Introduction
Setting up the axle’s ring and pinion gears – it’s one of those jobs that even the most experienced 4x4 builders approach with hesitation. There’s probably no other job performed on a 4x4 that carries more mystique than how to set up gears. Why does the job have the reputation it has? Does it deserve it? Can even the first-timer get decent results at home? The answers, in order, are: “You’ll understand by the end of this article”, “sort of”, and “Yep, you sure can.”
There are four main reasons the job is on that very short list of tasks most of us like to avoid:
There's a LOT of material in this article - from background information to specific step-by-step instructions with accompanying photographs. At first glance it may seem a little intimidating in itself. It really isn't, but to help keep things clear in your mind - the I will begin with this chart outlining the basic steps involved in setting up gears. Keep it handy and refer to it often as you read along and you'll soon be a gear expert.
Quick Ref Steps:
Background
Automotive ring and pinion-gears are hypoid gears. Hypoid gears are gears that are shaped like a cone, have spiral teeth, and have offset axes (i.e. a line through the centre of the pinion will not intersect with a line through the centre of the ring-gear). Examine a ring and pinion and it’s easy to see that they have spiral (curved) teeth, but if you look closely you will also see that both the ring and pinion are shaped like the bottom chopped off a cone. The spiral teeth of the ring and pinion each have different spiral angles - creating a rolling or sliding contact as they mesh. This sliding contact begins gradually at one end of the teeth and continues smoothly to the other end. The contact is also overlapping; meaning contact on the next tooth begins before contact on the previous tooth has finished. This overlapping, sliding contact reduces noise and vibration and prevents the load from concentrating dangerously near either end of the tooth. In order to accomplish this sliding/overlapping contact without jamming, the curvature of the ring-gear teeth must be different from the curvature of the pinion-gear teeth. You can see in Figure 5 that the pinion-gear teeth curve much more than the ring-gear teeth. Because of this asymmetrical curvature, in order to achieve an equal amount of drive in both directions (imagine how odd it would be if you went farther forwards than backwards for an equal number of driveshaft revolutions) each of the teeth, on both ring and pinion, have unequal pressure angles. You can see an example of this by looking at the base (or root) of the ring-gear teeth in Figure 5 – notice how one angle is almost 90° and the other closer to 45°. The result is that the ring-gear teeth have a concave side and a slightly convex side. What all this fancy engineering means, is that in order to get the gears to be smooth, strong, and quiet we need to set them up very precisely. For example:
In short – there’s a darn good reason the job of setting up gears has the reputation is does and that the pros get paid good money to do it well; but with some patience and the right knowledge you can do a good job yourself.
Note: There are many different types and styles of automotive axle gears. Some have removable centre sections (Toyota, Ford 9 inch); some use adjusting rings for setting carrier-bearing preload (14 bolt) and some use shims (Dana); some use a collapsible spacer to set pinion-bearing preload (Dana 35), some use solid shims (Dana 70) and still others use one or the other, depending on the specific model (Dana 60). As such, it is not possible for me to cover every single detailed procedure for every type of axle. The procedures and pictures for this article I developed while setting up the gears in a Dana 60 front axle. However, the theory, naming conventions, and basic order of steps, as well as detailed procedures such as reading the gear tooth contact pattern, are applicable to any axle.
Nomenclature
I’m a real stickler for accurate and consistent naming conventions – probably because I’m so easily confused! There’s another good reason though. I always want to know, not only how something works, but why; because often we find ourselves custom-designing assemblies and components. When you are putting together your own hybrid axle, for instance, it suddenly becomes really important to understand whether part #46 in the diagram is in fact an oil-slinger, a gasket, or a thrust washer – because the three things have very different roles. The parts-counter guy may not know or care what the difference is, all five of your manuals and parts books might call it something slightly (or completely) different - but it’s going to be really important to you because the if, where, and how you use one in your custom axle is going to depend entirely on your understanding of what the part actually is and what it does. Having said that – I understand that some commonly used terms are so well entrenched, even though they might not be technically 100% correct, that to use any other term would simply cause greater confusion. Sometimes there are also two or more correct terms for the same thing, so in order to keep things as clear as possible the following pictures and diagrams illustrate the terms used in this article.
Figure 1 – Ring-gear nomenclature
Key:
A – Top. The top of the gear tooth, a.k.a. Face, Top Land
B – Root. The bottom of the gear tooth, a.k.a. Flank
C – Heel. The outside-diameter-end of the gear tooth
D – Toe. The inside-diameter-end of the gear tooth
E – Drive. The convex side of the gear tooth*
F – Coast. The concave side of the gear tooth*
* Don’t be mislead by the terms “coast” and “drive”, as the ring-gear can be driven by the pinion on either side of the teeth. Which side of the teeth will depend on if the gear-set is standard or reverse spiral and whether the vehicle is going forward or in reverse.
Figure 2 – Pinion nomenclature
Key:
A – Head
B – Inner Bearing Seat
C – Shaft
D – Shoulder
E – Outer Bearing Seat
F – Splines
G – Threads[/TD]
Figure 3 – Pinion assembly nomenclature
Key:
A – Pinion Nut
B – Pinion Nut Washer
C – Yoke (a.k.a. End Yoke or Flange)
D – Pinion Oil Seal.
