Day gone by

Quarter after SIx as I open this post,,,,

Been at it since I hit the carport, pulled it all apart, only real break was running for the new crush sleeve.   Voo has been hangin’ with me all day, under the front of the truck

FYI He likes this song!!!, even sings along with the chorus.  Helps that we are both deaf as hell and I turn it up so he can hear it too.(and so do the neighbors  LOL,)

Really really ticked off about that whole pre-load/thrust washer thing.  I know I had it down tight, and yet, there was that whole tenth of an inch play there when I opened things up this morning.

WELLLSSSSS,,,,,,   While in there this time after double checking bearings on both carrier and pinion and why I needed that new crush sleeve. I set one side of the carrier in place with my ‘guess’ of shims.  THEN, using a machinist’s jack I have, I pushed the carrier towards that side, measured the opening between the race and the wall, added my shims (noting what size each was BEFORE I jammed them in (small 6oz ball peen to drift them in); pull the jack out, check Back lash, check pattern, and adjust.   

4 hours,,,,    4 tries.   Narrowed it down and while I ‘think’ its going to be fine, I have that niggling little doubt in the back of me head.    No test drive yet, still need to fill the case with fluid: holding off on that for a bit while the RTV cures a bit more.   I DID (and someone is gonna scream when they read this) fire up the truck and run it after I put the axles in place: open cover, no grease (other than pre-lube stuff) and me with stethoscope probin’ around.    There is a lot of pre-load on things right now and once I got the carrier in, I couldn’t turn the diff by hand at all; needed a large ratchet to do so.   Maybe a bit more than the 29in/lb that is suggested (though I did have that with just the pinion,,)   And the backlash it likely way too tight,,,, .001″   HAD to use the micrometer to even see it.   The pattern has walked a bit, but still close to center on both drive and coast  more heel on the coast, more toe on the drive.     I might hear a slight hum,,, BUT, considering I only heard howling this morning, and only on decel, and that, with 0.1″ slop side to side,,,, 

Yeah,,, learning curve,,,, If things get wonky again, I will replace the pinion bearings, and MAY go with a different maker of ring and pinion.   Saw a Utoober that was fighting a noise in his truck and ended up being a badly cut ring and pinion,,,     RIght now, I just wanna see if using that machinist’s jack made a difference.

Oh, and I totally flashed my nieghbors  ROFLMAO!!!!!   I figured with all the trees in leaf, who gives a damn, and stripped down right there in the driveway and took quicky shower using the garden hose and dawn dish detergent.   Fuggem!   Walked into the house, dripping, looking for my towel, and freaking Voo out (hates that hose thing)  If the neighbors saw, don’t care,,,  I got clean and didn’t trash my shower in the process.

Keep on livin’

(Update @ 7:30:   Test drove, slow curvy road and highway and a couple of mild hills.  QUIET!!!   Nothing but tire noise that I can detect.  Thought I heard a high pitfched whine while on a bridge, but that may have been the tires reflecting off the walls of the bridge.   Still paranoid, just not AS paranoid.)