Pinion Gear Nut

[Naaman]

Okay... replaced the rear pinion seal today. According to MFR, you're supposed to mark the pinion gear nut before disassembly, and then tighten it back down 1/16th past the mark. But there is no torque spec for the nut, so you don't really know whether it's tight enough, even if the marks are aligned (how do you know if you've over tightened it or if it's not yet tight enough, since the marks pass each other several times as you thread the nut on there?)

Anyway, I did the best I could, but I think my rear end "howl" might have slightly increased with the "new" setting. Is there anyway to fix this without dropping the whole diff and taking it apart?

I'm not afraid to crack it open... it's the removal/installation that I'm worried about.

So, anyone done this before? Anyway to test it without driving it?

[Too Fast]

Well, that method works ok, you are supposed to tighten it until it stops, then the 1/16th past the mark. There should be no slop/play in the pinion input shaft when you do the final tighten. Is it loose now?

[2002ssslp]

I do not know of any spec for a pinion nut but 1/16 after tight sounds right.

[Supershafts]

You need to count the turns off and then back on and 1/16 more when you get to that number.