Yes Jeffy thats correct. I thought i was close with my math but just wanted to ask people who have more experience with jeeps than i do. Also in the other post it was mentioned a crush sleeve my d30 pinion is adjusted with shims.Thanks for all the replies. This forum has to rate as the easiest to ask questions and get good answers without worrying about being shot down. Arent we all newbies at every new thing we try?
Once again thank you all.
You should either have crush sleeves (TJ) or shims (XJ/YJ) to set the preload. For the crush sleeve, you need to set the pinion depth with the crush sleeve removed.(IIRC) Once it's set you put the crush sleeve back in and crush it so it will be compressed to basically shim depth. Then it adds pressure to the pinion and that's how it preloads the pinion.
If you have just shims then its a lot easier and once you set the pinion depth, you tighten the nut till the preload is on the money. Actually, it's the same process as the crush sleeve but a lot easier since you don't have to crush the sleeve first (+300lbs-ft required).