aro

When I took out the carrier assembly from my 2015 JK, it had one of those larger/thicker rings on each side (right hand side in the picture), between the bearing cone/race and the housing. There were no other shims. Both sides have same thickness.

I replaced the stock carrier with an Ox locker, and I put it back together with those stock rings.

When I checked the pattern with the Ox carrier it was way off. It's making contact too far up on the tooth. (Unfortunately I haven't checked the pattern that came stock). I thought no problem, I have shims that came with the Ox kit (the smaller/thinner one on the left hand side in the picture), to move the ring gear closer to the pinion.

The problem now is I have no idea where to put those Ox shims. Their diameter is so small that they kinda fall inside the larger rings. I don't know where to put them so that they contribute to the overall thickness on that side. This is weird, those large rings throw me off. I don't know how they are supposed to work with regular shims.

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(EDIT: One day after I wrote the above I talked to Chip from OX and their shims are so small because I ordered the wrong parts. It was all my fault. He was very helpful)
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(I guess I could put the shims in before the bearings, but that would be a huge pain to adjust... I would need some set up bearings... lots more work)

Should I maybe buy another stack of shims and replace those rings altogether?

Any help would be appreciated.

spedly

The small shims do go under the bearings. If it were me I'd order a shim kit and shim outside the races like it was from the factory. It's a lot easier.

aro

From all that I read, JK shims go outside the bearing. Actually, the bearing is almost flush with the shaft of the carrier assembly. If you added shims under the bearing, it wouldn't even be seated all the way on the shaft.

That's the problem. There were no shims from the factory, just one of those rings on each side.

aro

I've been looking everywhere online and I found those large diameter shims on 4wd.com They are indeed shims for JK's. It doesn't say though if they come in different thicknesses, but I would hope so.

I guess it's either those large shims, or the regular ones, not combining them.



EDIT: I found them on moparpartsoverstock.com If you expand the photo, they are part no. 13. They seem to be regular shims, but they are the ring kind of shims. It's insane... no matter how much research you do, there is always something coming up, some minor change that they made.

jtphoto JK

Unlike the older diffs, the new gen Dana's have all the shims outside the bearing rather then pressed between the bearing and carrier.
The stock shims are only good for the stock carrier. With the new OX locker you need to follow the OX instructions and start from scratch with all new shims. You also need to have enough shim to get a .010 bearing pre-load.

jtphoto JK

Master instal kits include all the shims you need to starts from scratch and new carrier bearings as well.
The regular instal kit has shims etc and no bearings.

aro

I ordered a new set of shims specifically for the JK D44. Based on their O.D, I should be able to combine them with the stock shim if needed. The shims that came with the Ox were just too small in diameter to use them with the stock one.

jtphoto JK

For total shim thickness required
- put the races on the carrier bearings
- stand the carrier on its side (on one of the bearings with the race on it) on a level table top.
- using a straight edge across the upper bearing (with race on) measure from table top to staring edge using a vernier caliper or like ruler that is very accurate.
- take a measurement of the full opening in the carrier housing tube to tube where the shims/bearings sit.
- minus the carrier +bearing width from total opening width and calculate what that is in thousandths.
- that is the total shim width you will need.
- split that in half, put the locker in the housing and check backlash.
- take shims from one side and add to the other until backlash is in spec.
- once backlash is correct add .005 thou shim to each side for pre load.
- check pattern.

jtphoto JK

When I got my OX locker it didn't come with any shims at all. Depending on the casing length you may not be able to use the factory shims. The factory shims are machined to be the exact thickness for that factory carrier.

aro

I also bought the install kit from Ox, with bearings and shims.

Thanks for that formula. Interesting. I wasn't aware of it.