E – Thrust washer
F – Outer Pinion-bearing
G – Outer Pinion Shims (a.k.a. Pinion Preload Shims)
H – Pinion-bearing Baffle
I – Inner Pinion Shims (a.k.a. Pinion Depth Shims)
J – Inner Pinion-bearing
K – Inner Pinion Slinger
L – Pinion (a.k.a. pinion-gear or drive pinion)[/TD]
Figure 4 – Carrier nomenclature
Key:
A – Housing (a.k.a. Pig, Pumpkin, Chunk, Centre Section)*
B – Ring-gear (a.k.a. Crown Gear)
C – Carrier (a.k.a. Diff, Differential, Case)*
D – Carrier-bearing Cap
E – Carrier-bearing Shims (a.k.a. Diff Bearing Shims)
* Note that technically, Dana/Spicer refer to part C as the “Case – Differential” or just “Case” and part A as the “Carrier.” However, most of us have been calling C the “Carrier” (and hence D the carrier-bearings and so forth) for so long that I shall stick to that to avoid confusion.
When describing the various bearings used in the diff, I shall use the term “bearing” to mean the two-piece assembly, “cup” to mean the race by itself and “cone” to indicate just the roller-bearing portion.
Theory
OK, so we know setting up the gears requires care and precision, but the entire process is really just a matter of adjusting four separate but inter-related settings until they all fall within specification. The four settings are:
Figure 5 – Backlash
Backlash
Definition: The amount by which a tooth space exceeds the thickness of an engaging tooth.
Think of it as: Play between the mating teeth of gears or how tightly the ring and pinion gears mesh together.
How Measured: Measured as the free movement of the ring-gear with pinion held steady, in thousandths of an inch, using a dial indicator on the ring-gear. In other words, you’re measuring how much you can rotate the ring-gear before it engages the pinion teeth – this is the space between the teeth – called “backlash.”
Adjusted Via: Carrier shims. Adding shims on the ring-gear side of the carrier moves the ring-gear closer to the pinion, causing the teeth to mesh more closely, decreasing the amount the ring-gear can rock without turning the pinion, and therefore decreasing the backlash. Adding shims on the non ring-gear side moves the ring-gear away from the pinion, increasing backlash. Note that: carrier shims added to one side must be subtracted from the other, and vice versa, to maintain a consistent carrier pre-load.
Note: Backlash changes about 0.007” for every 0.010” the carrier is moved. The purpose of having backlash (i.e. the reason gears aren’t set-up tight, with no play) is to prevent the gears from jamming together. Lack of backlash may cause noise, overloading, overheating, or seizing and failure of the gears or bearings.
Figure 6 – Pinion Depth
Pinion Depth
Definition: Position of pinion-gear relative to the ring-gear centreline, expressed as either a mounting distance (measured from behind the pinion head to the centreline of the ring-gear) or a checking distance (measured from the face of the pinion head to the centreline of the ring-gear).
Think of it as: How close the head of the pinion is to the centreline of the ring-gear. Proper pinion depth makes sure the pinion teeth mesh with the middle of the teeth on the ring-gear – between the top and the root. Increasing pinion depth moves the pinion closer to the centreline of the ring-gear, moving the pinion “deeper” into ring-gear teeth and reducing the checking distance.
How Measured: The final determination of correct pinion depth can only be obtained by reading and interpreting the gear tooth contact pattern using gear-marking compound. There exist specialized tools for measuring pinion depth, but they are expensive, aren’t necessary, and are only used to calculate a starting point – final proof always lies in the contact pattern.
Adjusted Via: Inner pinion shims placed between the housing and the inner pinion-bearing cup. Adding shims moves pinion closer to ring-gear centreline, moving the pattern from the top to the root. Removing shims moves pinion further away from ring-gear centreline, moving the pattern from the root to the top.
Note: When adjusting pinion depth, begin with a starting shim stack and make large adjustments at first (10-20 thou) until the correct setting is bracketed; then make progressively smaller adjustments until the final setting is achieved. Adding or subtracting a single shim of one thou can, and does, make a difference. Increasing pinion depth also decreases backlash and moves drive pattern slightly towards toe, and coast pattern slightly towards the heel. Decreasing pinion depth also increases backlash and moves the drive pattern slightly towards the heel, and the coast pattern slightly towards the toe. Increasing pinion depth will also increase pinion-bearing preload unless the outer pinion shims are adjusted.
Pinion-bearing Preload
Definition: Bearing preload is a measure of the rolling resistance in a bearing or “bearing stiffness”. As a cone is pressed against its cup, the point or line of contact between the roller and cup becomes larger, friction increases and preload is said to be higher. Correct bearing preload is a trade-off between bearing stiffness and the wear resulting from the preloading.
Think of it as: How tightly the pinion-bearing cones are pressed into their cups and consequently how stiff they are to rotate.
How Measured: An inch-pound torque wrench is used on the pinion nut to measure the torque required to rotate the installed pinion.
Adjusted Via: Outer pinion shims placed between the face of the outer pinion-bearing cone and the shoulder on the pinion shaft. Adding shims causes the pinion-bearings to be spaced away from their cups, reducing pre-load and vice-versa. Add shims to reduce pre-load and remove shims to increase preload.
Note: Pinion preload is normally specified without the carrier or axle shafts installed, with the yoke installed and pinion nut torqued to spec but with no pinion oil seal installed. An installed carrier can add 2-4 in-lbs and a new oil seal adds approx. 3 in-lbs. Too little preload diminishes load-bearing capacity as the load-bearing surfaces between rollers and cup are decreased. Too much preload increases friction, resulting in excessive noise, heat, and rapid wear.
