GM 8.5 ten bolt crush sleeve

[Rory McNeil]

I was always under the impression that under load, the pinion is trying to push itself foreward, away from the ring gear. If this is true, the main load is directed to the much larger rear pinion bearing, which is pressed onto the pinion gear against a solid step or stop, which prevents the bearing from moving. If so, I really don`t see how the crush sleeve is under any extra load during launch, as the force is trying to push the pinion gear foreward, not to the rear, which would be putting force on the crush sleeve. I have seen several 9" Fords that had pushed the pinion support right out the front of the case, or broken the pinion support. I have never seen one that the pinion was pushed back inside the case. I have even heard of guys using NO crush sleeve or solid spacer between the pinion bearings. They said that as long as you had enough bearing preload on the pinion bearings, and the pinion nut was loctited or staked, the spacer was redundant. I`ve never tried it myself, but it does kinda make you wonder.