Can I reuse diff crushable collar if I put spacer behind it?

[rcx106]

I'm talking about the crush collar in a differential that goes between the pinion bearings and gets crushed as the pinion nut is tightened. The collar is crushed until the desired pinion torque is reached.

If I take a used collar and put a shim behind it to act as a spacer then surely it can be reused and crushed some more? Am I explaining this properly?

[marshalla]

It's not exactly recommended, but you can reuse the crush tube once or twice by shimming it.

[stevieturbo]

Yes if need be, but I'd keep the shim fairly thin, nothing 2-3mm although it would depend how thick the crush was to begin with.

But also, if you have set the preload and are happy with the crush washer, you can get take it apart and get a solid spacer made up this same thickness instead.

Then you can tighten the ballix out of the pinion nut and pre-load will remain the same, no more crush washer.

[Nighthawk]

Tbh for the cost of a new collapsible spacer I'd renew it, you don't know for sure if there's any more potential to crush and give the correct preload. Finding a shim of suitable size to go in there sounds more trouble than it's worth