Carrier-bearing Preload
Definition: See pinion-bearing preload
Think of it as: How tightly the carrier-bearing cones are pressed into their cups and consequently how stiff they are to rotate. Also controls how tightly the carrier is held in the housing.
How Measured: Not possible to measure directly.
Adjusted Via: Adding or subtracting an equal amount of carrier-bearing shims to both sides of the carrier. Ideally, total carrier shim stack (sum of both sides) should be approx. 0.015” larger than the available space, and a case spreader should be used. However, a case spreader is not critical, and a good approximation of carrier-bearing preload can be made by ensuring the carrier can only be installed with a few good blows from a dead-blow hammer.
Note: If carrier preload is too little, carrier will move away from pinion under load (squirm or deflect), increasing backlash. This could lead to insufficient gear tooth contact, resulting in chipping/breaking of gear teeth.
Figure 7 – Dial indicating inch-pound torque wrench
Tools
You will require a good, complete set of regular hand tools including the usual hammers, punches, wrenches, sockets, and the like. Air tools are not a must, but will certainly make the job a lot faster and easier. You will also need the following:
Step by step procedure
Before beginning this, or for that matter any other job on your rig, be sure you have and actually use proper safety equipment –especially eye protection. It’s not just some lame legal requirement that makes me say that – it’s the fact that I have a synthetic lens in my left eye and a rather painful memory of a piece of steel wire sticking half an inch into my eyeball. So just wear the gear, OK?
There are four main phases to the job of setting up the gears. They are:
Disassembly
Disassembly is straightforward. If you’re not completely confident at this point, it might be an idea to consult a manual or have a buddy help – even if only for moral support. Personally, my buddy likes to stand around and make what I’m sure he imagines are clever remarks while drinking my beer. I won’t mention any names to protect the guilty – but he does the most amazing 3-D technical drawings! I, of course, respond by making him count ring and pinion teeth and clean old bolts with a toothbrush! Having said that, the following points are worth mentioning:
Preparation
First, assemble all the required tools and parts, clear a place to work, and then clean and inspect all the components, including the new ones. You need to remove any protective coatings or packing debris and it’s not unheard of for new bearings or shims to have flaws, and now is the time to find out if they do. You should also take the time to measure all the new shims with the micrometer and label each one with a fine-tip permanent marker. This will make the job of making adjustments much easier. I recommend starting with a good quality master install kit and always use new bearings – it’s cheap insurance and gives peace-of-mind. You must also never re-use a pinion nut or ring-gear bolts. I have a preference for Dana / Spicer gears and set-up kits and Timken bearings but there are other good quality components. I would, however, recommend avoiding the Motive Gear install kits as they give you an inadequate number of shims, and those included, according to my measurements, come in odd and confusing dimensions like 12.4, 14.8, and 16.5 thou; compared to the Dana shims I used which were all standard dimensions like 3, 10, and 20 thou, and varied by no more than 0.0001”.
Figure 8 – Master install kit contents
A complete master-install kit containing everything you need should include:
Many also include some cheap thread-locker and silicone RTV gasket-maker, which I usually throw away in favour of my own favourite brands. The condition of the old parts will determine whether you need to buy any required slingers, baffles, or thrust washers. Depending on whether you are starting with a complete axle assembly or a bare housing and collection of used parts, this can be a little confusing.
To aid in identifying and ordering components, below is a 3D exploded diagram of the venerable Dana 60, complete with Spicer and Timken part numbers:
This is no ordinary "picture" or "diagram". It's a 'built from scratch', fully rendered, 3D engineering diagram created especially for this article by BillaVista Offroad Tech's own graphic artist, Lonny Handwork. The version seen above doesn't even begin to do it justice. Below you can either (left-click->open) or (right-click->save as) a number of different versions that more accurately showcase the incredible detail, lighting, and shadowing.
Figure 9 - Dana/Spicer Model 60/248 axle in:
No matter what axle you are working on, you should always order an extra pinion nut for use during set-up. The reason is, you absolutely must use a brand-new nut during the final assembly otherwise it will almost certainly loosen as it is a soft, deformed-thread style locknut designed to be used only once. You don’t want to use the old nut for set-up as it’s probably in poor shape and you risk ruining the pinion threads, so you need one new nut for set-up and one new nut for final assembly.
Whatever components you choose, make sure you get them from a knowledgeable and reliable source – it’s very frustrating to get the wrong parts and if you screw up or need help, a trusted vendor is worth his weight in gold. I’m a big fan of Ted at Peak Empire Extreme Offroad Inc. and can highly recommend him – in fact, there’s a funny anecdote later (well, funny now – looking back) about how Ted saved my butt after a ridiculous blunder I made that almost kept this article from being written!
The last tasks before proceeding are:
Figure 11 – Gear-set number on pinion-gear
The nominal checking distance for a Dana 60 pinion is 3.125”. However, each matching gear-set will have its own ideal checking distance. Often (but not always) a pinion will be marked with a figure that shows, in thousandths of an inch, the difference between the nominal distance and that gear-set’s ideal distance. The pinion in Figure 11 is engraved with “+4” which indicates that its ideal checking distance is four thousands of an inch greater than nominal, or 3.125” + 0.004” = 3.129”. The exact figure is not really important to us, but if both pinions have such a marking the markings should be recorded now as they can be used to help calculate the starting inner pinion shim stack. Copy down the number and its sign from both old and new pinions. If you’re starting without an old gear-set or if one of the pinions doesn’t have a checking distance marking – don’t bother, as you will have to use a different method to calculate a starting shim stack.
