Horrible rear end groan

Bolt on 5.0

Founding Member
Jun 26, 2002
302
0
17
Suffolk, NY
Guys I pulled my rear cover today and replaced it with a trick flor girdle. Noticed the pinion sela leaking so removed the d-shaft and marked the flange and nut and shaft. I pulled the flange after counting 13.5 turns on the pinion nut to remove. Replaced the seal and reinstalled all.
Now I have a horrible groaning noise taking off in first, once shifted in 2nd it starts screaming bad. Just made it around the block and came back. Im a little confused, I might remove the whole rear and set it up, but I did check back lash when the cover was off, it was ok and no noise prior to this repair.
The only thing I changed with I rotated the drive shaft 1 bolt hole to the left, the other holes were very rusted and hard to tighten.
 
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8.8

when u put it back together did u add the posi trac oil additive. also i dont remember what the tq is on the nut but i think its 85 or 135. check the amount of end play on the gear where the drive shaft goes . u have a crush sleeve that has to crush to set the gear up up. taking it lose my have changed something. check all the clearances. i had my 8.8 apart and my friend said that back las it should be .008 to .013
 
well that the reason I counted turns though so I did not have to worry about the crush collar on the pinion gear. That is my guess also though. Im going to go out there now and check some things. Backlash was slightly accessive but it was like that before also and there was no noise.
 
good luck

i called my friend he worked on rear ends for about 5 years so he knows alot but i guess he i still drunk from last night but iwill find out what for sure the back lash and the tq on the pinion nut. he did my rear end . he would check the back lash after he got the pinion movement down to what he liked. u are working on something that is in .001s u marking the pinion it may look like its there but most human hair is .003 so if u was off just a little it my be to much. if he dont call me i will call him back
 
8.8

ok he called me back i told him what u said and he said that it will not work that way. he said to jack the car up and drop the drive shaft and get the nut off. he said clean the treads on the pinion. then he said to use a Anti-Seize and put alittle on the face of the nut. then use lock tight on the nut and it gets tq to 150 foot pounds. the said the best way to do it is to install two bolts back in the flange and use a bar or something to lock the gear down where it will not turn then go to 150 foot pounds and then that part is done. he said the drive shaft is balanced and needs to go back the way it was. he said that will cause a problem if it off. he said if it off u will fell it then go the other way its off . he said that u will be able to see where it was good luck
 
ok he called me back i told him what u said and he said that it will not work that way. he said to jack the car up and drop the drive shaft and get the nut off. he said clean the treads on the pinion. then he said to use a Anti-Seize and put alittle on the face of the nut. then use lock tight on the nut and it gets tq to 150 foot pounds. the said the best way to do it is to install two bolts back in the flange and use a bar or something to lock the gear down where it will not turn then go to 150 foot pounds and then that part is done. he said the drive shaft is balanced and needs to go back the way it was. he said that will cause a problem if it off. he said if it off u will fell it then go the other way its off . he said that u will be able to see where it was good luck


I wouldn't do that if I were you, you will over torque the pinion nut for sure. To get you by for now buy a NEW pinion nut and torque it down until it is tight and give it just a little more. The way to properly torque it down is using an inch/pound torque wrench with the axles and driveshaft removed and torque the pinion nut down until you have around 15 inch/pounds of rotational torque. Good luck.
 
the only thing a inch pound gauge is used for is to check the drag of the gear but he said that u would have to pull the ring gear out to check that. he said that is what they did at the rear end shop and 150 is the torque of that nut. u can do what he is saying but u have to tear the axles and center piece out. then u check it with the in pound gauge no more than 15 in pounds to move that gear. when u get that then u install the center piece and check the back lash.
****************************************************************** i would not do that buy a NEW pinion nut and torque it down until it is tight and give it just a little more. when u torque something u dont get it tight and then give it a little more. im 6 foot 240 pounds my little maybe alot if he is a 120 guy. just call the rear endshop and ask them. he worked at pyle brothers in baytown,texas call and ask them
 
Wow, chill man. Torque the pinion nut to 150 ft/lbs and further compress the crush sleeve and see how long the pinion bearings last. There is no predetermined pinion nut torque value on an 8.8 rear end. The pinion nut is only to be used once because it has tapered threads and once you take it off it is done. As long as the crush sleeve isn't over compressed he should be okay by tightening the pinion nut down and giving it a little more.
 
Thanksa for the replies guys. I fixed the problem beore. I had counted the threads that it took to remove, but that did not work out well. What I did was remove the driveshaft and tightened the pinion nut little by little untill the resistance felt right. It has very slight latteral movment and in out movment. I used and old trick I learned from the master tech when I used to work at the lincoln dealer. Tighten feel, tighten feel. Worked great and no more noise.