Exactly. The carrier bolt broke loose very easily. As you see, that pinion gear was trashed. I can't believe it was still moving. Anyways, I got my press and it is so bad ass to have. I'm about to put everything together and check the bearing contact pattern for the first time. I thought I better get on here and check out Zuk's page one more time. Unfortunately my camera has died, but I'll be comparing to Zuk's work and I won't be done until mine is the same.

Glad to hear you got away with that Matt! Close one.

 

I got everything set nicely without the crush sleeve. The pattern looks great at .095 shim on the pinion bearing and .009 backlash. Now I can't seem to get the crush sleeve to crush. I already broke my breaker bar.

 

Well, with some help and some tricks we finally got the crush sleeve to crush. That was a bitch!

I think it must have taken 1000 ft lbs before it finally worked. Maybe it will hold up well. So I got the pinion preload set to about 20 in lb. I put 140 ft lbs on the carrier adjusters and adjusted them together until I got about .007" backlash. I was lazy and only checked every three teeth for some of it but none varied more than .003". Then I realized I hadn't put threadlocker on my carrier bearing bolts. They were already set at 70 ft lbs but I took them off one at a time, put threadlocker on it and torqued it back down before removing the next one. When I got them all done, I checked my backlash again and it was .0085 or so. I hope I didn't mess it up by taking those bolts off. I drove ir around the block (to the store to get some charcoal), no appearant problems. Then after eating some dinner I drove it home (about 20 miles) slowly. It seems to work fine. No whining or anything. My locker popped once when taking off from a speed bump going up hill at my apartments. That noise is disturbing. But I think it's fine. After that other pinion looking the way it did, I can't help but worry. If it holds up, I look forward to being able to really drive it after a few hundred miles and a fluid change.

 

 

Well, my diff seems to be working fine. I really love driving with the new ratio. My spedometer now says I'm going about 5 miles per hour faster than I actually am at 65. I think I'll put 35s on next time I get tires. That'll solve that problem.

I am getting a pop in the back sometimes when I take off. I think it has something to do with spring wrap. I hope so anyway. I'm actually still nervous about my gears. Especially since I used Genuine Gears. They don't whine or anything and it feels solid when I'm driving but they weren't really making noise when my pinion was all busted up.

I think in two weeks I'll put in some front gears. I'll be going with better quality gears this time. Also, I really will post my gear pattern and stuff. I apologize for not doing that on the rear ones. I was running out of time and I wasn't able to go get batteries in the middle of the project. I was lucky to get that pic of my pinion.

By the way, where can I find the best deal on a R&P set? Do you sell them Zuk?

 

Quick question, buying a geared diff and just pulling my old to replace with the new. What seal/gasket thing, if any, needs to go between the 3rd and axle housing it self?

TIA

 

You can get a paper gasket from Toyota or use Toyota orange FIPG sealant or something like Ultra Gray RTV:
- http://www.marlincrawler.com/htm/accessories.htm

 

Thanks 4crawler!

What do you recommend? Looks like the easiest way will be to go to Toyota and pick up a paper gasket and cleanest. That doesn't mean last the longest though...

 

I like the RTV or FIPG best. Why? Over time the paper gasket seems to start wicking gear oil and while you don't have a visible leak, it is just wet around the outside all the time. I did my rear diff with paper and the front with RTV and the front is bone dry while the back is constantly wet with a film of oil. When I redo the rear diff next time, it is getting RTV sealant. Yes, the paper is cleaner if you have to replace it again and maybe is you sprayed it down with some of that gasket sealer it might not wick so bad.

 

i used the diff specific formagasket on my diff this time when switching axle housings. When i rebuilt the diff i used a paper gasket from toyota they are cheap and work fine, just couldnt wait on the shipping this time. so far the formagasket has held up excellent.

 

The master rebuild kit comes with some Locktite brand blue silicon gasket maker. You just goo it on, and put everything back together.

 

I usually coat the paper gasket with a thin layer of FIPG or RTV on both sides