Figure 10 – Counter-clockwise spiral ring-gear teeth
You can distinguish standard cut gears from reverse spiral by looking at the face of the ring-gear and the face of the pinion. Standard-cut gears will have ring-gear teeth that spiral out from the centre in a clockwise or right-hand direction and pinion-gear teeth that spiral counter-clockwise. Reverse-spiral gears will have ring-gear teeth that spiral counter-clockwise and pinion teeth that spiral clockwise. Figure 10 illustrates counter-clockwise reverse spiral ring-gear teeth. Figure 11 illustrates clockwise, reverse spiral pinion teeth.
Figure 12 – Ring-gear set number and tooth count
Ring and pinion-gears must always be used in matched sets, or the teeth will never mesh correctly. Each gear-set is stamped with an identifying “set number” on both the pinion and ring-gear. Figure 11 shows the set-number on the pinion, circled in yellow. Figure 12 shows the same number stamped on the ring-gear.
To check a gear-set’s ratio, count the number of teeth on the ring-gear, and divide by the number of teeth on the pinion. For example, a 4.10 gear-set will have 41 ring-gear teeth and 10 pinion teeth. The number of teeth will also be stamped on both the ring-gear (Figure 12, blue circle) and on the shaft of the pinion.
If all the numbers match up the next step is to make your set-up bearings. Since you will have to install and remove the bearings repeatedly in order to change shims while adjusting the gears, you need to make a set of cones and cups that will slip easily in and out of the housing and on and off the carrier and pinion so you can avoid pulling and pressing the new bearings each time. Not only does this make the job faster and much easier, but it also avoids damage to the new bearings that would otherwise almost certainly occur with repeated removal and installation. Using a small rotary tool such as a hone, grinding stone, or sanding drum:
The old carrier-bearing cups can be used as-is for set-up, and the new inner pinion-bearing cone and outer pinion-bearing cup are installed immediately and left in place throughout the set-up and final assembly.
The last step before you actually begin is to calculate the starting shim stacks. There are several different methods, the choice of which will depend on the circumstances as outlined below. The more accurate this calculation, the faster the actual set-up adjustments will go, but in the end, any of the methods will work as you just need to calculate a place to start. Whichever method is used, you should always set up gears using new shims rather than re-using the old.
Starting shim stack calculations
If you are just changing the gears or if you are replacing the carrier and re-using the old gears, the quickest method is to simply start with new shims equal to the old shim stacks. You should measure each shim individually when calculating the old and assembling the new shim stacks, as measuring a stack of shims together can lead to inaccuracies. Note that any slingers or baffles (i.e. part numbers 2 and 6 in Figure 9) form part of the inner pinion shim stack. This means that if you are re-using gears that had a slinger or baffle (or both), but you aren't re-using the slinger and/or baffle, you must add the thickness of the deleted slinger/baffle to the starting inner pinion shim stack. The same is true in reverse. If you are using a slinger and/or baffle with a set of gears that didn't use them originally, you must delete the thickness of the newly added slinger/baffle from the starting inner pinion shim stack.
If both the old and new pinions have checking distance markings (aka depth codes), the starting point for the new inner pinion shim stack can be further refined as follows:
Alternatively, you can use the following chart to calculate a new inner pinion shim stack
Setting up the axle’s ring and pinion gears – it’s one of those jobs that even the most experienced 4x4 builders approach with hesitation. There’s probably no other job performed on a 4x4 that carries more mystique than how to set up gears. Why does the job have the reputation it has? Does it deserve it? Can even the first-timer get decent results at home? The answers, in order, are: “You’ll understand by the end of this article”, “sort of”, and “Yep, you sure can.”
There are four main reasons the job is on that very short list of tasks most of us like to avoid:
- Tools. There are a number of specialized tools required to do the job, most of which are not commonly found in the home shop. The good news is, some of them we can work around not having and the others are cool tools you should have and have been meaning to get anyway!
- Time. There are several inter-related adjustments that must be made, each affecting the other, so that time and patience are required as one “juggles” the adjustments to arrive at the best solution. You can’t just set one thing in isolation and move on to the next – as you change backlash, so you change pinion depth; adjust pinion depth and you will alter bearing preload and so on. However, taking the time to do it right yourself is extremely rewarding.
- Precision. “Close” is definitely not good enough in gear set-up. There are exact specifications and minute tolerances that must be met – and with very good reason. The ring and pinion-gears are the place where all your engine’s power gets turned 90° - from the longitudinal axis of the crankshaft-driveshaft to the lateral axis of the axle shafts. Doing so places enormous stress on the differential carrier and gear teeth. In order to withstand these stresses without failure, the teeth on the ring and pinion must fit together, or mesh, precisely.
- Consequence of failure. Fail to set up the gears properly - and deflection under load could cause a spike in localized tooth pressure, chipping or fragmenting the gears. Also, bearings that are improperly set up can overheat and seize. The damage caused by poor set-up can be quite severe - often destroying other nearby parts.
There's a LOT of material in this article - from background information to specific step-by-step instructions with accompanying photographs. At first glance it may seem a little intimidating in itself. It really isn't, but to help keep things clear in your mind - the I will begin with this chart outlining the basic steps involved in setting up gears. Keep it handy and refer to it often as you read along and you'll soon be a gear expert.
