It begins....
03-19-2009, 05:39 PM
#1
JK Super Freak
Thread Starter
It begins....
I am about to re-gear the Jeep myself...
I am re-gearing from 3.21's to 4.10's (no shoulda gone bigger comments please) I won't necesarrily document the entire procedure as there is alot and it's been documented on the net before, I can PM someone if they are interested in links.
I should add that this thread will deal with specifically the X Dana44 rear as equipped in my '07 JK X. I FIRMLY believe that anyone with a reasonable level of mechanical experience, the right tools, patience and a good understanding (which means studying the procedure) can set up gears.
Lets Begin:
First a list of the tools required and their cost...
18mm Wrench (already had)
8mm Wrench (already had)
35mm” Impact socket ($6)
¾” impact socket (already had)
½” impact socket (already had)
Ft/lbs Torque Wrench ½” Drive (already had)
Inch/lbs Beam or Dial Torque wrench ($20)
Bearing Splitter ($10)
Micrometer (able to read .001”) ($45)
Dial Indicator with Magnetic Base ($40)
Harmonic Balancer puller, or 3-Jaw Puller ($20)
Dead Blow Hammer or Rubber Mallet (already had)
A Hydraulic Press, or Access to one (free access to one)
Large Breaker Bar (already had)
Pinion Flange Wrench ($120)
Patience (Priceless)
So far at a cost of and extra $260 bucks in tools....vs install only cost of $1100
....plus now I have extra cool tools and the satisfaction of knowing I re-geared my own Jeep.
I'm installing the Aburn ECTED locker in the rear. This is a Dana 44 3.73 and down 30 spline model, part no. 545018. It would appear as though they have changed the design of this locker by putting the coil on the ring gear side as opposed to all the other photos I've seen on the internet depicting it on the non ring gear side...oh well.
To begin I had to drill out the ring gear holes on the locker to 1/2". Then by simply heating the Ring gear for 5 minutes in the oven at 200F it slipped onto the locker no problem. By starting 3-4 bolts in first to ensure the rest align with the holes and torquing them all down to 100ft/lbs here it is:
Next is disassembing the axels. I'm checking all the original specs of the rear first including starting back lash and torque to rotate pinion:
original backlash reads .006" which is right in between the reccomended .005-.008"
Stock carrier is out...not much to it, small pry bar and a couple wacks on the bottom of the pry bar with a mallet and the carrier pops right out. I made sure to catch it prior to it popping out, and the shims.
The great thing about these JK 44's is that the shims are on the outside of the carrier bearings so no need to make set up bearings, or worry about pressing on/off bearings and ruining them. And because I'm putting a locker in I can simply press the new bearing on the locker and be done.
Starting shims Ring Gear Side .127" Non Ring Gear Side .126" ...interesting.
Took a little bit to knock that pinion out. You need to remove the slip yoke first with a puller of some sort, either a jaw puller
or a harmonic balancer puller like I used
, then you can knock the pinion out with a mallet or brass faced hammer. I should also add that I made my own flange yoke holder to prevent it from spinning while trying to crack the pinion nut off, I simply grabbed a 3' piece of scrape 1" round pipe, flattened one end with a hammer and drilled two holes for adjacent drive shaft bolts to bolt through. You can also buy flange holders that will do the trick, just remember you'll have to crush the crush collar in final set up so you'll be putting considerable torque on it and whatever you use needs to hold up.
Considerable size difference even between the monster 3.21(L) to 4.10(R)...I can't imagine what 5.13's look like :
The pinion depth is adjusted via pinion shims under the inner pinion bearing. In order to set this up on the new pinion I first pressed off the pinion bearing with a bearing splitter and a hydraulic press.(sorry no pics) My bearing came off and was re-useable, however I need to make it into a set up bearing by honing out the inner race so I can slip it on and off for ease of set up while adjusting pinion depth. I used a dremel to hone it out until it was a simple fit:
Removing the pinion from the housing left the outter pinion stuck behind the seal. Using a piece of ABS pipe just big enough to fit against the pinion race I was able to drive the pinion bearing out...sort of...it kind of exploded. In hindsight I should have pulled the seal first then slipped the bearing out intact....ooops. I highly reccomend you pull the seal first, it is not required for set up. I do not have a seal puller and doubt a seal puller would have done the job, instead I used a punch and worked my way around the lip of the seal crushing it in a little while seperated it from the housing....throw it away and install a new seal in final set up only. The oil slinger rests on outside of the bearing between the seal and bearing, don't lose this.
