Used Gear Pattern Check

[tgfeller]

Coast Side


Drive


BL - .008''

Used 1977 Dana 44 Front Milled Gear Set, I've been fiddling with it for a day, tough to read this set. I've held on to the ring gear and put a ton of pressure on it. Thoughts?

[LONGHAIR]

Wow, that's ugly. It is high and toward the toe on the drive side, which would need more shim under the pinion and open up the backlash....but the low contact on the other side is the most concerning. It indicates the opposite

I just noticed that this is a front end, that makes a big difference. The concave side is the drive in that case....I would remove some shim from the pinion and see how much it opens up the backlash.

This is the problem of messing with used gears. Unless you know where they "were" and checked the pattern and backlash numbers before disassembly, it is just a shot in the dark. If they were worn "funny" in the first place, you are never going to get them right.

My best guess is to open up the backlash and re-mark it. .008 is too tight for used gears, they have worn some since that measurement was "good".


My head hurts now.....

[tgfeller]

Well a few rounds of pinion adjustment and I like this much better. Before I removed, old BL was .008". Adding lots of oil to the paste helped reading too. I removed .003'' Inner Pinion Shim and adjusted BL:
IP: .032''
BL: .008'' -.009''

I'm toying around either reducing BL OR trying to add a smidge onto IP Shim.

Coast:


Drive:

[LONGHAIR]

Is this going in the rear?
I would be concerned about used front gears going into a rear end. The contact points change, the former coast side becomes the drive. They might be noisy.

Good luck to ya....oh BTW, synthetic gear lube is your friend in this. It gives you the best chance of it working out ok.

[tgfeller]

Originally Posted by LONGHAIR

Is this going in the rear?
I would be concerned about used front gears going into a rear end. The contact points change, the former coast side becomes the drive. They might be noisy.

Good luck to ya....oh BTW, synthetic gear lube is your friend in this. It gives you the best chance of it working out ok.

It's staying in the front, I found a decent pattern I'm happy with. She's done and bolted up with some clean Schaeffers 293 75-90w for the break in, I love that stuff!

I had setup bearings and during the final assembly I lost a few .001'' when I pressed the new bearings on, which required careful removal of the IP race and replacing one carrier bearing after I damaged it from removal to add the shims ... Ohwell, total price including everything replaced, setup bearings, new carrier and foul ups: 300 bucks. VS 600-650+ for a shop..and I actually enjoyed it!

[LONGHAIR]

Cool, I'm glad you got it.
You aren't the first one to kill a bearing by pulling it off...and won't be the last, just part of the fun.
You can usually "get by" with slight pattern problems on a front axle because they generally see so little use, and the use they do get is at a lot lower speed.

[54blackhornet]

Can someone explain the "Greek" language you guys are talking ? I will need to open up a D44 soon and would love to know how to read what is going on inside it ?.........

[obijuan]

Hope you like to read.
http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/Gear_Setup/

[LONGHAIR]

Originally Posted by 54blackhornet

Can someone explain the "Greek" language you guys are talking ? I will need to open up a D44 soon and would love to know how to read what is going on inside it ?.........

There really isn't anything you can do about it. Once a gear set has been run, it is either fine and and will run a long time...or it is doomed to a quick and usually noisy death. That initial "wear" cannot be reversed.

No harm in looking, but it is not excessively worn or noisy, leave it alone.