Quick Ref Steps:
- Assemble all tools and parts in clean work space
- Disassemble, clean, and inspect all parts
- Make set-up bearings if required
- Measure and label new shims
- Calculate starting shim stacks
- Install ring-gear, starting shims, and set-up bearings
- Set backlash
- Set pinion depth and pinion-bearing preload
- Check contact pattern and adjust as required
- Re-check backlash and contact pattern
- Set carrier preload
- Install new races and bearings
- Final check of backlash, contact pattern, and preload
- Install pinion seal and new pinion nut
- Install cover and add lube
- Break in gears
- Change lube
Background
Automotive ring and pinion-gears are hypoid gears. Hypoid gears are gears that are shaped like a cone, have spiral teeth, and have offset axes (i.e. a line through the centre of the pinion will not intersect with a line through the centre of the ring-gear). Examine a ring and pinion and it’s easy to see that they have spiral (curved) teeth, but if you look closely you will also see that both the ring and pinion are shaped like the bottom chopped off a cone. The spiral teeth of the ring and pinion each have different spiral angles - creating a rolling or sliding contact as they mesh. This sliding contact begins gradually at one end of the teeth and continues smoothly to the other end. The contact is also overlapping; meaning contact on the next tooth begins before contact on the previous tooth has finished. This overlapping, sliding contact reduces noise and vibration and prevents the load from concentrating dangerously near either end of the tooth. In order to accomplish this sliding/overlapping contact without jamming, the curvature of the ring-gear teeth must be different from the curvature of the pinion-gear teeth. You can see in Figure 5 that the pinion-gear teeth curve much more than the ring-gear teeth. Because of this asymmetrical curvature, in order to achieve an equal amount of drive in both directions (imagine how odd it would be if you went farther forwards than backwards for an equal number of driveshaft revolutions) each of the teeth, on both ring and pinion, have unequal pressure angles. You can see an example of this by looking at the base (or root) of the ring-gear teeth in Figure 5 – notice how one angle is almost 90° and the other closer to 45°. The result is that the ring-gear teeth have a concave side and a slightly convex side. What all this fancy engineering means, is that in order to get the gears to be smooth, strong, and quiet we need to set them up very precisely. For example:
- Mountings must be rigid enough to minimize deflection of the gears under load, so that localized tooth pressure doesn’t rise too high and cause tooth breakage. This means axle housings must be true and square, bearing caps must be matched, and carriers must be strong.
- Gears must be held in proper alignment throughout a wide range of operating speeds and loads. This requires roller bearings in good condition and with proper pre-load.
- Tooth contact (mesh) must be carefully controlled so that tooth contact stress is spread out and not localized, otherwise surface damage to the teeth, tooth breakage, and noisy operation result. This means using only matched ring and pinion sets and accurately setting backlash and pinion depth.
- Proper lubricant must be used to withstand the high lubricant shearing forces encountered between the teeth as they mesh. This means using properly rated hypoid gear oil and setting enough backlash in the assembled gears to allow space for a sufficient lubricant film on the gear teeth. If the teeth mesh too closely (insufficient backlash) the oil may be squeezed out from between the teeth or become trapped at the root of the teeth causing heat and excessive tooth loading.
In short – there’s a darn good reason the job of setting up gears has the reputation is does and that the pros get paid good money to do it well; but with some patience and the right knowledge you can do a good job yourself.
Note: There are many different types and styles of automotive axle gears. Some have removable centre sections (Toyota, Ford 9 inch); some use adjusting rings for setting carrier-bearing preload (14 bolt) and some use shims (Dana); some use a collapsible spacer to set pinion-bearing preload (Dana 35), some use solid shims (Dana 70) and still others use one or the other, depending on the specific model (Dana 60). As such, it is not possible for me to cover every single detailed procedure for every type of axle. The procedures and pictures for this article I developed while setting up the gears in a Dana 60 front axle. However, the theory, naming conventions, and basic order of steps, as well as detailed procedures such as reading the gear tooth contact pattern, are applicable to any axle.
Nomenclature
I’m a real stickler for accurate and consistent naming conventions – probably because I’m so easily confused! There’s another good reason though. I always want to know, not only how something works, but why; because often we find ourselves custom-designing assemblies and components. When you are putting together your own hybrid axle, for instance, it suddenly becomes really important to understand whether part #46 in the diagram is in fact an oil-slinger, a gasket, or a thrust washer – because the three things have very different roles. The parts-counter guy may not know or care what the difference is, all five of your manuals and parts books might call it something slightly (or completely) different - but it’s going to be really important to you because the if, where, and how you use one in your custom axle is going to depend entirely on your understanding of what the part actually is and what it does. Having said that – I understand that some commonly used terms are so well entrenched, even though they might not be technically 100% correct, that to use any other term would simply cause greater confusion. Sometimes there are also two or more correct terms for the same thing, so in order to keep things as clear as possible the following pictures and diagrams illustrate the terms used in this article.
Figure 1 – Ring-gear nomenclature
Key:
A – Top. The top of the gear tooth, a.k.a. Face, Top Land
B – Root. The bottom of the gear tooth, a.k.a. Flank
C – Heel. The outside-diameter-end of the gear tooth
D – Toe. The inside-diameter-end of the gear tooth
E – Drive. The convex side of the gear tooth*
F – Coast. The concave side of the gear tooth*
* Don’t be mislead by the terms “coast” and “drive”, as the ring-gear can be driven by the pinion on either side of the teeth. Which side of the teeth will depend on if the gear-set is standard or reverse spiral and whether the vehicle is going forward or in reverse.