I will use this outter pinion bearing as the other set up bearing by honing the inside of it out as well.
I drilled and tapped a hole into the housing to route the coil wires through.
Here is the Locker being fitted. One thing I never noticed, I circled markings from the factory on the bearing caps and housing, may be a little hard to see the NRG side bearing caps marking but it's there...takes some of the worry out of mixing them up. It is reccomended you mark your bearing caps with a punch to identify it's position, but if it's already done from the factory bonus!
The bearings were pressed onto the locker with the hydraulic press. The pinion set up bearings and new pinion were thrown into the housing minus a crush collar and seal, with the original pinion shim .048 to start checking patterns and figure out where to go from here. Torque pinion nut down until original torque to rotate pinion is achieved then install locker with original shim packs to see how we mesh.
With the original shim packs from the old carrier and pinion, I was able to get a backlash reading of .005" totally acceptable, however the pinion mesh pattern showed the pinion meshing with the top of the gear and more to the heel on the drive side, looked acceptable on the coast side but I will add .010" to the pinion shim to see if I can't bring the drive side in towards the toe and down.
Re-installing the locker with the new pinion shim at .058" decreased my backlash to .002", so I will need to re-adjust the shim packs on either side to achieve the appropriate backlash.....however, I have discovered the overhaul kits I purchased have the WRONG shim packs so I am sitting a little high and dry until I can get the right ones....
OK, have the right shims now. Took a few set ups but I believe I have an acceptable pattern now, with back lash set to .006".
Centered between Face and Flank on drive side:
and coast side
Ready for final install. One thing I noted was while using the original shim packs there was little resistance to getting the locker into the housing, this will not work for carrier preload so I will add .003" to both sides to achieve acceptable carrier preload, should take a good couple wacks to get it back into the housing as I am not using a housing spreader.
Final install includes removing the setup inner pinion bearing I had made previously and pressing on the new inner pinion bearing. I used the hydraulic press with a 2"OD spare piece of pipe just big enough to make contact with the inner race of the bearing...obviously ensuring that the pinion shims are on under the bearing. The outter pinion bearing is set inside the housing, with the oil slinger set behind it before the new seal is pressed in. Then I had a helper place the pinion through the housing while holding it in place with a block of wood so I could take the flange yoke and line the splines up to smack it back on with a block of wood and a small sledge...it's a damned tight fit and there really is no better way to get it back on. After a few solid smacks on the block of wood with the hammer the yoke was on far enough for me to put the washer back on with the new pinion nut. Then while holding the flange steady with either a heavy duty flange wrench or home-made deal, you can start cranking the nut down....and this is by far the harderst part I have encountered in this install.
Once the pinion nut is turned down far enough that it starts to compress the pinion bearing down on the crush sleeve you'll know it....this is where you'll need to ensure that your flange holding device is sturdy enough to take the abuse of crushing the sleeve...at first I wanted to keep a general eye on the torque being applied, more for curiosity sake than anything, I started cranking the nut down. I EASILY surpassed 250 ft/lbs before I could even start to feel the slack in the pinion bearings being taken up. The original flange holding device I created out of angle iron was just not up to the task it bent like a wet noodle....thats where the Millar C-3281 pinion flange wrench came in...
Seen on the left is the flange wrench, on the right is the angle iron I tried by bolting it to the flange, as you can see...bent like a wet noodle:
....this thing is a brute, made of 1/4" steel with two heavy gauge steel pins that insert into the two non-threaded holes of the pinion flange, I continued to torque the nut down while periodically checking bearing preload...I was giving it everything I had and just BARELY got the sleeve to crush before the Millar tool prongs bent....checking the pinion bearing preload I was relieved to find I had just enough torque to rotate the pinion.
