Finally getting around to swapping the gears, 3 years latter

Rear cover off

Locker wires

Pass side preload keeper. pass side bearing cap marked with 2 dimples

Keeper spun out of the way and preload ring loosened

3rd member and pinion out

gear removed and getting ready to remove bearings

Ring and pinion out for inspection

I ordered the gears and master rebuild kits form Ron's Machine shop in 2020 but are just now getting around to installing them but have ran into an issue with the master rebuild for the rear. The box was marked correctly but the kit inside the box was for a 10.5 GM so nothing fits and I don't want to wait for them to send the correct one. I ordered a kit from a local supply house and will have to wait until Wednesday to finish the install.

I'll update as I progress,

Neal

 

Good job, nice pictures. That thing is going to pull like a freight train when you get it done.

 

back at it, hopefully today Ill get the rear back together and pull the front axle.

Backlash with factory shim, looking for 007 to .008

after first shim change, may try again but waiting to see what pattern looks like.

1st pattern .027" pinion shim

1st pattern .027" pinion shim, drive side

2nd pattern .031"

2nd pattern .031", drive side

3rd pattern .040" drive side

3rd pattern .040"

still working on the contact pattern, need to reduce the backlash a little then look at the contact pattern again.

Neal

 

Got it to a point that I can call it good,

.007" to .0075" backlash, checked in 8 spots on the ring gear.

contact pattern

contact pattern

final settings, now to remove everything final cleaning, remove the setup bearings and put it all back together with the crush sleeve.

 

That is a good looking pattern. What brand of gears did you go with?

 

Elite gears,

 

Well got the rear done, took a little longer then I wanted but have a lot going on right now. Grandsons are into baseball, football and wrestling along with the wrong parts.

final pattern with .005" backlash after removing the pinion setup bearings and installing the new bearings.

all put together and moving to the front

64:1 torque multiplier for the crush sleeve

diff bearing puller

inch pound beam torque wrench for setting pre-load

Magnetic base and digital indicator

Yoke holder and puller all in one, comes with a 42" SS pipe as a removable handle

I took my time getting the setup as good as I could, I went past the needed shim stack on the pinion so I could see the pattern shift from the top of the tooth to the center then to the bottom of the tooth, that way I knew how far was to far.

Neal,

 

Started on the front today between ball games,

front axle out, took about 45 minutes to pull

driver side stub axle, these are usually very hard to get out, this one came out with a couple smacks with the dead-blow hammer

the front axle was in pretty bad shape, I am very surprised it wasn't making a lot of noise.

everything apart and going to the vat for cleaning

cleaned up and inspected

The front axle was in pretty bad shape, both pinion bearings show signs of sever over heating, the oil looked to have been overheated also. there was mush in the case like it had gotten water in it at some point. I purchased the H2 second hand and could tell it had not been taken care of.
If you look at the pinion bearings you can see the heat mark on both of them in the picture.

Neal

 

going back together with the front, axle cleaned up and a little paint added, gears and comparison to the original, look at the difference in size of the pinion between the 3:73 and the 4:56 gears.

Elite gears as I received them

axle case cleaned up and painted

master rebuild kit, I upgraded to Timken bearings

axle shafts and housing cleaned and painted

gears opened up and getting cleaned and de-burred

the difference between the gears, 4:56 on the right

the difference between the pinions, 4;56 on the left

 

Well, back together and will go back in this morning,
pretty satisfied with the Elite gears, was able to get a good pattern with the gears which I read can be an issue with the lower end gears, everything worked out good with the front axle. I'm glad I pulled it when I did, it was in pretty bad shape judging from what I found when I tore it down.

Pass side carrier pre-load adjuster locked in place

Driver side carrier pre-load adjuster locked in place

final tooth pattern on the drive side, coast side looks just as good

sealed up and ready to go back in

sealed up and ready to go back in
got a little bit to finished up in the ECM tune then can take it for a spin

Neal