Figure 2 – Pinion nomenclature
Key:
A – Head
B – Inner Bearing Seat
C – Shaft
D – Shoulder
E – Outer Bearing Seat
F – Splines
G – Threads[/TD]
Figure 3 – Pinion assembly nomenclature
Key:
A – Pinion Nut
B – Pinion Nut Washer
C – Yoke (a.k.a. End Yoke or Flange)
D – Pinion Oil Seal.
E – Thrust washer
F – Outer Pinion-bearing
G – Outer Pinion Shims (a.k.a. Pinion Preload Shims)
H – Pinion-bearing Baffle
I – Inner Pinion Shims (a.k.a. Pinion Depth Shims)
J – Inner Pinion-bearing
K – Inner Pinion Slinger
L – Pinion (a.k.a. pinion-gear or drive pinion)[/TD]
Figure 4 – Carrier nomenclature
Key:
A – Housing (a.k.a. Pig, Pumpkin, Chunk, Centre Section)*
B – Ring-gear (a.k.a. Crown Gear)
C – Carrier (a.k.a. Diff, Differential, Case)*
D – Carrier-bearing Cap
E – Carrier-bearing Shims (a.k.a. Diff Bearing Shims)
* Note that technically, Dana/Spicer refer to part C as the “Case – Differential” or just “Case” and part A as the “Carrier.” However, most of us have been calling C the “Carrier” (and hence D the carrier-bearings and so forth) for so long that I shall stick to that to avoid confusion.
When describing the various bearings used in the diff, I shall use the term “bearing” to mean the two-piece assembly, “cup” to mean the race by itself and “cone” to indicate just the roller-bearing portion.
Theory
OK, so we know setting up the gears requires care and precision, but the entire process is really just a matter of adjusting four separate but inter-related settings until they all fall within specification. The four settings are:
Figure 5 – Backlash
Backlash
Definition: The amount by which a tooth space exceeds the thickness of an engaging tooth.
Think of it as: Play between the mating teeth of gears or how tightly the ring and pinion gears mesh together.
How Measured: Measured as the free movement of the ring-gear with pinion held steady, in thousandths of an inch, using a dial indicator on the ring-gear. In other words, you’re measuring how much you can rotate the ring-gear before it engages the pinion teeth – this is the space between the teeth – called “backlash.”
Adjusted Via: Carrier shims. Adding shims on the ring-gear side of the carrier moves the ring-gear closer to the pinion, causing the teeth to mesh more closely, decreasing the amount the ring-gear can rock without turning the pinion, and therefore decreasing the backlash. Adding shims on the non ring-gear side moves the ring-gear away from the pinion, increasing backlash. Note that: carrier shims added to one side must be subtracted from the other, and vice versa, to maintain a consistent carrier pre-load.
Note: Backlash changes about 0.007” for every 0.010” the carrier is moved. The purpose of having backlash (i.e. the reason gears aren’t set-up tight, with no play) is to prevent the gears from jamming together. Lack of backlash may cause noise, overloading, overheating, or seizing and failure of the gears or bearings.
Figure 6 – Pinion Depth
Pinion Depth
Definition: Position of pinion-gear relative to the ring-gear centreline, expressed as either a mounting distance (measured from behind the pinion head to the centreline of the ring-gear) or a checking distance (measured from the face of the pinion head to the centreline of the ring-gear).
Think of it as: How close the head of the pinion is to the centreline of the ring-gear. Proper pinion depth makes sure the pinion teeth mesh with the middle of the teeth on the ring-gear – between the top and the root. Increasing pinion depth moves the pinion closer to the centreline of the ring-gear, moving the pinion “deeper” into ring-gear teeth and reducing the checking distance.
How Measured: The final determination of correct pinion depth can only be obtained by reading and interpreting the gear tooth contact pattern using gear-marking compound. There exist specialized tools for measuring pinion depth, but they are expensive, aren’t necessary, and are only used to calculate a starting point – final proof always lies in the contact pattern.
Adjusted Via: Inner pinion shims placed between the housing and the inner pinion-bearing cup. Adding shims moves pinion closer to ring-gear centreline, moving the pattern from the top to the root. Removing shims moves pinion further away from ring-gear centreline, moving the pattern from the root to the top.
Note: When adjusting pinion depth, begin with a starting shim stack and make large adjustments at first (10-20 thou) until the correct setting is bracketed; then make progressively smaller adjustments until the final setting is achieved. Adding or subtracting a single shim of one thou can, and does, make a difference. Increasing pinion depth also decreases backlash and moves drive pattern slightly towards toe, and coast pattern slightly towards the heel. Decreasing pinion depth also increases backlash and moves the drive pattern slightly towards the heel, and the coast pattern slightly towards the toe. Increasing pinion depth will also increase pinion-bearing preload unless the outer pinion shims are adjusted.
Pinion-bearing Preload
Definition: Bearing preload is a measure of the rolling resistance in a bearing or “bearing stiffness”. As a cone is pressed against its cup, the point or line of contact between the roller and cup becomes larger, friction increases and preload is said to be higher. Correct bearing preload is a trade-off between bearing stiffness and the wear resulting from the preloading.
Think of it as: How tightly the pinion-bearing cones are pressed into their cups and consequently how stiff they are to rotate.
How Measured: An inch-pound torque wrench is used on the pinion nut to measure the torque required to rotate the installed pinion.
Adjusted Via: Outer pinion shims placed between the face of the outer pinion-bearing cone and the shoulder on the pinion shaft. Adding shims causes the pinion-bearings to be spaced away from their cups, reducing pre-load and vice-versa. Add shims to reduce pre-load and remove shims to increase preload.
