contact pattern

The crush sleeve and solid or shim PERFORM the same function, neither is better or makes ANYTHING stronger.

1 saves time, the other costs time
1 makes changing a end yoke in the event of failure more important to detail, the other makes it that a monkey can simply knock one off and the other on and pull 250' lbs of force or more on the nut and threads.

Both perform the same function, putting 250 to 500 ft lbs of force on the nut and threads while keeping the bearings within a specific pre load/distance so they aren't to tight and burn up and aren't to loose and kill themselves and the gear.


When you set the preload using shims you are setting the distance by locking the bottom bearing against the pinion gears head and the front bearing against that SPECIFIC measurement of the 2 bearings between eachother.

So if the measurement (example) from the seat of the bearing to seat of bearing is now 2.790 and you stick a .010 shim under the head of the pin you have now made the total distance 2.780, you need to remove from the shim pack for preload.
You have moved the main bearing in closer to the top bearing, THE bearings lock in at the races with a set measurement between them, making pin adjustments moves where the lower bearing is set in relation to the measurement and it will get tighter or looser.

So say at the races we have 2.796 race face to race face, and you want preload to be say 20 " you want a distance of say 2.793, now if you have that between the bearings and you add .010 to the bottom you have made the distance of 2.793 now 2.783. moving them closer is tighter.

With a crush sleeve you get one chance at getting it right, and .0005 can be to tight....
This is why with a crush sleeve it is far far easier and less time consuming, getting the preload perfect with shims is a MF'er when you need the distance to be 2.7965 and you don't have the right shims to get there...

With a crush sleeve that's a .5 degree turn of the nut, which is hardly even a measure-able movement.

Crush sleeve better, faster, easier and more precise, once you learn how little you need to turn things.
Shims, longer, involved and if you want 10" lbs and nothing more and nothing less you'll spend many hours playing games with shims getting the right distance.

. Again there is NO strength between the two, when you hear someone say otherwise, run... they don't know how the diff works or they'd never make that statement.
.