My pattern is close but not perfect. It looks like I need more backlash but I’m at my limit. What’s some expert opinions on the pattern.

 

https://www.racingjunk.com/news/2015...ear-correctly/

 

pattern is not on the top edge of the tooth, which is good.... as you said, it looks like a couple more thousandths backlash would help a lot.. You say you are "close" ... but too close to "fudge" a couple thousandths ?

In the end, sometimes you have to accept a pattern you have if your getting out of spec on the backlash.... pinion depth looks good.

 

Yes, I’m at about .011-.012 backlash now and it calls for .006 to .009 it didn’t change much if at all from a backlash of .007 to the current backlash. Maybe a little more outward contact.

I have seen other information that says the pattern is within spec. Even the Motive pattern shows the drive side slightly more to the heel and not centered like the coast side. I know that race gears are set up to this type of pattern but it’s my daily driver.

I will I’ll set my BL to the high end of the spec and leave it at that.

 

This is probably the best descision...

 

It’s under the truck and I’m very disappointed that I have a whine. I had that axle apart so many times trying to get it perfect. My only guess is I either got a bad gear set or some how my backlash is to great. I just may drive it for the 500 break in miles and when I change the fluid check the backlash. 😔

Truck drives awesome with this ratio and 33 inch tires.

 

If you run it that way very long, the whine will be there forever.

 

Im already over 50 miles and a few hit and cool down drives, so it may be to late. I’ve been reading this lower brand motive gear set can be problematic. I’ve also read having the drive side set up deeper to the heel can cause the whine. I did not set the drive side deeper this way and I tried to center it with no luck. I know the drive side set deeper like this is done for strength in certain applications.

Im really torn on what to do with it.

 

The pattern looks pretty good but appears the inside bevel on the ring gear is rubbing on something and it has to be pinion gear. Pinion to deep?

 

Closest one I could find on the link I posted says "Increase ring gear backlash".

But then.....

 

I just checked the BL before I pulled it and I'm right at .008. .009 is the high limit per the motive instructions. I agree with the BL increasing as the original pattern called for more BL. Even by feel the BL feels like it should be more than enough, if not to much. I will increase the BL and put some marking compound on the ring gear to see if it still hits.

For now I pulled the axle out from under the truck and installed my original axle. I figured it was the best route to take so I could still drive to work. Plus its a whole lot easier to work on the axle on jack stands than it is under the truck.

 

So far it looks like I made a mistake on my pinion depth. Looks like I’m off by .041 to deep. Not sure how I missed that or even set it up that way. I could guess at several possible steps that I could have made an error. But it doesn’t matter at now. Just hope the 100 miles I have drive on these gears hasn’t hurt them to much.

I will try to reset it tomorrow if I have time.

 

I had a bearing problem with a 2002 EXPLORER that made "gear noise" for thousands of miles.. I rebuilt with all new bearings and set the ORIGINAL gears back to spec, and it worked out fine.. Get your numbers straight and im guessing you will be good to go.

 

Hope so. Maybe I will go buy a stronger pair of readers tomorrow to make sure I’m reading it correctly. Lol

 

Today I checked both my set up bearing and the bearing I used for final assembly and there was a difference of roughly .035 in the the bearings.

There were a couple of red flags along the way but they weren’t enough to make me stop like I should have. But looking back it makes sense now.

I set each bearing in the race with no pinion gear and measured the depth of each bearing and found the difference. Where I made my mistake was not rechecking my pinion depth once I pressed the final bearing on.

I bought a rebuild kit that included included all of the bearings and seals. My set up bearing was bought from the local parts store. I’ve since bought a bearing puller and used it to double check my actual pinion depth. I also had to reset my solid crush sleeve shim thickness with the change in shim thickness on the pinion.

I should get the ring gear set in and backlash set tomorrow or that’s the plan and maybe get the axle back under the truck. Just pray the gears are still ok. If not lesson learned and I will buy another gear set.

One concern I have is the press fit isn't as tight as it was when I started on the outer pinion bearing. Should I be concerned with this?

In

the photo you can see where the beveled edge on the ring gear was hitting because of to much pinion depth.