jdofmemi
Active Member
I happen to agree with this.
As I see it, crush sleeves work fine, as long as you are going forward. Many high horsepower racers use them, but they are always going forward.
The problem comes under high torque loads in reverse. The direction of thrust of the pinion pushes against the crush sleeve instead of the bearing that's firmly against the housing. This can cause the sleeve to crush further, and the pinion to walk farther into the carrier.
I have witnessed multiple times pinion tooth marks on the carrier, caused by this. It leads the contact of the teeth at the edge, where it is weak, and results in broken gears.
While the solid sleeve does not eliminate the inherent design weakness of the reverse direction, it greatly increases your odds.
Depending on what differential you have, and the length of the pinion shaft, the solid sleeve can also serve to strengthen the pinion shaft from bending under load, further enhancing the benefits. That said, the pinion shaft in the D-44 in the JK is short enough this is not a real problem.
People on were who know me know I push things. When I was running my Toyota, it was not uncommon to break a ring and pinion every 3 or 4 hard trips. Once I was turned on to the proper set up, with solid sleeves, I went 3 years on 37s without failing a differential. That made me a believer in them, even though it is a giant PITA to properly set up the gears with the solid sleeve.
