Pinion Seal

[Peter Ansted]

I just pulled the pinion seal from my '63. I marked everything before seal removal for proper alignment on installation. I have 2 questions. The yoke and companion flange seem to be one piece. Should I leave them alone and install as
is? Also, aa archived message from Duke said sealant should be used between the companion flange and pinion splines. Is this the unit I have connected together now? I want to seal and reinstall correctly. Thanks.

[Craig S.]

Re: Pinion Seal

Peter - this is a one piece assembly, the flange you describe is a dust/debris shield to keep contaminants to a minimum on the seal. It is staked and pressed on the yoke, leave it alone. The sealing process Duke mentions which I have always used as well, is to apply sealant in the splined area where the yoke meets the pinion gear shaft, to prevent gear lube from crawling through the splines and seeping out around the locknut. Make sure you clean the splines, threads and nut carefully and use loctite on the nut upon assembly, if you are reusing the same nut. Personally, I use them once, but I always take the units apart and install a new crush sleeve. I did the process once the way you are proceeding on my pickup, and it worked fine. By the way, your 63 spline count is different than the later yokes as I recall, from Charlie Smith in his class...Craig

[ROB DAME MEM# 36211]

Re: Pinion Seal

Use a non-hardening sealer a little under the nut wouldn't
hurt either. Rob

[John H.]

Re: Pinion Seal

Peter -

I always pack the little cavity under the washer before installing the washer and nut; Gear & Axle did this originally to stop leakage through the splines, but it didn't make its way into the Shop Manuals until 1969.