Heres a pic of the flange wrench after putting serious torque to crush sleeve on it:
It's now time to put the locker back in for final assembly and check. I placed the carrier shims I had set up earlier into position, and started fitting the locker into the housing...it took a good few wacks with the mallet to get it back into the housing, and I'm not entirely sure what changed but I discovered my backlash was down to .002" from the earlier .006" I had setup with the same shims...checking with the gear marking compound confirmed backlash was to tight, but pinion depth was at least centered...so out comes the locker to make what I hope is the final adjustment...final shim stacks:
Pinion shim - .058" Centered pinion contact between Face and Flank (Top and Bottom) of Ring gear teeth Original -.048"
Ring Gear Side - .119" Original .127"
Non Ring Gear Side -.139" Original .126" -backlash back to original .006"
Note also that original total carrier shim thickness was 0.253" and I have added a total of .005" of extra shim thickness to end at .258", this is because I am using new carrier bearings and during set up I noted the ease with which the locker was able to slip into the housing, there was no play, but I was able to slip it in with a couple smacks of my hand, that would potentially lead to premature carrier bearing wear and to potential for the locker to move within the housing under load opening backlash and possibly ruining ring and pinion. Also, with new bearings they will 'wear' with mileage essentially compressing on themselves slightly...I tried adding an extra .003" to each side and found it near impossible to smack the locker back in, with the extra .005" total it took ensuring the locker was lined up square before attempting to smack it in with the dead blow, then a number of good smacks to get it in the housing. Hopefully this will solve any problems with carrier bearing preload. Of course that could all have been avoided with the use of a housing spreader, however I was not going to purchase this rather expensive tool. And if a few thousand miles if I run a check of the rear diff again to find backlash has opened with bearing wear, I can always re-adjust shims to brings things back in line...no biggie really.
End caps are re-installed to their appropriate side with a drop of red locktite on each bolt for added measure, I torque each bolt gradually to 80 ft/lbs...to retain the ECTED locker magnetic coil a metal bracket is installed on the upper cap bolt as seen, coil wires are routed through the hole in the housing I previously drilled and tapped:
I wanted to ensure the coil would work correctly so I temporarily connected the wires and turned on the power to ensure the coil engaged and worked correctly before tossing the cover back on...all works as expected.
The axles were replaced with new retaining nuts to ensure they maintain the correct torque...don't want these backing out on the trail.
Everything else was re-connected accordingly and 2 fresh quarts of 80w90 gear oil (non-synthetic) along with 6 oz of Auburns supplied Limited Slip additive were thrown into the housing...cover bolts torqued to 30 ft/lbs, tires back on and the road test...
Everything is running smoothly
I have succesfully re-geared my Jeep at home. No noises heard of any kind, I'm confident it will remain this way. To be on the safe side when I change my diff fluid at the reccomended 500 miles after gear change I will pull the cover and re-check backlash and run a pattern just to be sure all is holding up well.
I will continue to fill the holes in this post, and I will check back over time to let everyone know how it's holding together and what my opinion is of the Auburn ECTED locker.
07 April 09 : Just over 100 miles now, still running smooth with no noise...even though they were a used ring and pinion I followed a recommended break in schedule of 20 miles nice and easy below 40 mph followed by a complete cool down, then gradually up to no more than 60 mph for first 100 miles before opening it up to 70 mph without a problem...no noises at all....tried locking and unlocking the locker on the road to ensure all is working accordingly...no problems, locks and unlocks with the push of the button...still awaiting trail results.
I also forgot how great it was to have my 6th gear back...and while driving down the freeway when I encountered a slight elevation in the road there was no requirement to downshift and I didn't lose a lick of speed.
15 April 09 :
I have managed to put 500 miles on the gears now, everything from highway speeds to in town driving. Everything is still running absolutely perfect. There are no ill sounds, feelings, nothing. I just finished draining the diff and pulling the cover to check everything over again. Backlash is still set exactly where I had it at .006" and running a gear mesh check with the paint showed gear meshing perfectly centered still. This just confirms everything was set accordingly. On the drain plug magnet there was a very small amount (about the size of a pin head) of fine fine metal shavings, which is completely acceptable...no big chips or chunks. I am relieved all is well, and the locker continues to operate flawlessly.
