kubotam125x

Alright, I got the nut off (pain in the rear) and the yoke pulled to replace the pinion seal on my 01 3500 rear end. before I removed the nut and pulled the yoke, it didn't have any side to side play or in and out. Seemed pretty good to me. But when I got that nut off and the yoke out i can wiggle the pinion shaft around quite a bit maybe quarter of an inch left right up or down... Is this normal? Im thinking it has to be normal because it was fine before I pulled the nut off, is this a fair assumption??? I don't know too much about this kinda stuff, i'm only 21 and learning everyday... Any info on this would be great, my dad is a lawyer and hasn't ever got his hands dirty in his life so no help there ... Thanks.

Tate

Yep, its normal. The yoke puts preload against the bearings, which tightens them up. Once the yoke is out, the bearings can move freely and you get the slop you speak of. Once you put the yoke back on and torqued, it should be back to what it was at before.