verdict. I got a small and narrow burr bit and my air die grinder, 1 hour later you see the threads are f*&^$d, but considering the shape of the lower threads, could I use a die on the threads, get them back in decent shape and a new nut?

 

Not to sure how far the nut goes down the threaded end, but if you can catch good thread then you should be alright. The key is having the nut on only good thread.

 

Nice work. Get the right size die and re tap the threads as best as you can. ....and a new nut of course. Plus, next time, don't cross thread it.

 

so I got the gear sets from completeoffroad.com, f and r ring and pinion and master overhaul kits by yukon gears. I called them up and they said they can warranty them out. They are going to send a new r and p and some new nuts, and get back to me about where I need to send the old. He said most likely it was a burr or thread defect and combined with the torque, I don't know but it seems to be getting taken care off. Only downside now, is waiting another week, add that to the other 2 weeks of already being on jack stands and I am starting to get the itch, badly.

 

ah yes...the dreaded pinion nut...as much as you want to try to take the slack out by using an impact...I caution you against this...you already know why now had you used a ratchet to get it started you most likely wouldn't be in this predicament, for next time though...and 250 ft/lbs is nowhere near enough to start crushing theses sleaves, more like 350...you've got the right idea with a cheat pipe on your breaker bar (or like me, I used my 1/2" torque wrench because everything else was deflecting too much...not recommended)
Congrats on doing this yourself though, and good luck with the future finish

 

Wow. That's some great customer service. Be exrta careful this next time!!