In limited slip mode it goes completely unnoticed on the street, and the locker engages and disengages as designed. Still no offroad trials on it yet as I'm still essentially running 2wd until I get the front diff done in a couple weeks time.
25 April 09 :
Still running strong. Just finished front yesterday with a Detroit Truetrac LSD...gears are running true, and I'm 4wd again.
With the Truetrac up front you can feel the steering is...more, how can I say, responsive?? You can tell it's there kind of, it's like it just stiffened it up a tad. It cetainly hasn't affected steering at all, tight turns are not a problem and you don't hear or feel anything turning, but running down the road you can tell it's in there, but it feels right...like the way it always should have, not sloppy like it feels with an open up front.
The rear ECTED locks up with the flip of the switch as advertised, and it is truly locked with engaged. I have had it on some mild off road trails to test it out and a couple times it did remain engaged after the switch was turned off...they mention this in the instructions...by simply making a couple easy left and right gradual turns it does come disengaged...I have yet to have it stay engaged without the ability to disengage it.
So far, my rig feels MUCH more trail capable...can't wait to REALLY test it....
SO there it is...self gear installs can be done. It's really not that bad
I will however change the large socket choice from 1 5/16" to a 35mm socket....1 5/16" (or 34mm) is perfect on the rear pinion nut...but to small for the front axle nut, 35mm will do both jobs perfectly
I am re-gearing from 3.21's to 4.10's (no shoulda gone bigger comments please) I won't necesarrily document the entire procedure as there is alot and it's been documented on the net before, I can PM someone if they are interested in links.
I should add that this thread will deal with specifically the X Dana44 rear as equipped in my '07 JK X. I FIRMLY believe that anyone with a reasonable level of mechanical experience, the right tools, patience and a good understanding (which means studying the procedure) can set up gears.
Lets Begin:
First a list of the tools required and their cost...
18mm Wrench (already had)
8mm Wrench (already had)
35mm” Impact socket ($6)
¾” impact socket (already had)
½” impact socket (already had)
Ft/lbs Torque Wrench ½” Drive (already had)
Inch/lbs Beam or Dial Torque wrench ($20)
Bearing Splitter ($10)
Micrometer (able to read .001”) ($45)
Dial Indicator with Magnetic Base ($40)
Harmonic Balancer puller, or 3-Jaw Puller ($20)
Dead Blow Hammer or Rubber Mallet (already had)
A Hydraulic Press, or Access to one (free access to one)
Large Breaker Bar (already had)
Pinion Flange Wrench ($120)
Patience (Priceless)
So far at a cost of and extra $260 bucks in tools....vs install only cost of $1100
....plus now I have extra cool tools and the satisfaction of knowing I re-geared my own Jeep.I'm installing the Aburn ECTED locker in the rear. This is a Dana 44 3.73 and down 30 spline model, part no. 545018. It would appear as though they have changed the design of this locker by putting the coil on the ring gear side as opposed to all the other photos I've seen on the internet depicting it on the non ring gear side...oh well.
To begin I had to drill out the ring gear holes on the locker to 1/2". Then by simply heating the Ring gear for 5 minutes in the oven at 200F it slipped onto the locker no problem. By starting 3-4 bolts in first to ensure the rest align with the holes and torquing them all down to 100ft/lbs here it is:
Next is disassembing the axels. I'm checking all the original specs of the rear first including starting back lash and torque to rotate pinion:
original backlash reads .006" which is right in between the reccomended .005-.008"
Stock carrier is out...not much to it, small pry bar and a couple wacks on the bottom of the pry bar with a mallet and the carrier pops right out. I made sure to catch it prior to it popping out, and the shims.
The great thing about these JK 44's is that the shims are on the outside of the carrier bearings so no need to make set up bearings, or worry about pressing on/off bearings and ruining them. And because I'm putting a locker in I can simply press the new bearing on the locker and be done.