Note: Pinion preload is normally specified without the carrier or axle shafts installed, with the yoke installed and pinion nut torqued to spec but with no pinion oil seal installed. An installed carrier can add 2-4 in-lbs and a new oil seal adds approx. 3 in-lbs. Too little preload diminishes load-bearing capacity as the load-bearing surfaces between rollers and cup are decreased. Too much preload increases friction, resulting in excessive noise, heat, and rapid wear.
Carrier-bearing Preload
Definition: See pinion-bearing preload
Think of it as: How tightly the carrier-bearing cones are pressed into their cups and consequently how stiff they are to rotate. Also controls how tightly the carrier is held in the housing.
How Measured: Not possible to measure directly.
Adjusted Via: Adding or subtracting an equal amount of carrier-bearing shims to both sides of the carrier. Ideally, total carrier shim stack (sum of both sides) should be approx. 0.015” larger than the available space, and a case spreader should be used. However, a case spreader is not critical, and a good approximation of carrier-bearing preload can be made by ensuring the carrier can only be installed with a few good blows from a dead-blow hammer.
Note: If carrier preload is too little, carrier will move away from pinion under load (squirm or deflect), increasing backlash. This could lead to insufficient gear tooth contact, resulting in chipping/breaking of gear teeth.
Figure 7 – Dial indicating inch-pound torque wrench
Tools
You will require a good, complete set of regular hand tools including the usual hammers, punches, wrenches, sockets, and the like. Air tools are not a must, but will certainly make the job a lot faster and easier. You will also need the following:
- Foot-pound torque wrench - you need one capable of reading at least 250 ft-lbs for torquing the pinion nut, which affects pinion-bearing preload. You can try to do without, and use a “calibrated-by-feel” cheater bar or impact wrench but you will seriously compromise your set-up if you do.
- Inch-pound torque wrench – needed for reading pinion-bearing preload. “Experts” sometimes claim to be able to set this by feel. Those with a great deal of experience or a gifted touch probably can - but it's not a recommended approach for most. I certainly can’t and wouldn’t want to make do without this tool – again, it directly impacts one of the four major settings you’re trying to get right. Because you need to use the tool to measure torque while rotating the pinion, a “click-style” torque wrench will not work – you must use a beam-style or better yet a dial indicating torque wrench. Figure 7 shows the Armstrong quarter-inch drive, 0-75 in-lb model I talked myself into, despite its near $300 cost. I understand that beam-style wrenches can be purchased for much less at bicycle shops.
- Dial Indicator – needed to measure run-out, backlash, and carrier shim stacks. It might be possible to get backlash close simply by reading the contact pattern, but with specs in the range of four to ten thousandths of an inch, you’re going to get a pretty rough job without a dial indicator.
- 0-1” micrometer callipers – needed for measuring both old and new shims. You simply cannot do the job without this one.
- Set-up bearings – needed to avoid damaging real bearings and/or going insane while pulling and pressing the bearings on and off the dozen or more times you’re likely to need to while making adjustments to shim stacks. Take my advice – don’t even think about doing the job without set-up bearings. Besides, you can easily make your own set-up bearings from the old bearings – which also gives you all the reason you need to use new bearings when setting up gears – something I recommend anyway.
- Gear marking compound and brush – for reading the gear tooth contact pattern, the most critical part of the entire job – you simply can’t do without it.
- Bearing pullers and/or bearing separators with a press. Depending on their size, you will need one or both of these to remove the old bearing cones from the pinion and carrier. I have seen folks attempt the work with hammer and punch (ahem, cough) and the results are predictably disastrous. Don’t ask why I have a large pile of ruined bearings in the corner please!
- Bearing / seal drivers and/or press – appropriate drivers are required to install the carrier-bearing cones on the carrier (a press is much preferred, but it can be done carefully with hammer and driver), the pinion cups in the housing (a driver must be used), and the bearing cones on the pinion (press preferred for inner pinion-bearing cone, driver must be used for outer). You can often fabricate your own drivers, or at least the shafts, from scrap pipe or tube; but the face should be soft (aluminum or brass) to avoid damaging the new bearings.
- Pinion-nut socket – a 15/16” socket is required for the Dana 60 pinion nut, with a sufficiently thin wall to fit in the yoke.
- Pry bars – required for removing the carrier from the housing in most cases. A case spreader would be better still, but is not essential.
- Dead-blow hammer – needed for seating the carrier and/or pinion in the housing, especially if a case spreader is not used. A dead-blow hammer is like a combination of a mallet and a hammer: heavy like a hammer, soft-faced like a mallet to avoid damaging components. It also has a moving weight inside to reduce “bounce-back” when a blow is struck (hence the name “dead blow”).
- Punch or stamp – for marking carrier-bearing caps so that they can be reinstalled correctly.
- Assorted wrenches, sockets, screwdrivers, oil drain pan, silicone RTV, thread-locker, vice, hammers, parts cleaner, rags, and a 3-foot breaker bar or large impact wrench.
Step by step procedure
Before beginning this, or for that matter any other job on your rig, be sure you have and actually use proper safety equipment –especially eye protection. It’s not just some lame legal requirement that makes me say that – it’s the fact that I have a synthetic lens in my left eye and a rather painful memory of a piece of steel wire sticking half an inch into my eyeball. So just wear the gear, OK?
