hey!, I was wondering if someone knows how to change that front pinion seal on a 02 Ranger Xlt 4x4 with the 4.0L

I have a good idea on how to do it but I just want to make sure before screwing something!

thanks

 

break the pinion nut loose and the then slide the flange off. i want to say the seal will just slide right out. put a new one in and reassemble.

you will need some type of impact to break that sucker loose and to retighten.

 

i thought you needed a speciel load setting tool?

 

its over rated. but i havnt tried the front pinion seal, i just did the rear.

 

ok, so I shall not be able to unscrew the pinion bolt without impact gun?

and must I remove front driveshaft first? just to make sure...!?

 

Yes you must remove the front driveshaft and you can get the pinion bolt lose w/o an impact but you will need a big cheater bar or big hammer. Best of luck w/o impact.

 

alright, thanks for the comebacks!

 

old topic, but i'm getting ready to replace mine...spoke to my old man on this, and he's a 16 year master tech so i trust what he says, he agrees that you don't necessarily need to torque it back down to specs, but like everything else it ensures that you get a good seal, that you don't bend/break the new one, and so on...

 

when my gears were done we just hit the pinion nut with the impact and called it a day, so far i have more miles on the new seals then i did when it was stock and started leaking!

 

yeah, it usually works that way...but when in history has made a quality seal or bearing! especially pinion seals and wheel bearings!

 

I just tightened mine using the impact gun. Hardest part of the whole job was getting the old seal out.

 

Isn't the torque spec for the pinion seal in like in.-lbs. or something, which is why you need a special torque wrench for it?

If that's the case, you can just multiply the number of lb-ft. by 12 and that will give you lb-in. measurements. 1 ft-lb is 12 in-lbs.

 

not if you are using an impact to tighten it. if it was inch pounds i could tighten it with a wrench, but i cant even turn it will some impacts.

 

The pinion bearing drag is measured in lb-in. There is no spec for the torque on the pinion nut itself.

The procedure is to tighten the pinion nut in increments until the sleeve is crushed the right amount to give the correct drag/preload on the pinion bearings. If you tighten the nut with a rattle wrench to some random torque, you will have no idea what the preload is. Taper roller bearings require a narrow range of preload for long service life. Too tight or too loose will shorten it.

If the pinion bearing(s) have also been replaced during the repair, then a new crush sleeve must also be installed before setting the drag/preload. In either case, the pinion nut should be replaced.

 

what he said! lol!!!

 

Ah gotcha. I knew I remembered something about that. Thanks for reminding me!

 

I should add one more thing. The above is the 7.5/8.8 Ford rear axle procedure. For the Dana 35 front diff, the collapsible crush sleeve should also be replaced when changing the pinion seal as well as when replacing the bearings.