I just finished getting an ARB air locker installed in my '99 XJ Dana 30 front end.

According to ARB, they want to shim the outer bearing races against the housing as opposed to putting them between the bearing and the carrier. This does make a bit of sense in that the shape of the ARB carrier doesn't really allow for shims to be reliably used between the carrier and bearing. In addition, the ARB carrier bearings have a larger ID than the original carrier, so there are no shims in the 4.56 gear kit, nor the ARB kit that will fit that... not that they would work anyway.

Getting it in there is one thing, but my concern is that the bearing cap on the driver side isn't going to hold the shims in there as the cap doesn't entirely cover the outermost one. I have the thickest shim (what ARB calls a master shim) on the outer edge of the pack with a thin one in the middle and a thick one against the bearing cup so the thick ones protect the thin one during installation. If that master shim was thicker, it would be held in with the bearing cap.

On the other side, the shims go between the thing that seals air to the carrier and the bearing race, so that's all fine and won't care and the bearing cap will hold those in place just fine.

If I weren't such a ding-dong, I would have pictures to explain it better. Does anyone understand what I mean and/or have a solution to that problem? I was thinking about a really light tack weld of the master shim to the housing while it is all installed in there. It'll be a bit of a surprise if it ever needs to get serviced again, but its not like there's a lot of options here... unless someone knows some tricks that I do not.

 

no problem with instal if using a case spreader. are youu using a case spreader?

 

I don't like my answer, but no case spreader. Just some ingenuity. Temperature differences can be your friend sometimes. Yeah yeah yeah, I know...

But spreader or not, there's nothing to hold this shim in there. Once the preload friction goes away, it will tend to work it's way out.

This morning, I got up and decided that a tack weld was the solution... Or so I hope. I figured that the worst case scenario will involve some Dremel action.



Keep in mind that the bearing cap has a bevel on the ID that can't be seen in the pictures. If that shim was another half of its width wider, it would be kept in with the bearing cap.

I am about to seal it up and install. I guess that if it doesn't work, I will have to spend some money to fix my f-up. But education isn't free, and if it costs me, it was still cheaper than a college degree that would not have taught me the proper way anyway.

 

Oh, never had that issue. done several of these arb dana 30s.

 

Also, make sure you dont got the batch of ARB piston air seals that were defective. they sold a batch of them that failed after short use, ARB covered it in warrentee. I rebuilt my old arb and installed the bad seal, (this is the piston seal, the annular piston) a year later the locker leaked, did not lock. found that arb had admitted the problem and was sending free replacements, since I did the job myself, they did not supply the labor, The bad seal and good seal looked Identical, but one leaked the other didnt. it was no doubt a very minor defect, slightly wrong shape or perhaps elasticity of the seal that caused the problem. Side by side I could not see the difference, AND the bad seals work fine at first!

so check on the date you got the arb piston seal, and call ARB for advice.

 

The outside shims is what Dana has gone to. No one has issues with them slipping out. But as stated, you can use a welder to weld a little ear on the bearing cap. Or if you have a heavy duty aftermarket cover, weld a tap on there

 

Crap. I don't like this. I don't know if it matters, but the seals came in a separate baggie and I had to insert them myself. I'm gonna let it buck and if I have to remove the differential again, so be it. Just hopefully not before October.