Pinion nut size and removal

[BP57CUSTOM]

Help !  I am in the process of replacing my pinion seal on my original 1957 differential . I spent an hour cleaning off 57 years of grease and dried mud. I then proceeded to unbolt the universal joint and slide the drive shaft to the side. I then got a couple of sockets out of the box to remove the pinion nut , but there does not seem to be enough room to get a socket down into the yoke. The nut is almost as big as the hole in the yoke. Has anyone else had this problem? What size socket is supposed to fit this nut ,is it a 1" ? Is a special wrench or special thin wall socket required. Any help will be appreciated!
Thanks

[petew]

Although I just rebuilt my 57 rear a few months ago I can't tell you exactly what socket I used on my pinion nut. I can tell you that it was a thin wall non impact socket that was in one of my regular sets. May have been 15/16ths I can't recall but it wasn't anything special.

Pete

[SkylinerRon]

Be aware 57 is a one year only seal (much larger than later ones).
A thin wall socket should work.
Goodluck,
Ron.

[BP57CUSTOM]

Thanks for the replies ! if anyone knows for sure what size the nut is please post and I will try to get me one!

[hiball3985]

I did mine about a month ago, 1 1/16 socket. I used a standard socket and breaker bar with a 4ft piece of pipe cheater with no problem are you sure you got all the dirt out of the hole? Sometimes replacing the seal isn't enough if there is a grove worn in the pinion flange, they make those speedy shim things ( I can't recall the exact name ) for them..

Edit: Speedy Sleeve, it took two cups of coffee to jump start the old brain..

[petew]

  Also be sure to mark the nut , pinion and yoke prior to disassembly. You want everything to line up when you are done or you risk changing the crush on your crush collar which will change your bearing preload,
Another thing I do is when reassembling use blue locktite in the pinion threads and load the yoke face with black RTV silicone prior to placing the pinion washer and nut this will stop any leaks at the splines.

Pete

[BP57CUSTOM]

WHEW ! Got er done !  1 1/16 socket is correct . I used an impact wrench to get it off , made reference marks for everything. went for a test drive and everything seems ok.
Thanks for the help