okay so i decided to replace both my ujoints on the rear shaft on my 90 4runner today.It was singing pretty bad when i accelereated, clunked everytime i engaged a gear and had some noticeable vibrations. Turns out the front one but the rear was a complete disaster.

Now for my question when i dropped the driveshaft i noticed my pinion flange nut looked like this..(thanks to 4crawlers website)

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/Images/PinionColor.jpg

sorry for the links, dont know how to post pics. Now i've never done any of this before nor have i seen a pinion flange nut so i have nothing to compare it to other than this 1 pic i could find off 4crawlers writeup. But it would be my understanding that thats not right. but i thought i would quickly check here before i go to work so i know whether or not to get the part. Should it be kind of mangled in the 1 spot. Also i reinstalled my driveshaft and took the truck for a quick drive. It drives SO much nicer but there is still the same sound the ujoints made before i replaced them only slightly different. not sure how to explain it but i was thinking that the pinion flange nut may be the culprit. Any and all info appreciated. Sorry for the longish random post.

 

tighten up the nut, alot of your vibration should go away.... theres on coming out of the tranny too tighten that one as well you will be happy...

 

yes, its supposed to be mangled, its the "locking" part of the nut

 

okay, but should the nut look like that? Cause something is still whining back there and its coming from around the rear end of the driveshaft...

 

okay thanks.i'll tighten both of the nuts up and see how she drives. is it 90 ftlbs?

 

dunno the foot pounds but 90 is very high so i would just do "TAF" Tight As . I"ve done it on numerous yotas and it helped and i had no probs...

 

The rear diff has a crush sleeve in it on the pinion between the two bearings. That's what gives you your pinion bearing pre-load. Technically, if it gets loose, you're supposed to replace the crush sleeve. It's not meant to be crushed, loosened, then crushed again. Some people have simply tightened it and cured vibration problems. Tightening it will only help if there is play or looseness (up-down or side to side) in the flange when you grab it and shake it.

 

ok as far as i know it was fine.i'll check later when i drop the driveshaft again to recheck the ujoints i installed. thanks for the help guys.

 

For reference, when you punch the side of the nut like that into the groove on the pinion, it's called "staking the nut". Like others have mentioned, it's to keep it from backing off.

 

The pic looks like the nut is WAY loose. The staked part of the nut seems to be missing. A vibrating driveshaft is really hard on the outer pinion bearing and flanges have been known to get 'wobbly'. You can try snugging the nut up....without a torque wrench. Better check the level of your diff oil also.

 

ZUK: That picture is not of his pinion nut. It is taken from 4Crawlers website.

 

..........ok