Old Man Minimalist

I have okay Google skills but I cannot find info on the order of assembly for the pinion. Everything seems to gloss over shim placement, oil slinger, etc.

Looking at the FSM, what it shows is different than the order mine was in when I took it apart. So either the FSM is incorrect, someone before me was in the diff and did it wrong, or I'm not seeing things right. I'll post up a pic later tonight but I think I can explain it.

Diff is a 1999 HP D30, 3.55

First, here is what I see in the FSM:


Here is what I had upon removal from the diff:

1. Pinion nut, washer and yoke was missing(the reason, I took it apart. If the yoke had been intact, I would have left the ring and pinion alone and just replaced the seal)
2. Oil Seal
3. Slinger
4. Shims
5. Front bearing cone
6. Front bearing cup
7. Some kind of metal, looks like a slinger, but tight in the housing.(It has some deformation but it doesn't appear to be in contact with anything)
8. Rear(Inner) bearing cup
9. Rear (Inner) bearing cone
10. Oil slinger
11. Pinion

I my configuration the shims are captured between the bearing and the yoke. Is this incorrect?

Also, I'll look closer tonight but I didn't see shims around the Rear(Inner) bearing.

Since this was a working unit, I am hoping that I can put it back together with new seals and have the preload and pattern still good. But if this was put together at some point incorrectly, I'll probably end up having to play with shims to get it dialed in. Thanks!

Old Man Minimalist

Anyone? I'll add some additional stuff I thought about:
There is a possibility I messed up the order after I pulled everything out. I'm not infallible.

But one item that has me perplexed is the Pinion Preload spacer. Mine does not have one and I can't find a reference or part number to one anywhere I have looked, including the FSM. The diagram in the FSM is all I have seen.

lawsoncl

Doesn't make sense to have the shims next to the slinger. I think the FSM is correct. I'm thinking your #7 is the spacer.

Old Man Minimalist

#7 has a hole a larger diameter than the pinion shaft. It doesn't contact anything. It's place in the housing is in between the two bearings. Which is why I'm pretty sure that being a little deformed won't hurt anything.

It's the darn Preload Spacer that is giving me fits. I can't find one anywhere.

Dave51

Go to page 46

https://cdn.xjjeeps.com/pdf/en-us/19...ts-catalog.pdf

I think this might be it:

https://www.moparpartsgiant.com/part...0Utility%204WD)

Old Man Minimalist

Thanks Dave. I got a friend of mine to run the VIN and look it up. Apparently you can dial into exactly what you have when you do that. My diff has just shims that sit on the shoulder of the pinion. It doesn't have such a thing as a Preload Spacer.

I set it up last night and so far here is what I have:

200 ft lbs torque
12 in/lb pinion preload
.006" backlash
centered top to bottom and side to side pattern on drive side of ring gear
centered top to bottom on coast side, slightly skewed to toe side of ring gear.

I have read that should be okay but I'm going to get a new nut, oil the bearings and increase the torque some to hit 15 in/lbs preload(used bearings) and check it again.

I may get a shop to check my work if I'm not fully confident I have it dialed in correctly. Thanks for the help!

lawsoncl

I think that preload spacer is basically just a thicker steel shim right?

Old Man Minimalist

Not sure but I put the thicker shims on first so they rested on the shoulder of the pinion with the thinnest ones against the bearing.

Old Man Minimalist

Update: I was doing my final cleaning of the carrier to prep it for oiling and final install when I discovered that one of the carrier bearings was galled up badly.. So basically, the "free" diff I got with the purchase of the Jeep provided me with a case and a ring and pinion. Everything else was shot.

I think I'm going to pay someone to set it up. Hopefully the will give me a bit of a break since there are no axles, knuckles, ball joints, brakes, etc. on it. It's relatively light.

I'm not ready to concede defeat just yet. Really all I need is some set up bearings and to pay someone to press of the old bearings and press on the new ones once I have it dialed in.

What is the best tool(s) to hog out some bearings to create set up bearings? And is there any reason I would need to remove the cup side of the pinion bearing during set up? Can I just hog out the cone and permanently install the cup?

Old Man Minimalist

Update and closure: I had a shop press off the old bearings ($20), I made a set of set-up bearings and set the pinion preload, backlash, checked the pattern. Did this until I got everything in spec. Then had the same shop press on the new bearings($20). I know I could have done the freezer/oven thing and pounded the bearings on, but I was having such good success setting everything else, I didn't want to take the chance I'd screw something up.

I reused the pinion depth shim since it is the original pinion in the original housing. I had to adjust the preload shims due to the new bearings. Same with the carrier shims. I had to adjust them some and increase it overall since the carrier basically "fell" out when I disassembled it. It should be a tighter fit.

Once I got the carrier and pinion back I went through the process again.

I ended up with a nice preload, .007" backlash and a near perfect pattern with the appropriate "tightness" of the carrier in the housing. At least I hope I got it right!

BTW, I purchased an electric die grinder and a set of burr bits. It worked really well for hogging out the bearing race for the set up bearings. I'll keep them for future use or to loan to others.