Ring and pinion set-up questions

[paddyp]

UPS just delivered my two sets of 4.09 gears, so now I am getting ready to install them. One set came with the open carrier, and I plan on putting my Lock-Right in there for the front axle. For the rear I am going to put in a spool. My questions is: Will the shims that were included be close to what I need to set-up the gears? I plan on using new bearings on the carrier and pinion when I install them, but I want to know if I will be close to the right set-up with the old shims, or do I just need to start over.

[BRUTUS]

Pretty sure you will need to start over. You could always start out at the old setting and adjust from there though.

[zmjeeps]

You really should start over because you are using new diff cases (what the ring gear bolts to) on both axles. Pull your old bearings off, and grind out the inside so they slip fit. Or get a set of "dummy bearings" and use them to aid your set up. Having someone there who has done it before helps as well.

[BRUTUS]

You really should start over because you are using new diff cases (what the ring gear bolts to) on both axles. Pull your old bearings off, and grind out the inside so they slip fit. Or get a set of "dummy bearings" and use them to aid your set up. Having someone there who has done it before helps as well.

Or just cut through the race with a sawzall or cutoff wheel... just the same.

[paddyp]

You really should start over because you are using new diff cases (what the ring gear bolts to) on both axles. Pull your old bearings off, and grind out the inside so they slip fit. Or get a set of "dummy bearings" and use them to aid your set up. Having someone there who has done it before helps as well.
I got the gears used off Ebay, and one set came with an open carrier. I plan on using the carrier, just putting the lunchbox locker in it for the front axle. I know I will have to re-set the rear gears when I put the spool in.

[4x4fEvEr]

I got the gears used off Ebay, and one set came with an open carrier. I plan on using the carrier, just putting the lunchbox locker in it for the front axle. I know I will have to re-set the rear gears when I put the spool in.

you will still have to reset the front with the open carrier as well. you "could" slap it in there run a pattern and cross your fingers but the likely hood of getting an acceptable pattern are slim to none. if you have never set up gears, there will be alot of head scratching and cussing. get online and look and what pattersn are and are not acceptable. i know yukon gears comes with a little setup booklet with the corresponding pictures in it.

if you do set them up yourself you will need to do as brutus or zm said and get dummy races/bearings or cut the races in half. get you a set of calipers to measure the thickness of your shims, a dial indicator with a magnetic base to check backlash so you know you are good, and atleast a mini install kit if not a master install so you can use new shims and have the marking compound to run your patterns.

setting up gears sucks. billavista has a great article on pirate tech you should go check out. http://www.pirate4x4.com/articles/tech/billavista/Gear_Setup

[paddyp]

Thanks for all the input. I have been reading everything I can to have an idea of what I am doing. I figured I was going to have to start over with the set-up, I was just wondering if the shims that came with it would be a good starting point. I had planned on using my old bearings as set-up bearings and running a pattern to see how far off I was. Thanks for the link to that Billavista article. I was looking for that the other day and couldn't find it(:alc:probably had something to do with it.)

[fulsizjeep]

As far as fit bearings go, a friend of ours showed me a neat trick. Use a brake hone and give the old bearings a slight bore so they slip on and off easily. When I did my 3.73 gears a few years ago, he had a set of honed bearings and helped me. I would have been SOL without his experience. The rear one went together after 3 setups. The front took much longer for some reason and was a very tedious task. Good Luck!

[paddyp]

As far as fit bearings go, a friend of ours showed me a neat trick. Use a brake hone and give the old bearings a slight bore so they slip on and off easily. When I did my 3.73 gears a few years ago, he had a set of honed bearings and helped me. I would have been SOL without his experience. The rear one went together after 3 setups. The front took much longer for some reason and was a very tedious task. Good Luck!
That's what I was planning on doing, honing out the old bearings a little so they slip on and off.

[Crazy_Jeepman]

That's what I was planning on doing, honing out the old bearings a little so they slip on and off.

Have fun..............Not sure what kind of Hones everyone else uses...........But after trying it and not getting anywhere...........I just took them in to a buddy with a lathe and had him turn them out, even that was not easy........ bearing races, pretty hard steel :eek: I have also used a die grinder an that works well, let the race spin and hold the diegrinder still.

[jaber]

The wife ruined the ring gear in her '88 WG d44 and it looks like I'm going to have to set up my first set in the very near future. Thanks for the tips, that will help alot. Anyone in Az. have a set of 2.72 gears?