1999 f250 10.5 rear end. Yoke was removed for replacement. No rotational torque reading was taken prior to removal. The new yoke will be installed without disassembly of the careier/ axles. Now, knowing this is NOT the preferred procedure, I have no " target" value to chase. Can anyone tell me a value of their pinion preload with wheels and brakes removed before disassembly? Yoke was damaged, needs replacement. New seal will be installed. I realize not every bearing will have the same number. I counted rotations of the nut but a replacement yoke surely will be different. Just curious if anyone has done this. If I can come up with several numbers , maybe it will give me a better ballpark starting point.

 

Welcome...
Generally on a pinion install, the bearing 'preload' or rotational drag is set in "inch pounds". If the yoke is changed for a replacement, seal etc you can pull the pinion nut up carefully against the crush sleeve (where the prior tightening stopped) and check for a rotational preload within the pinions "backlash".Usually there will be little preload since the rear bearings/set has be run for some time. You might tighten until there is NO pinion play, and/or add a few inch pounds of preload. What you don't want is to add a lot of preload on used bearings. So NO impact gun etc. The crush sleeve takes a lot of tightening torque added to compress and add more bearing preload. So, most often just bringing the pinion nut up to tight without going beyond the prior crush works fine. Again, at the point of pinion run out or play, if any is there, you'll need to add some crush torque and check/recheck often the preload rotation spec..

 

Thanks for that!