Anyone ever done this? I know the pinion nut has to come off to swap out the seal. Technically, (at least in the manual) you should replace the crush sleeve every time you back this nut off. Has anyone ever changed a seal without taking the diff out and just removing the nut, swap the seal, and reinstalling the nut? I personally think it's a pretty small risk considering you're not disturbing anything. I know that nut is torqued based on in/lbs of spinning the pinion, but I know this has been done before…thoughts??

 

Cant see why it would be a problem since your not changing the "depth" of the pinion gear itself. New pinion nut and crush sleeve are highly recommended for re-install though. Takes 450 ft.lbs. to set the right pre-load. Never done myself but wouldnt be to worried about it since your not changing the gear set. Make sure to mark drive shaft alignment but I suppose that shouldnt change either...Might as well install a new u-joint while your at it.

 

I've done it before…and on this one with not upsetting the diff or the pinion like you said, you can mark the nut to return it to the same spot since you're not crushing a new crush sleeve into place.

 

their are several u tube video's about doing this. most say to mark the nut and count the turns to put it back where it was and not changing the crush sleave