The V8 Owners Forum -

I have replaced the pinion oil seal on my Scimitar Se6a axle as the old one was worn out and leaking and have just noticed quite a bit of play on the input shaft. I haven't tightened the flange yet and was wondering if the pinion bearing was U/S or whether the flange has to be tightened and this takes the play up? Not tightened yet as I want to get it nice and clean so it can be painted.

Hi
Setting pinion backlash (play) is not a trivial matter, here is an article on what to do for the ford 9" http://www.ford-trucks.com/article/idx/ ... Setup.html
as you will see it is not just a case of replacing the bearings and reshimming the pinion support untill it is free of slop. You have to set the Mesh of the gears so it happens on the right part of the face of the gear. I would either live with it as it is, or do a strip and rebuild renewing all the bearings and reshimming s you go.
Best regards
Mike
Ps On a personal note, when it came to setting up the pinion mesh on my axel, I got someone else to do it!

The input/pinion shaft doesn't have slop in it, it actually moves up and down and side to side. If I was to live with it then it would drain of oil rapidly if it is faulty. Thanks for the link but it didn't really give an answer to my question. I will just tighten the flange up and see what happens, if the movement is still there then I will give it a recon.

Hi
So the taper roller bearings are loose? if so then yes tightening the end nut will stop the up/down, left/rght slop.
Mike

Have you replaced the crush sleeve on the pinion or have you left the old one in? Also as a tip put some sealer on the pinion threads to stop oil seeping up the thread.

katanaman wrote:Have you replaced the crush sleeve on the pinion or have you left the old one in? Also as a tip put some sealer on the pinion threads to stop oil seeping up the thread.

It came all in one from Graham Walker, will use some sealer on the thread, thanks.