Starting shims Ring Gear Side .127" Non Ring Gear Side .126" ...interesting.
Took a little bit to knock that pinion out. You need to remove the slip yoke first with a puller of some sort, either a jaw puller
or a harmonic balancer puller like I used
, then you can knock the pinion out with a mallet or brass faced hammer. I should also add that I made my own flange yoke holder to prevent it from spinning while trying to crack the pinion nut off, I simply grabbed a 3' piece of scrape 1" round pipe, flattened one end with a hammer and drilled two holes for adjacent drive shaft bolts to bolt through. You can also buy flange holders that will do the trick, just remember you'll have to crush the crush collar in final set up so you'll be putting considerable torque on it and whatever you use needs to hold up.Considerable size difference even between the monster 3.21(L) to 4.10(R)...I can't imagine what 5.13's look like :
The pinion depth is adjusted via pinion shims under the inner pinion bearing. In order to set this up on the new pinion I first pressed off the pinion bearing with a bearing splitter and a hydraulic press.(sorry no pics) My bearing came off and was re-useable, however I need to make it into a set up bearing by honing out the inner race so I can slip it on and off for ease of set up while adjusting pinion depth. I used a dremel to hone it out until it was a simple fit:
Removing the pinion from the housing left the outter pinion stuck behind the seal. Using a piece of ABS pipe just big enough to fit against the pinion race I was able to drive the pinion bearing out...sort of...it kind of exploded. In hindsight I should have pulled the seal first then slipped the bearing out intact....ooops. I highly reccomend you pull the seal first, it is not required for set up. I do not have a seal puller and doubt a seal puller would have done the job, instead I used a punch and worked my way around the lip of the seal crushing it in a little while seperated it from the housing....throw it away and install a new seal in final set up only. The oil slinger rests on outside of the bearing between the seal and bearing, don't lose this.
I will use this outter pinion bearing as the other set up bearing by honing the inside of it out as well.
I drilled and tapped a hole into the housing to route the coil wires through.
Here is the Locker being fitted. One thing I never noticed, I circled markings from the factory on the bearing caps and housing, may be a little hard to see the NRG side bearing caps marking but it's there...takes some of the worry out of mixing them up. It is reccomended you mark your bearing caps with a punch to identify it's position, but if it's already done from the factory bonus!
The bearings were pressed onto the locker with the hydraulic press. The pinion set up bearings and new pinion were thrown into the housing minus a crush collar and seal, with the original pinion shim .048 to start checking patterns and figure out where to go from here. Torque pinion nut down until original torque to rotate pinion is achieved then install locker with original shim packs to see how we mesh.
With the original shim packs from the old carrier and pinion, I was able to get a backlash reading of .005" totally acceptable, however the pinion mesh pattern showed the pinion meshing with the top of the gear and more to the heel on the drive side, looked acceptable on the coast side but I will add .010" to the pinion shim to see if I can't bring the drive side in towards the toe and down.
Re-installing the locker with the new pinion shim at .058" decreased my backlash to .002", so I will need to re-adjust the shim packs on either side to achieve the appropriate backlash.....however, I have discovered the overhaul kits I purchased have the WRONG shim packs so I am sitting a little high and dry until I can get the right ones....
OK, have the right shims now. Took a few set ups but I believe I have an acceptable pattern now, with back lash set to .006".
Centered between Face and Flank on drive side:
and coast side
Ready for final install. One thing I noted was while using the original shim packs there was little resistance to getting the locker into the housing, this will not work for carrier preload so I will add .003" to both sides to achieve acceptable carrier preload, should take a good couple wacks to get it back into the housing as I am not using a housing spreader.
Final install includes removing the setup inner pinion bearing I had made previously and pressing on the new inner pinion bearing. I used the hydraulic press with a 2"OD spare piece of pipe just big enough to make contact with the inner race of the bearing...obviously ensuring that the pinion shims are on under the bearing. The outter pinion bearing is set inside the housing, with the oil slinger set behind it before the new seal is pressed in. Then I had a helper place the pinion through the housing while holding it in place with a block of wood so I could take the flange yoke and line the splines up to smack it back on with a block of wood and a small sledge...it's a damned tight fit and there really is no better way to get it back on. After a few solid smacks on the block of wood with the hammer the yoke was on far enough for me to put the washer back on with the new pinion nut. Then while holding the flange steady with either a heavy duty flange wrench or home-made deal, you can start cranking the nut down....and this is by far the harderst part I have encountered in this install.
