Gear Changing Questions

I'm sure some of you have seen my posts about diff gears, carriers, and the like. I'm going to be changing the gears in my Jeep soon. I've never done this before, but I know I'm capable. What things do I have to look out for? What pattern do I look for on the teeth in the marking compound? Backlash? Any tips/suggestions are appreciated. Thanks again

 

Here is my tip. Don't do it yourself. It is so easy for an experienced gearman to set up and so hard for evryone else to get right. You and I can most likely do ANYTHING else to these jeeps but let an expert set the gears and preloads up. It will be money well spent and really isn't much if you take in the housing less axles.

JB

 

i say have someone else do it. ask around find the best person at it. a gear locking up on you at speed is never a good thing.

 

If you are still considering doing this yourself to save money go to this website and download the info that applies.
http://www.ring-pinion.com/tech/techind.html

I do understand why you want to do this, I have a friend that has done dozens of them and he is gonna show me the proper way to do it. I do know it takes a couple of special tools to set the ring gear and I don't mean an indicator and base. He has done it on about 5 race cars and is quite good at it but he was also a mechanic for years and has tons of special equipment for doing things.

 

I haven't built an axle, but I wouldn't hesitate to do it if I had the time and need. The FSM shows how to proceed in great detail, although they call for lots of special tools. They call for an axle housing spreader for a Dana axle - I don't know how you get around that. I'd expect to read the entire section through first, ask my questions before starting, and be prepared to make several attempts to get it right.

 

I have taken several apart without a housing spreader, so thats not to hard. The tool you really need is the one that you use to check the pinion depth, you can make one if you are a machnist or you can purchase one. Then you need a torque wrench, a drop or dial indicator and an indicator stand and marking compound or prussian blue ink, this is used for setting backlash and checking the contact pattern. These are the main tools needed.

 

vernco.com is a jeep site with info on this good luck

 

I think member JohnyJeep set both front and rear up just recently
give him a holler

 

I think Dr. Vern has a good write-up as well. www.vernco.com

 

I've read that you can use a brake hone on the old carrier bearings. Cheaper than the fancy setup bearings.