Well it looks like the rear pinion seal is leaking on my truck. I've done some reading up on it and I'm familiar with how a crush sleeve works and the importance of pinion bearing preload, but I can't find the answer to this question:

If I pull off the rear pinion flange to replace the seal, can I replace the crush sleeve without having to open up the rest of the differential? Will the crush sleeve come out through the pinion flange opening? I just finished rebuilding two dana 44s and really have no desire to dick around with rebuilding another diff right now.

 

you will have to pull the ring gear assembly and punch the crush sleeve out

( sorry but the diff needs dis-assembly to do that )

 

Damn I was hoping I could get around that. They should just use shims like the D44s do. Oh well. Thanks for the help.