Once the pinion nut is turned down far enough that it starts to compress the pinion bearing down on the crush sleeve you'll know it....this is where you'll need to ensure that your flange holding device is sturdy enough to take the abuse of crushing the sleeve...at first I wanted to keep a general eye on the torque being applied, more for curiosity sake than anything, I started cranking the nut down. I EASILY surpassed 250 ft/lbs before I could even start to feel the slack in the pinion bearings being taken up. The original flange holding device I created out of angle iron was just not up to the task it bent like a wet noodle....thats where the Millar C-3281 pinion flange wrench came in...
Seen on the left is the flange wrench, on the right is the angle iron I tried by bolting it to the flange, as you can see...bent like a wet noodle:
....this thing is a brute, made of 1/4" steel with two heavy gauge steel pins that insert into the two non-threaded holes of the pinion flange, I continued to torque the nut down while periodically checking bearing preload...I was giving it everything I had and just BARELY got the sleeve to crush before the Millar tool prongs bent....checking the pinion bearing preload I was relieved to find I had just enough torque to rotate the pinion.
Heres a pic of the flange wrench after putting serious torque to crush sleeve on it:
It's now time to put the locker back in for final assembly and check. I placed the carrier shims I had set up earlier into position, and started fitting the locker into the housing...it took a good few wacks with the mallet to get it back into the housing, and I'm not entirely sure what changed but I discovered my backlash was down to .002" from the earlier .006" I had setup with the same shims...checking with the gear marking compound confirmed backlash was to tight, but pinion depth was at least centered...so out comes the locker to make what I hope is the final adjustment...final shim stacks:
Pinion shim - .058" Centered pinion contact between Face and Flank (Top and Bottom) of Ring gear teeth Original -.048"
Ring Gear Side - .119" Original .127"
Non Ring Gear Side -.139" Original .126" -backlash back to original .006"
Note also that original total carrier shim thickness was 0.253" and I have added a total of .005" of extra shim thickness to end at .258", this is because I am using new carrier bearings and during set up I noted the ease with which the locker was able to slip into the housing, there was no play, but I was able to slip it in with a couple smacks of my hand, that would potentially lead to premature carrier bearing wear and to potential for the locker to move within the housing under load opening backlash and possibly ruining ring and pinion. Also, with new bearings they will 'wear' with mileage essentially compressing on themselves slightly...I tried adding an extra .003" to each side and found it near impossible to smack the locker back in, with the extra .005" total it took ensuring the locker was lined up square before attempting to smack it in with the dead blow, then a number of good smacks to get it in the housing. Hopefully this will solve any problems with carrier bearing preload. Of course that could all have been avoided with the use of a housing spreader, however I was not going to purchase this rather expensive tool. And if a few thousand miles if I run a check of the rear diff again to find backlash has opened with bearing wear, I can always re-adjust shims to brings things back in line...no biggie really.
End caps are re-installed to their appropriate side with a drop of red locktite on each bolt for added measure, I torque each bolt gradually to 80 ft/lbs...to retain the ECTED locker magnetic coil a metal bracket is installed on the upper cap bolt as seen, coil wires are routed through the hole in the housing I previously drilled and tapped:
I wanted to ensure the coil would work correctly so I temporarily connected the wires and turned on the power to ensure the coil engaged and worked correctly before tossing the cover back on...all works as expected.
The axles were replaced with new retaining nuts to ensure they maintain the correct torque...don't want these backing out on the trail.
Everything else was re-connected accordingly and 2 fresh quarts of 80w90 gear oil (non-synthetic) along with 6 oz of Auburns supplied Limited Slip additive were thrown into the housing...cover bolts torqued to 30 ft/lbs, tires back on and the road test...
