Last questions before gear install this Saturday!

[mo_dingo]

I am going to install my new gears this saturday and I have a couple of questions.

I am slightly confused when it comes to checking backlash & setting up the dial indicator. I already bought the dial indicator w/ mag. base and played with it for a while.

In the picture above, the dial indicator is pointing straight down. The shaft on the DI moves up and down. It says to wiggle the ring gear up and down and read the travel on the DI.

This doesn't make any sense to me. Backlash is the "play" inbetween the ring gear and the pinion gear. Shouldn't the DI be pointing to the right (Rotate the DI 90* counter-clockwise)??? To test backlash, shouldn't you wiggle the ring gear left-to-right?

Secondly, are these the carrier shims? It looks as though it's one huge shim! Or is the picture not good enough detail to show them.

The install articles say to take shims from one side, and put onto the other. But if there is only 1 shim on each side, how is this possible.

The only reason I think that it's one big shim is because of here. He says that the "factory shims" measured .270 and .260 each, meaning 1 shim was .270 and the other was .260.

So if there is only 1 shim on each side, I will need to buy a carrier shim kit, right?

Thanks for the help!
Scott

 

[HISSIN50]

Scott, i have no idea. LOL. but i will give you a bump (like up two spots).

if you get stuck, lemme know (not that i can help), but sometimes a second set of eyes/hands and my Rainman like keenness can help.

 

[RIO5.0]

The backlash is the "play" between the gears. It should be like .009-.015 or something like that..on the 2 sets of FMS iv'e done. they came in at the max or largest dim allowed...no noises with either set...I checked mine just like pic #1

On the large carrier shims....I bagged as removed from one side and re-installed on the SAME side at re-assy...Watch the chamfer.. on one side of those shims, they have a large chamfer...be mindfull if it was facing in or out...may want to jot that down when removed....

Corral has a great article on doing up gears...check that out to...

http://www.corral.net/tech/drivetrain/gears.html

 

[mo_dingo]

Thanks for the link RIO (Andy, right?). I haven't read that one. I read cpa50tech and IslandVobra's write-ups. That has a little more detail.

Ok, now I understand the backlash setup.

[Backlash: The clearance between a pinion tooth and the adjacent ring gear teeth. It is the total movement allowed between contacting teeth.] for reference. Set the dial indicator and magnetic base up so that the tip is perpendicular to a ring gear tooth. Measure and record the backlash: should be in the .008"-.015" range.

The dial indicator setup makes sense. The picture above with the dial indicator is correctly setup. Makes sense now.

But to measure the backlash, do I need to have the pinion shaft "locked" so only the ring gear moves? I would think that would allow the dial indicator to see all of the the backlash.

They don't seem to clarify how many shims are on each side of the carrier. But I can only imagine that there will be multiple shims. Thanks for the help!
Scott

 

[RIO5.0]

You want everything snugged up to spec to check the backlash....the whole set-ups gotta be done to verify it....if anything is loose....your dimension is bogus..
backlash is one of the last things you check...pinion nut TQ'd, bearing caps TQ'd..then you check the backlash...then check the pattern...if all looks cool...your done..the backlash is checked in a free state so to say...its just the "slop" lets call it in the gear set...before you tear yours apart, set-up your indicator and check it...you'll see what i mean....make sure the DS isnt connected though...its kinda like when your bringing your rockers to zero lash, your just lightly "feeling" for that zero dim...

Like I say, i have done these twice, about to do a 3rd time as i'm swapping in 373s myself...im no pro, but they've come right into spec for me..

the carrier shims are (1) each side..they are .250-.300 thick each, they are under the bearing caps that you remove..Be mindful of the chamfer direction on those shims, as one side is chamfered, you wanna re-assy the same way...your gear set will come with a assortment of ring gear shims to. My stock ring gear had nada behind it....so i used nada for the swap...