tightening of the final drive

[N0tac0p]

OK here goes........pull pin, throw grenade.....run

everyone says to be sure to leave the shaft bolts (pinion cup) loose and tighten the rear axle first, then do the four shaft bolts.  i guess the assumption is that the shaft flange faces will be touching each other, but can still float?  so there should be no gap evident betweent eh flanges as neither the shaft nor the wheel is going to move.

if a gap exist what is that indicative of?

[Ricky-D]

There is a spring on the drive shaft that will tend to push things apart

but regardless, there should not be a gap and binding should not be present

when mating the two flanges. They should be together but not tightly, so

as to allow some movement for alignment.

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[pancho]

Tightening the final drive bolts last allows everything to align properly as the axle is tightened to the proper torque. The driven flange is not affected as it floats between the final drive splines and the wheel dampers, but everything else must be aligned properly.

[indybobm]

Tightening the final drive bolts last allows everything to align properly as the axle is tightened to the proper torque. The driven flange is not affected as it floats between the final drive splines and the wheel dampers, but everything else must be aligned properly.

It also ensures that the drive flange and final drive splines are parallel to each other and do not meet at an angle which would cause massive spline wear.