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

zeebo56

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I just wanted to give a shout out to @chevymitchell for being an awesome human being. This DIY writeup started making me think I could try a gear swap. His videos made me feel like I could do it even more. He answered many of my questions and gave great advice.

I even made some stupid mistakes while doing the swap and he would check up on me to see how I was doing and also helped me get through a tough jam that I put myself in.

Great guy and after doing one set of gears I am sure I could do another set faster after a bunch of tricks I learned after having to repeat steps to get the gears setup correctly. Still probably a two day job though I would say. I ended up having to do it over two weekends. I definitely don't plan on making it a habit to do gear swaps haha.

Currently breaking in the gears and trying to get through the first 500 miles so I can really enjoy them.

Thanks again @chevymitchell
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chevymitchell

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I just wanted to give a shout out to @chevymitchell for being an awesome human being. This DIY writeup started making me think I could try a gear swap. His videos made me feel like I could do it even more. He answered many of my questions and gave great advice.

I even made some stupid mistakes while doing the swap and he would check up on me to see how I was doing and also helped me get through a tough jam that I put myself in.

Great guy and after doing one set of gears I am sure I could do another set faster after a bunch of tricks I learned after having to repeat steps to get the gears setup correctly. Still probably a two day job though I would say. I ended up having to do it over two weekends. I definitely don't plan on making it a habit to do gear swaps haha.

Currently breaking in the gears and trying to get through the first 500 miles so I can really enjoy them.

Thanks again @chevymitchell
You're very welcome, man. Glad I could help and even more glad you took this on yourself. I'm a huge advocate for DYI'ers. Excellent work staying flexible to the challenges you faced.
 

Bravo

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In the middle of installing 4.56’s from 3.73... 2020 rubicon diesel... anyway... completed the front with no issues and now I’m on the rear axle... installed everything tightened carrier bearings and differential won’t turn... I’m assuming pinion depth is too deep and here’s what I did so y’all can check the math/logic...

Old pinion was marked .58 with a .48 shim... new pinion was marked .11 so I assumed I need to make up the difference and add .47 more of shim... I thought it was a lot of shims and I’m thinking I was right... it’s midnight and respecting the neighbors I didn’t want to bang the pinion back out and inspect/start over... waiting til the morning

Hopefully someone will chime in and tell me where I went wrong and what my shim depth should be...

Thanks in advance

Bravo
 

zeebo56

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In the middle of installing 4.56’s from 3.73... 2020 rubicon diesel... anyway... completed the front with no issues and now I’m on the rear axle... installed everything tightened carrier bearings and differential won’t turn... I’m assuming pinion depth is too deep and here’s what I did so y’all can check the math/logic...

Old pinion was marked .58 with a .48 shim... new pinion was marked .11 so I assumed I need to make up the difference and add .47 more of shim... I thought it was a lot of shims and I’m thinking I was right... it’s midnight and respecting the neighbors I didn’t want to bang the pinion back out and inspect/start over... waiting til the morning

Hopefully someone will chime in and tell me where I went wrong and what my shim depth should be...

Thanks in advance

Bravo
I am pretty new to gears but I believe the new number if positive you subtract from the old number. If the new number were negative you would add it since it is old minus new. If you added .47 to the stock shim that was definitely way too much. .58 minus .11 would be .47 so maybe try the stock shim thickness first and see how that is for you and adjust accordingly from there. I think people usually start changing the stock shim thickness by around .003/.005 increments to see where they are. .47 is a huge change.

Of course this is just my guess at the situation from the little bit of reading I have done over the past couple months. I might be completely wrong which is why @chevymitchell or someone else would likely have a better answer.

But I do believe you adding .47 to the stock shim thickness was way too much.

also if i recall aren't the etching numbers in thousandths? wouldn't 11 be .011?

actually .47 is crazy huge. .1 is even thick. are you sure you don't mean .047? should there be another 0 in front of all those numbers? like .058, .047 etc? therefore I would say it is likely it was .058 - .011 to get .047 to try first and work from there.

either way .47 is crazy big for a shim. and .047 is still definitely way too much to add for the shim.
 

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Yes thousands is correct... so maybe I’m trying to hard to get it right without guessing so with what you’re saying which makes sense if the old is .058 and the new pinion is marked .011 and the original shim was .048 then I should subtract the .011 from the original shim thickness and use .037 shim thickness with the new pinion?
 