Everything is running smoothly
I have succesfully re-geared my Jeep at home. No noises heard of any kind, I'm confident it will remain this way. To be on the safe side when I change my diff fluid at the reccomended 500 miles after gear change I will pull the cover and re-check backlash and run a pattern just to be sure all is holding up well. I will continue to fill the holes in this post, and I will check back over time to let everyone know how it's holding together and what my opinion is of the Auburn ECTED locker.
07 April 09 : Just over 100 miles now, still running smooth with no noise...even though they were a used ring and pinion I followed a recommended break in schedule of 20 miles nice and easy below 40 mph followed by a complete cool down, then gradually up to no more than 60 mph for first 100 miles before opening it up to 70 mph without a problem...no noises at all....tried locking and unlocking the locker on the road to ensure all is working accordingly...no problems, locks and unlocks with the push of the button...still awaiting trail results.
I also forgot how great it was to have my 6th gear back...and while driving down the freeway when I encountered a slight elevation in the road there was no requirement to downshift and I didn't lose a lick of speed.
15 April 09 :
I have managed to put 500 miles on the gears now, everything from highway speeds to in town driving. Everything is still running absolutely perfect. There are no ill sounds, feelings, nothing. I just finished draining the diff and pulling the cover to check everything over again. Backlash is still set exactly where I had it at .006" and running a gear mesh check with the paint showed gear meshing perfectly centered still. This just confirms everything was set accordingly. On the drain plug magnet there was a very small amount (about the size of a pin head) of fine fine metal shavings, which is completely acceptable...no big chips or chunks. I am relieved all is well, and the locker continues to operate flawlessly.
In limited slip mode it goes completely unnoticed on the street, and the locker engages and disengages as designed. Still no offroad trials on it yet as I'm still essentially running 2wd until I get the front diff done in a couple weeks time.
25 April 09 :
Still running strong. Just finished front yesterday with a Detroit Truetrac LSD...gears are running true, and I'm 4wd again.
With the Truetrac up front you can feel the steering is...more, how can I say, responsive?? You can tell it's there kind of, it's like it just stiffened it up a tad. It cetainly hasn't affected steering at all, tight turns are not a problem and you don't hear or feel anything turning, but running down the road you can tell it's in there, but it feels right...like the way it always should have, not sloppy like it feels with an open up front.
The rear ECTED locks up with the flip of the switch as advertised, and it is truly locked with engaged. I have had it on some mild off road trails to test it out and a couple times it did remain engaged after the switch was turned off...they mention this in the instructions...by simply making a couple easy left and right gradual turns it does come disengaged...I have yet to have it stay engaged without the ability to disengage it.
So far, my rig feels MUCH more trail capable...can't wait to REALLY test it....
SO there it is...self gear installs can be done. It's really not that bad
I will however change the large socket choice from 1 5/16" to a 35mm socket....1 5/16" (or 34mm) is perfect on the rear pinion nut...but to small for the front axle nut, 35mm will do both jobs perfectly
Last edited by BlackNorthernJK; 04-25-2009 at 09:50 PM.
03-19-2009, 05:59 PM
#4
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your braver than I am gears and automatic transmissions scare the hell out of me but I am game for every thing else. I guess gears just scare me because of lack of experience.
03-19-2009, 06:48 PM
#6
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Well if your successful at doing this, you could make some good money on the side. I wish I was brave enough and had the tools. I just put in 5.13s and now I need 5.38s. It's hard to find someone to regear at a decent price. Of course in the "Great White North" it will look like your making even more $.
03-19-2009, 07:03 PM
#7
JK Freak
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Rancho Cucamonga, Ca
Posts: 505
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Go rocket! I am still waiting for my rear ring and pinion but I have collected all the tools and other parts. Keep us posted.
Dropped by Superior today and they will have them early next week.
Dropped by Superior today and they will have them early next week.
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03-20-2009, 11:16 AM
#10
JK Super Freak
Thread Starter
There is no "JK" specific ECTED locker, that might be the problem. I ordered the Dana 44 3.73 and down 30 spline locker. Quadratec sells them...