DEESNUTS

I'll keep this brief...
Car is a4 10 bolt 2800 stall, torque arm etc. motor basically stock
Changed diff fluid. Reinstalled ta cover.

During install, when i went to set preload on girdle studs, I set one side correctly (snug by fingers - then to 5 ft/lbs.)

Second side(driver side) i couldn't feel torque wrench because as it clicked ever so softly, the wrench handle was hitting the pan hard bar.

I caught myself, cussed for ten minutes, then backed it out and retorqued.

By looking at the other side, I have about one thread more showing so I estimate about half a turn more than spec.

How much margin for error is there when setting the preload on a girdle stud like mine? Not trying to be ****, but man, the thought of having to pull the damn thing apart to replace the bearing just pisses me off. OF COURSE REBUILDING THE REAR END WOULD **** ME OFF MORE.
If it blows, i'll blame myself and not the 10 bolt...
How would I know if i crushed the bearing beneath the cap?
I always have a little whine from the after market 3.42's anyways even with redline brand lube -So what should i listen for if the bearing starts to go?
Thanks as always,

Scott@DrivelineSolutions

iTrader: (22)

You didn't undo any of the main caps and the studs are different heigths? I would double check the bolts on the mains just to be sure.
I work on one of the lines that cut the center section at AAM and I have ever seen two different cap mounting distances. My tollerences for that are + - 150 microns, also known as .006 thousands. So the load bolts on the caps should be the same heigth.

Krab

iTrader: (28)

Let me get this straight, you just over torqued the preload bolt by about half a turn? Then you corrected it, and all this without moving the car? If this is right, then I really would not worry about crushing a bearing. I would think it would take a lot of torque to damage a bearing with the preload bolts (without moving the car), and even then you'd probably strip the threads on the cover/bolt before damaging a bearing. Torque it down correctly and you should be fine.

DEESNUTS

Thats the heart of my question.
The stud that i torqued correctly is actually flush with the lock nut.
The stud that i backed out and retorqued was probably slightly crushing the bearing cap, so i backed it out and set it snug and that was it to allow for any possible expansion due to heat. I didnt want to "freeze" the bearing. I purposely left it out a bit. What I'm interested to know is how forgiving that bearing is if I possibly overtorqued by half a turn.
I guess I wasn't thinking about it correctly when i posted. I forgot I backed the stud out. The caps are torques corrrectly, im just not sure what to listen for if i crushed the bearing a little, or if it a half turn on a torquw wrench (fighting the internal resistance of the wrench) really matters.
Say i torqued to 7 or 8 ft/lbs, would that be enought to crush the bearing?
I'm sure im not the first idiot to over tighten a girdle stud...But i didnt do it by much. HOW MUCH IS TO MUCH?
Thanks!

DEESNUTS

I know, I know, I feel i'm being ****, but everything says "BE VERY CAREFULL NOT TO OVERTIGHTEN THE PRELOAD STUDS"
And because T/A performance lists 5 ft/lbs as the proper tq value, not 5-10 ft/lbs i was upset with myself.
If it took 25 ft/lbs to screw it up, i know im safe.
What idiot would ever crank on the wrench till the veins in his eyes were popping anyways?
Hell, half the yo-yo's putting these on dont even have a torque wrench, much less one that goes down to 5 ft/lbs. And know that i think about it, T/A says 60 inch pounds. If they did, they couldn't do the math either.
Still, 5 ft/lbs is like nothing as far as torque so per thier specs, i was worried.