Rear diff wear
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More Turbo
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 690
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From: Sweden
Rear diff wear
I have a '87 E150 302 with non-limited rear slip diff.
I was changing the rear diff oil which I haven't done in I-don't-know-how-long. I saw metal sparkles in the oil so I pulled the cover all the way off to take a look.
The gears on the axles have wear marks as shown in my Gallery (click on the Large versions). The center of each tooth is mostly polished but all 4 edges of the tooth have grooves cut into them. I remember researching how the gear mesh was supposed to be adjusted because I was thinking of changing the rear end ratio. Wasn't bad mesh adjustment supposed to wear just one edge?
Is this something I need to do something about? Will it get worse, or is it a sign of another problem? Is it just due to not changing the diff oil enough?
I was changing the rear diff oil which I haven't done in I-don't-know-how-long. I saw metal sparkles in the oil so I pulled the cover all the way off to take a look.
The gears on the axles have wear marks as shown in my Gallery (click on the Large versions). The center of each tooth is mostly polished but all 4 edges of the tooth have grooves cut into them. I remember researching how the gear mesh was supposed to be adjusted because I was thinking of changing the rear end ratio. Wasn't bad mesh adjustment supposed to wear just one edge?
Is this something I need to do something about? Will it get worse, or is it a sign of another problem? Is it just due to not changing the diff oil enough?
Hotshot
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 12,679
Likes: 15
From: BC, Canada
Those are the spider gears and side gears. Sometimes called pinion gears and axle gears. Not to be confused with the pinion gear that drives the ring gear which is sometimes called the crown gear. Got that? 
The wear on your spider and side gears looks pretty normal.
If the rear end wasn't making any unusual noises or anything I wouldn't worry about it.
The wear on your spider and side gears looks pretty normal.
If the rear end wasn't making any unusual noises or anything I wouldn't worry about it.
