im a bit confused as to the proper function of a crush sleeve....does it eliminate the need for shims? my rational for that question is that its "crushed" to the proper torque if you will making it the proper size....

 

It's there to prevent crushing the walls of a part too much. They won't actually crush, the wall will crush until it hits the sleeve then proper torque is accounted for. What part are you installing? Because the crush sleeve on an oil filter does actually crush.. I confused myself...

 

im researching as much as i can to see if my mechanical abilities are capable of installing arb lockers and new ring and pinions in my x

 

does it eliminate the need for shims?"
Yes as it applies to final pinion but torque.

It does take a fair amount of grunt to get the "crush" started but I've done it several times using a long handled pipe wrench to hold the yoke and a 4 foot Pipe to extend the ratchet handle. Not that hard

 

Yes you still need shims. The shims go behind the pinion bearing (between pinion and bearing). The shims properly set the pinion to the ring gear. Torquing the crush sleeve won't change that. It will just properly preload the pinion bearing.

 

ok my other question, ive read that the pinion has an initial depth stamped into it and so do the new ones and there is a chart that cross references them to give you the proper depth...has anybody had any experience with this?

 

No I sure haven't pay attention to that. I usually just start with what amount of shims was in there when removed and adjust from there. Having a set up bearing (bearing that has been honed out so that it doesn't require pressing for installation and removal) comes in very handy when setting up pinion depth. If your installing new bearings you can use the old bearing as a set up bearing if you don't damage it removing it.

 

ok that makes sense....sorry for the rookie questions. but can u set pinion depth without crushing the crush sleeve?

 

Yup, you don't want to crush the sleeve until you have your depth and backlash set correctly. Once you have the pinion shim amount figured out you will want to install the new bearing and crush the sleeve after that on the final install.

No apologizes for the questions. Heak I'm still trying to figure out working on small equipment that doesn't require 1" drive tools and torque multipliers on top of that.

 

May I suggest installing the pinion with the correct shims and new bearings pressed on once more BEFORE the final install with the crush sleeve? I had an instance once where the original bearings had just enough wear in them that when I used them for setup and got the "correct" amount of shims on there and when I pressed the new bearings on and installed the whole getup with the crush sleeve it was slightly off and I had to change the shimming, thus wasting a crush sleeve. Now, just for the hell of it, I make one last dry run at it after the new bearings are pressed on. Just to make sure. It's a pain in the ass, but can save your ass if you don't have an extra crush sleeve.