DIY Gear Swap - Step by Step Pic's - Rubicon 4.88

[Some Random Guy]

For my front carrier when I was torquing new Ring gear bolts I put the carrier in one of those Black and Decker tables

Derp derp, I just used the press to hold the carrier. Worked great!
I ran out of light after work before I could get the shimming right. To be continued!

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[Some Random Guy]

This sucks. My pinion head was deeper than factory+ shim. So I installed with no shims hoping it would work out. I’m reading this pattern as drop pinion shim, if that’s true I’m stuck and need a new R&P:

I guess the good news is I’d only need new pinion bearings? I have spares plus another crush sleeve and nut.
Or am I misreading?

 

[chevymitchell]

This sucks. My pinion head was deeper than factory+ shim. So I installed with no shims hoping it would work out. I’m reading this pattern as drop pinion shim, if that’s true I’m stuck and need a new R&P:

I guess the good news is I’d only need new pinion bearings? I have spares plus another crush sleeve and nut.
Or am I misreading?

Can you follow this video and tell me what the reading is? This would be with what you have right now.

Also, try to get some real gear marking compound. Prussian Blue has its place in fitment of materials, but it sucks as a marking compound for meshing teeth. It’s a last, last resort kind of thing.

What’s the pinion etch for the new and old pinions and what was the shim that came out?

 

[Some Random Guy]

Can you follow this video and tell me what the reading is? This would be with what you have right now.

Also, try to get some real gear marking compound. Prussian Blue has its place in fitment of materials, but it sucks as a marking compound for meshing teeth. It’s a last, last resort kind of thing.

What’s the pinion etch for the new and old pinions and what was the shim that came out?

Old pinion is .5 etch. It was 1.76 + .045
I forgot to get the etch on the new pinion but think it was 0. It’s depth was 1.83.

 

[chevymitchell]

Old pinion is .5 etch. It was 1.76 + .045
I forgot to get the etch on the new pinion but think it was 0. It’s depth was 1.83.

Where are you getting the 1.76 from? Is that in inches?

The etched figure is in hundredths of a millimeter.

Knowing what the new pinion is will be important. If it’s a Zero, then put in the housing .035-.040” of pinion shim and get the backlash down to .004-.006”. This will give you a good pattern. You can adjust from there if need be.

Double check that the bearings and bearing races are hammered in completely. This is a common mis-step.

Also, make sure the pinion torque to rotate is right at 18-20 in/lbs.

 

[Some Random Guy]

Where are you getting the 1.76 from? Is that in inches?

The etched figure is in hundredths of a millimeter.

Knowing what the new pinion is will be important. If it’s a Zero, then put in the housing .035-.040” of pinion shim and get the backlash down to .004-.006”. This will give you a good pattern. You can adjust from there if need be.

Double check that the bearings and bearing races are hammered in completely. This is a common mis-step.

Also, make sure the pinion torque to rotate is right at 18-20 in/lbs.

All numbers were inches.
I was unable to get anything between the races and the housing, but I don't have feeler gauges to try. I was just trying to see if I could feel a gap with my nail. There's a fairly clear sound change when the race bottoms out and I get it in at least 3 spots around the race before I stop. Since I'm taking it apart I'll check again.

I suppose I've never paid attention to the etchings. I used your pinion depth video as my starting point each time. If the picture isn't clear, the drive side (1st photo if I've got it right) is super shallow and right against the toe. Coast side is covering about 2/3 of the tooth and is out towards the heel.

PTR is 18, TTR is 28.

Won't adding shim bring it even closer to the ring gear centerline and move my pattern in the wrong direction?

 

[Some Random Guy]

My puller broke, my brass pin I use to tap down the tail bearing in the housing bent, and I don’t have a new seal, lol. I might bolt it back together and see if it howls, then just order the semi-float early rather than go through this again.

 

[word302]

My puller broke, my brass pin I use to tap down the tail bearing in the housing bent, and I don’t have a new seal, lol. I might bolt it back together and see if it howls, then just order the semi-float early rather than go through this again.

Dude don’t run it without a shim. My guess is you are way off somewhere in your measurements. Get the right parts/marking compound, put it back together with the factory shim and get a good pattern. Those races are a pain to get fully seated. You’ll kick yourself if you rush this process.

 

[word302]

Breathe (cuss a lot), breathe some more.

 

[Some Random Guy]

Breathe (cuss a lot), breathe some more.

Yeah, I ordered everything. Thought this would be easier with no locker and since a shop hadn’t butchered this axle yet. It was so smooth coming apart I was lulled into expectations of an easy install.
Update: Soo, yellow marking compound arrives Thursday from amazon. Blue is the only the thing available in stores around here. Should I re-do the marking, or just tear it apart and find the etching to calculate a new starting point? I've got feeler gauges now to make sure I've got the races hammered home. I've also got a new 3-jaw puller. Tomorrow night is really my last night to work until Monday (I have a bad work schedule Fri-Sun).
I have all new bearings on standby, but I'm hoping I don't need them. I'll have 2 backup crush sleeves and a pinion nut. I will only have 1 pinion seal. I'll have to check with my dealership tomorrow to see if I can get more (if needed).

 

[Some Random Guy]

I either didn’t retain it or missed it. Are pinion heads from different gear ratios different depths? I realized today that last time I was going from 5.13 to 5.13, but now I’m going from 3.45 to 4.88. Is that why measuring pinion depth alone got me to a good pattern last time with minimal fuss?
@chevymitchell , old pinion is +.50 and new pinion is -.04. So should I start at .040" to .045" under the pinion race? And is that in addition to the old pinion stack size?

 

[chevymitchell]

I either didn’t retain it or missed it. Are pinion heads from different gear ratios different depths? I realized today that last time I was going from 5.13 to 5.13, but now I’m going from 3.45 to 4.88. Is that why measuring pinion depth alone got me to a good pattern last time with minimal fuss?
@chevymitchell , old pinion is +.50 and new pinion is -.04. So should I start at .040" to .045" under the pinion race? And is that in addition to the old pinion stack size?

Can you send me a picture of each pinion, please? I’d like to see what they etched on there first. Thank ya man.

 

[Some Random Guy]

Can you send me a picture of each pinion, please? I’d like to see what they etched on there first. Thank ya man.

And new:

 

[chevymitchell]

And new:

Both of those pinions are zero etches. The only number you should be concerned with is the lower left number. Start with whatever shim came out of the housing or .040”.

 

[Some Random Guy]

Ok, adding back in pinion shim was causing the carrier to contact the pinion head and freeze up the diff. That took a while to figure out. Time to pound out the pinion race and try reducing the shim to see if I can get an acceptable pattern that clears the carrier.

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