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zeebo56

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Yes thousands is correct... so maybe I’m trying to hard to get it right without guessing so with what you’re saying which makes sense if the old is .058 and the new pinion is marked .011 and the original shim was .048 then I should subtract the .011 from the original shim thickness and use .037 shim thickness with the new pinion?
ill let the more knowledgeable guys give a recommendation but I think stock would be a good starting point. but yeah somewhere around the stock shim might be much better than adding .047, that is a lot to add.
 
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chevymitchell

chevymitchell

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In the middle of installing 4.56’s from 3.73... 2020 rubicon diesel... anyway... completed the front with no issues and now I’m on the rear axle... installed everything tightened carrier bearings and differential won’t turn... I’m assuming pinion depth is too deep and here’s what I did so y’all can check the math/logic...

Old pinion was marked .58 with a .48 shim... new pinion was marked .11 so I assumed I need to make up the difference and add .47 more of shim... I thought it was a lot of shims and I’m thinking I was right... it’s midnight and respecting the neighbors I didn’t want to bang the pinion back out and inspect/start over... waiting til the morning

Hopefully someone will chime in and tell me where I went wrong and what my shim depth should be...

Thanks in advance

Bravo
Hey there. The number you should worry about is in the lower left corner, not the lower right corner. If they're both zero, then use the stock shim.

The numbers you do see are in hundredths of a millimeter, not thousandths of an inch.

Jeep Wrangler JL DIY Gear Swap - Step by Step Pic's - Rubicon 4.88 Screen Shot 2021-04-05 at 9.15.25 AM
 

Bravo

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Thank you for the responses... headed out to the garage to put the stock shim in and run a pattern

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Call911man

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Thank you for the responses... headed out to the garage to put the stock shim in and run a pattern

Bravo
If you’re not done yet, yes stock pinion shim. Try running the pattern with a drill with socket, not an impact to turn the pinion. My experience showed a very well defined pattern with the drill and a hammer handle against the ring gear for back pressure. Also, make sure all off the protective coatings are cleaned from the gears or you will get a false tight reading on Backlash. Starter fluid spray worked great for me, brake clean, not so much. Its also a great way to clean the marking paint when you want to start fresh.
 

Bravo

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Everything is back together and only a few extra parts left over😂😂... seriously... stock shim... good pattern and drives nice...

Thanks fir the help...

Bravo
 

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@chevymitchell
First off, great write up. Your post alone gave me the confidence to do my first gear swap.
Question for you (or anyone else that knows the answer), do you recall there "not" being a washer under the pinion nut on the rear axle like there is on the front? I cannot find an exploded view of the rear advantek 44. My rear axle didn't have one. It was purchased new and has never had any axle/gear work done until now and wondering if maybe it was forgotten on the original assembly? Thanks in advance.
 
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chevymitchell

chevymitchell

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@chevymitchell
First off, great write up. Your post alone gave me the confidence to do my first gear swap.
Question for you (or anyone else that knows the answer), do you recall there "not" being a washer under the pinion nut on the rear axle like there is on the front? I cannot find an exploded view of the rear advantek 44. My rear axle didn't have one. It was purchased new and has never had any axle/gear work done until now and wondering if maybe it was forgotten on the original assembly? Thanks in advance.
You’re welcome.

There is no washer on the rear. You’re in good shape.
 

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@chevymitchell
First off, great write up. Your post alone gave me the confidence to do my first gear swap.
Question for you (or anyone else that knows the answer), do you recall there "not" being a washer under the pinion nut on the rear axle like there is on the front? I cannot find an exploded view of the rear advantek 44. My rear axle didn't have one. It was purchased new and has never had any axle/gear work done until now and wondering if maybe it was forgotten on the original assembly? Thanks in advance.
Mine did not have one either.
 

Siskababa

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@chevymitchell
One more question sir. In your video series on the gear swap, you measured from a flat surface to the top of the OEM pinion shim behind the pinion gear head race. I did the same with a dial guage and lo and behold, on my new "0" cut 488 pinion(s), the measement with the OEM shim was the exact same to the 1/1000 on both front and rear pinions. Is this typical that going from one gear size to the next using Dana/Spicer that the measurement would be the same, and does this mean I should be very close or exactly the same mesh pattern if using the same shim sizes on the carrier that came out? Obviously I'll be checking the mesh with paint, but I'm just curious if this typical...seems way too easy. Thanks in advance.
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