The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline pinion bearing retaining screw - how tight?

Hi all
Any advice on how tight the three pinion bearing retaining screws have to be? Are the tapered screws supposed to be torqued, or just snug, with the locknuts tightened?
When I tighten them beyond snug, the ring gear binds a little. Also, in the three holes, I only see about 1/8" of the pinion retaining ring that the tapered screw hits. Is that normal?

It is normal to see about 1/8" of the tapered face of the retaining ring in the holes.
The set screws should be snug.
I question why when you tighten them tighter you would experience any bind? That does not sound good. The retainer is only putting pressure against the outer race of the front pinion bearing, keeping it seated in the housing.

Thanks. Is there a torque value for the set screws?
Or are they just to be snug enough to keep the retainer ring from sliding back?

I have not seen a torque given, just snug.

Yep, the pinion binds if I torque those setscrews past finger-tight, so the ends of the setscrews must be hitting the pinion shaft. Is finger-tight ok if the lock nuts are locked down?
Other than general wear, everything else seems to be ok. Would grinding the ends of the setscrews be an option?

There is no way I can see that the bolts can hit the shaft.
There must be something else going on.
In this cutaway picture link you can see with the bolts tight the ends would not come close to hitting the shaft.

Thanks, great picture, youre right.
Pinion is still binding when I tighten the setscrews.
Cant figure it out. Could the setscrew pressure on the retaining ring pull the pinion forward and jam it?

I wonder if the pinion depth shims have slipped out of place causing a bind?

Maybe I just need another shim? The paint marks were centered on the concave side but towards the toe on the convex side.

This is a cleaning and reassembly with original parts, so I figured using the original shim...

Are you checking pinion binding with the ring gear in place?
You need to check pinion bind first, then install ring gear with carrier, and then set backlash.
The paint marks sound good.

So without the carrier installed, if the pinion binds when the setscrews are tightened, would that mean the shim is bad or more shims are needed?

All else equal, is it normal to need additional shims due to normal wear?

Hate to have to disassemble and "go vertical" again. That sucker's heavy!

The number of shims will have nothing to do with binding only tooth pattern/pinion depth(that is if they are installed correctly). The only reason I bring up shims is I have seen them slip out of place while assembling. I was only thinking that there is a chance they could be binding on the shaft if that happened.
A change in the number of shims is unlikely needed if you are reusing everything from the original assembly.
Why did you take it apart? Did you change anything? Did you put an Okie bushing in the front?

even without the carrier, the pinion was still binding when the setscrews were tightened. So I took it apart again.
I was thinking of adding a shim on the theory that tightening the setscrews is pushing the retaining ring and the pinion forward, jamming the pinion against the casing.
Compared to another torque tube, there is less of the retaining ring visible in the setscrew holes. That also makes it seem the piston is too deep.

I took it apart originally because there were fragments of the original bushings everywhere, as well as a failed okie bushing.

It just came to me what the problem is likely to be.
When installing the pinion in the housing the rear bearing race needs to be driven forward into the housing, or else it drags on the gear. Chev shows a special tool you put between the gear and bearing while driving the gear into the housing (here is a pic of the chev took) . With the 4.11 gears I have been able to go between the teeth with a punch and seat the race. There needs to be clearance between the gear and bearing when done.

The 3.55 R&P set comes with that tool/spacer. I'll send one off for shipping-cost and a returnable deposit.

I wish I would have been thinking when I threw away a dozen of those tools during a shop clean up rampage.

Thanks gentlemen. I tried to improvise that tool from sheetmetal and also tapped the rear bearing in like Dave says. Thought it was seated ok but maybe it worked out . What holds the rear bearing in place?
Anyway, sending tclederman a pm to get a real "Y" tool.

The bearing is a press fit in the housing, nothing holds it there but friction.

Follow up for the record - Used the spacer when I tightened the setscrews and it seemed to set up ok (Wont know if/how it runs for a loooong time)
I think the problem first time was that I didnt tighten the setscrews with the spacer tool while the torque tube was vertical, and the pinion and bearing got pushed out of place.

I have TClederman's spacer tool - let me know if anyone needs one. Thanks for the help!