My 8.8 Re-Gearing Endeavor.

[4x4junkie]

Probably a dumb time to ask this.

Ummm... yeah

That could easily explain why your patterns are so all over the place.


You got a Harbor freight near you? A press is normally priced at $149 right now. You need one (and a bearing splitter if you don't have that either). Watch for sales, that press I think is a frequent sale item at around $99-129.

Edit: You could also try locating a GOOD bearing and carefully hone it out for a setup bearing, although if you have the proper tools, an unmodified bearing is very easy to take off & put on (the pattern could still change slightly when you swap to the regular bearing anyway, you'll still need the press & splitter if this happens)

 

[Hahnsb2]

Well fawk me then. I was eying that press at harbor freight the other day. Already have a bearing splitter. I guess I'll nut up and get the press, I'm really trying to cut back too but I just bought a doubler since I couldn't pass it up for the money. You really do have to pay to play sometimes

 

[MAKG]

You CAN do this without the press, but it's a whole lot easier with one.

You can modify a puller to yank on the bearing splitter just like the press would. The trick is to get it long enough so you can push on the threaded end (hold it on with huge hose clamps like those used on RV sewer lines).

It's massively easier to do this with a press.

A pitted front bearing may very well have bits of bearing welded where they shouldn't be, and will change the depth as a result.

 

[rickcdewitt]

it could be a thousandth or so low.

what you might do that i've done before with good results is to press the shim stack and bearing onto the pinion a couple thousandths low and then use thin shims under the rear pinion bearing race in the housing to get the final adjustment.its much easier to knock the race in and out a few times than press a bearing on and off a bunch of times(i've done it both ways)

another option is to bite the bullet and clearance the new bearing you have into a setup jobber and get another bearing at napa(thats what i did for my 8.8,you can order a setup bearing too if you want)

don't worry about the bearing you used creating an erratic pattern though unless it had stiff or gritty spots when turning it or you ground out so much in the center its floppy.

 

[Hahnsb2]

Thanks for the input. I dunno about knocking the race in and out, getting the new race in took a lot of effort even with the race driver I have. I need a press anyways, dad said he would split it with me.

 

[bottledgt]

dont knock the race out. thats just an overall dumb idea when your putting shims in both places like that

 

[Hahnsb2]

I can't believe that bearing hadn't occured to me earlier. With the new bearing the pattern is actually consistant. Let's try that again. Here's .032 pinion shim and .011 backlash.
Drive

Coast

 

[bottledgt]

id roll that myself

 

[Hardwareman]

Good job Hahnsb2!

I need to do mine as well but I'm scared as hell. Again, congrats!




Allen

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

Run with it, looks good

 

[rickcdewitt]

dont knock the race out. thats just an overall dumb idea when your putting shims in both places like that

i've seen it done with good results at a few places,but not on my axle.it is the way to go if you don't have a bearing puller and theres nothing wrong with doing so

 

[bottledgt]

once i seat the races, they aint movin. thats just askin for trouble

 

[4x4junkie]

That's very close, although I think it's still just a tiny smidgen deep (if it were my axle, I'd take out .002" and close up the BL to around .008-.009)

What you have there is certainly runnable however.

 

[Hahnsb2]

Cool, I'll try messing with it a bit more and see if I can improve it any. I'm not in a big rush, can't believe how that bearing threw everything off so much.

 

[Hahnsb2]

K Junkie got a bit of time to mess with it today.
Here's .030 pinion shim with .009 backlash.
Drive

Coast

Better, worse?