Ahh that makes sense. My new one did not have that. But none the less I finally managed to get it in !

 

Finally some progress ! When I brought back the damaged seal to the store explaining what happened with said seal in hand. The guy looked at it and said "its really not damaged". He used a crescent wrench to bend to bent portions back into place and told me that he would just retry it, insisting it should be fine once its all set in place. I ended up buying a short piece of tailpipe to assist in the installation. It fit inside the seal but did not contact the rubber portion.

First I cleaned out the bore with sandpaper, then I used a small piece of 2 x 4 placed on the the end of the tail pipe section to hammer on. It went much smoother than before.Then I used the hammer and block of wood to seal the edges of the seal that did not seat perfectly. I just went around the entire outside of the seal tapping until it was flush all the way around.

Then it came to putting the yoke on. I am hoping I dont need to be too concerned with this -BUT while I tightening the pinion nut and attempting to properly torque it to 210lbs, I realized that my torque wrench only goes to 150lbs. Although the marks I made on the nut and shaft were lined up, and the number of exposed threads was the same as when I took it off, I wasnt able to get the torque wrench to click at the 150# mark. The nut would not go any tighter. I then used the inch pounds torque wrench to recheck the force required to turn the pinion (with the wheels off the ground). I discovered that I needed to exert more than the original 135 inch pounds to get the pinion to turn, it was more like 150 inch pounds. I have no idea how this happened. I made sure to use the original nut and washer. Really hoping there are no other issues because of this.

I managed to get the driveshaft back in place before one final snafu (hopefully).
The u joint straps (that I insisted on buying new rather than just taking from the pull and pay) did not fit !! The kit came with 2 different sized straps and neither fit onto my yoke. I compared to the original straps and noticed they (originals) are much shorter than the ones in the kit. The bolts were also the wrong size. Once again back to the parts store- where they ended up having to special order them. They are supposed to be here tomorrow.

This morning I topped up the diff lube and the transfer case. Wouldnt you know it ! The damn rubber plug that fits into the back of the diff is damaged now ! It is torn 3/4 of the way around. Awesome
Items replaced so far;
U joint
Driveshaft center support bearing
Pinion shaft seal
Pinion Yoke
U joint straps and bolts (to do)
Differential plug (to do)

Hopefully I will get post something about a successful test drive tomorrow.

 

I never seen them leak there, but it will stop it. FSM says to do it and every video does it. No biggie though

 

If I remember correctly when I bought my straps it was in the help section. There are different specs for rotational torque and you may be in range. They were recommended a new nut. The reason you have to check the rotational torque is probably due to the crush sleeve

 

Thanks again for all your help moparfanatic ! Sincerely appreciate you sir

 

I'm here to help. Sorry for spelling errors I'm on a phone. My mind sometimes wonders and I get off track. I do believe it's the crush sleeve and pinion preload. The RTV isn't a big deal. But I do know they say to use a new nut. I don't know why though.

 

The Results :
The straps were a fit. I replaced the Diff plug after filling and was ready to go. First thing I noticed was that there was no clunk noise when I put it in gear. Yay ! I dont believe the tranny was damaged in any way during the ordeal as it seems fine. IF the driveshaft had a bend it is very minor, because I didnt notice any new vibration. Being its an old truck it does have a bit of a 'shimmy' but nothing noticeable beyond what it was before this repair. Also it does not appear that my pinion seal is leaking. HOWEVER - There is a 'chirping' noise that is noticeable, mostly when turning while accelerating. I dont notice it when I just accelerate in a straight line, but it is there while going around turns. I fear that this is very likely the pinion bearing. I either have the pinion bolt too tight (in which case I have likely damaged the crush sleeve) or not tight enough. I am not sure what to do about this. I have been driving it to work the last couple of days, ( its about a 5 mile drive). I figure that if it is the pinion bearing, it will probably fail at some point. Im wondering how long that might be. Days ? weeks ? months ? I looked in the manual but it does not have a section on replacing the bearing. My guess is that it requires special tools and or skills, therefore was omitted from the manual. Any opinions here would be appreciated.

 

I do recall that on the Danas the bearing is pressed on and off. So you would need a bearing removal tool then a press to press it on. Can you try to describe the noise a little better?

 

I think mine is just a Chrysler rear end, not a dana. Literally sounds like a bird chirping. Its a high pitched squeaking sound. It only occurs at low speeds also. Once Im cruising it is not noticeable, even with the windows down. It would be awesome if it just needed to be tightened up a little,but I have no idea and dont want to screw something else up. Am I going to have to pull a entire rear end from the pull n pay now ?

 

There are some tests you can do. Read the FSM as they specify what can cause what. And even have a chart. Try it and see what it says. I don't recall how the bearing is on the Chrysler 9.25 I think there are 2 one you can get whole the pinion is still in and another the carrier has to be pulled. I could be wrong though. Everything should be in the FSM section 5 (Axles) I believe.