nemethjames1

i rebuilt my rear end, i did not have a pinion depth tool or a dial indicator. alot of people told me that if i used the same shims in the same spot with the new gears that it usualy doesnt change. so i did. and now i have a little bit of play in the rear end when im driving alot in a lower gear, and i let off the gas, i can feel it kinda lose back there or play in the gears. i poped the cover off to see how they are tracking, and they are just starting to show an uneven wear pattern but nothing close to serious. what is the best stuff to use to see how the gears are tracking? someone told me white grease. someone told me chalk..... and i gota dial indicator, but just havent pulled the axles out yet to work on it, how important is the pinion depth tool? on my pinion i only have one shim, is there supposed to be more? its just one big spacer. any inputs would be helpful, thanks

roundman

the new set of gears should have come with some markings on them showing what the pinion depth should be for them as each set of gears is machined to match only each gear in the pair, so no one set of shims will be correct for another gear set. you need to check your backlash with the dial indicator. it should be .012-.015". you can adjust this by adding shims on one side and removing the same amount of shims from the other side of the ring gear. check the contact pattern with white lithium grease or gear checking compound. if the pattern is way off, you really need to get a pinon depth checker and set the gears up correctly or take it somewhere and have them set them up for you. by the way, the crush collar on the pinon shaft is only designed to be used once, so if you reused the old one, you might never get the gears right and they will always be noisy.

nemethjames1

ok thanks... so how do you adjust the pinion depth then? where is the shims? or is it just the crush coller? the more you tighten the bolt, the more shallow it goes?

roundman

I've never really built a rear, but I do know that there are shims on the pinion shaft at the bearings that help move it forward or backward in relation to the ring gear which is fixed in the horizontal plane by the differential bearings. in other words, the pinion can go in or out in relation to the ring and the ring can go right or left in relation to the pinion. the crush collar helps preload the tapered roller bearings on the pinion shaft, it really doesn't act as a shim. the pinion in/out movement centers the pinion gear in the ring gear and the ring gear left/right is used to set the backlash. the pinion depth setting gauge is used to determine the thickness of the shims needed on the pinion to get the initial set-up of the pinion in relation to the ring. it measures the distance from the center of the differential housing to the end of the pinion down to the thousandths of an inch since it is a critical measurement. you ought to be able to find the correct procedure for setting up a ring and pinion in a good shop manual at the library.