What am I missing here ? Trying to install the knuckle onto the pinion shaft and it stops about 1/4 of an inch from fully seating. I tried tapping (carefully) with a hammer but still no luck. It really feels as though it is bottoming out. If I use the nut, will I strip the threads. At 58 years old and having little mechanical skills may be over my head with starting with this project. I know some of my questions will seem dumb to some but hey it doesnt hur to ask. Thanks for any feed back. 1980 Z with a four speed manual transmission.

 

Knuckle....are you talking about slipping in and tightening down the driveshaft yoke of the rearend? If so, why was it off and what exactly are you doing?

 

Need more info. Did you rebuild the rearend? Did you install a new crush sleeve? If you pulled the yoke to put in a new seal, you should have marked the threads so you reinstall the yoke without crushing the sleeve more and getting the pinion lash out.

 

I think he bought it that way, which means who knows what the previous owner did: https://camaroforums.com/forum/new-m...nnesota-75529/
Just slapping it together without having the lash and gear mesh set correctly can spell doom for the gears.

 

Yes I purchase the car that way. Drive shaft not connected. I then changed the pinion seal and thought I would replace the bolt and not tighten down because I had no idea where it was tightened to. Well the shaft wont seat on the splines, its about an eight inch off. I don't what to do ?

 

Are you concerned about the gap between the yoke flange and the housing? There's supposed to be a gap, so don't lose sleep over that. If you feel the yoke bottom out, and you have a good amount of threads showing to catch the nut, then it's in as far as it needs to be for the next step. The problem is, you don't know where the nut was, since it should have been marked and noted by the taker-offer person. All you can do now is torque the nut until you get the desired amount of pinion bearing preload. Get yourself a torque wrench that reads inch lbs., and one that reads ft. lbs. Torque the pinion nut a bit at a time using the ft. lb. torque wrench. Then with the in. lbs. wrench, and wheels off the ground, turn the nut and yoke clockwise while also turning the entire differential a couple few rotations. With used bearings (what you have), you want to try and keep the turning preload between 8-12 in. lbs. (aim for 10). Keep tightening the pinion nut till you get there. Then keep your fingers crossed.

 

Thank You, I appreciate your response and will follow your recommendations. The car has been sitting for almost two years now and I am determined to finish. Thanks again