Sierra rear diff pinion seal

[BZOOK]

Well I've put it off long enough but with fresh diff oil in the pumpkin I'm now getting a nice clean thin leak through the diff pinion seal. I know the challenge here is with the crush tube etc and I see on the interweb that the advice is to clearly mark the nut first and count the rotations to get the nut off. Is that about it? Is it best to get a diff shop to do it? Lastly how much play should there be in the output shaft that attaches to the drive shaft? Thanks in advance.

[gwagensteve]

No, counting turns isn’t the correct way to do it- preload on the crush sleeve is very important and needs to be measured as starting torque at the flange. Best to get a diff shop to do it.

As for play up/down in out should be zero. Rotationally, a teensy bit but this can be hard to assess with the diff in the car as axles and side gear play becomes a factor.

[BZOOK]

Cool magool. Thanks Steve.