There are four main phases to the job of setting up the gears. They are:
- Disassembly, cleaning and inspection
- Prep and calculation of starting shim stacks
- Installation and adjustment using set-up bearings
- Installation of new bearings, reassembly, and final check
Disassembly
Disassembly is straightforward. If you’re not completely confident at this point, it might be an idea to consult a manual or have a buddy help – even if only for moral support. Personally, my buddy likes to stand around and make what I’m sure he imagines are clever remarks while drinking my beer. I won’t mention any names to protect the guilty – but he does the most amazing 3-D technical drawings! I, of course, respond by making him count ring and pinion teeth and clean old bolts with a toothbrush! Having said that, the following points are worth mentioning:
- You can set-up gears with the axle in the vehicle, but it is a pain. I highly recommend you remove the axle first. If you leave it in the vehicle, removing and reinstalling the gears while you adjust the shims becomes such a PITA that you’re liable to lose patience and compromise your set-up.
- Be sure to mark the carrier-bearing caps with a punch so that they can be reinstalled in the exact location and orientation as they were originally.
- As you disassemble the carrier and pinion, makes sure you label all shims, bearings, baffles, and washers with their original location, orientation, and dimensions.
- When you drive the pinion out of the housing, do not smash the threads with a great big hammer – use a brass punch. However, do not get so distracted with thinking how clever you are to have thought of this for once, that you happily drive the pinion from the housing only to watch it fall four feet and smash onto the concrete floor!
Preparation
First, assemble all the required tools and parts, clear a place to work, and then clean and inspect all the components, including the new ones. You need to remove any protective coatings or packing debris and it’s not unheard of for new bearings or shims to have flaws, and now is the time to find out if they do. You should also take the time to measure all the new shims with the micrometer and label each one with a fine-tip permanent marker. This will make the job of making adjustments much easier. I recommend starting with a good quality master install kit and always use new bearings – it’s cheap insurance and gives peace-of-mind. You must also never re-use a pinion nut or ring-gear bolts. I have a preference for Dana / Spicer gears and set-up kits and Timken bearings but there are other good quality components. I would, however, recommend avoiding the Motive Gear install kits as they give you an inadequate number of shims, and those included, according to my measurements, come in odd and confusing dimensions like 12.4, 14.8, and 16.5 thou; compared to the Dana shims I used which were all standard dimensions like 3, 10, and 20 thou, and varied by no more than 0.0001”.
Figure 8 – Master install kit contents
A complete master-install kit containing everything you need should include:
- Gear marking compound
- Pinion crush sleeve (if required)
- Pinion nut
- Ring-gear bolts
- Inner pinion, carrier, and outer pinion shims
- Outer and inner pinion-bearings
- Carrier-bearings
- Pinion oil seal
Many also include some cheap thread-locker and silicone RTV gasket-maker, which I usually throw away in favour of my own favourite brands. The condition of the old parts will determine whether you need to buy any required slingers, baffles, or thrust washers. Depending on whether you are starting with a complete axle assembly or a bare housing and collection of used parts, this can be a little confusing.
To aid in identifying and ordering components, below is a 3D exploded diagram of the venerable Dana 60, complete with Spicer and Timken part numbers:
This is no ordinary "picture" or "diagram". It's a 'built from scratch', fully rendered, 3D engineering diagram created especially for this article by BillaVista Offroad Tech's own graphic artist, Lonny Handwork. The version seen above doesn't even begin to do it justice. Below you can either (left-click->open) or (right-click->save as) a number of different versions that more accurately showcase the incredible detail, lighting, and shadowing.
Figure 9 - Dana/Spicer Model 60/248 axle in:
- Small jpeg (800 x 518) 124Kb
- Medium jpeg (1200 x 776) 251Kb
- Large jpeg (2400 x 1553) 819Kb
- Xtra-Large jpeg (4800 x 3106) 2.7Mb
- Full-size jpeg (5100 x 3300) 4.2Mb
- Adobe pdf (17" x 11") 2.9Mb
No matter what axle you are working on, you should always order an extra pinion nut for use during set-up. The reason is, you absolutely must use a brand-new nut during the final assembly otherwise it will almost certainly loosen as it is a soft, deformed-thread style locknut designed to be used only once. You don’t want to use the old nut for set-up as it’s probably in poor shape and you risk ruining the pinion threads, so you need one new nut for set-up and one new nut for final assembly.
Whatever components you choose, make sure you get them from a knowledgeable and reliable source – it’s very frustrating to get the wrong parts and if you screw up or need help, a trusted vendor is worth his weight in gold. I’m a big fan of Ted at Peak Empire Extreme Offroad Inc. and can highly recommend him – in fact, there’s a funny anecdote later (well, funny now – looking back) about how Ted saved my butt after a ridiculous blunder I made that almost kept this article from being written!
The last tasks before proceeding are:
- note the checking distance markings on the old and new pinions
- make sure your gears are standard or reverse spiral as required
- check that the gears are a matched set, and
- check that the gears are the ratio that you need.
Figure 11 – Gear-set number on pinion-gear
The nominal checking distance for a Dana 60 pinion is 3.125”. However, each matching gear-set will have its own ideal checking distance. Often (but not always) a pinion will be marked with a figure that shows, in thousandths of an inch, the difference between the nominal distance and that gear-set’s ideal distance. The pinion in Figure 11 is engraved with “+4” which indicates that its ideal checking distance is four thousands of an inch greater than nominal, or 3.125” + 0.004” = 3.129”. The exact figure is not really important to us, but if both pinions have such a marking the markings should be recorded now as they can be used to help calculate the starting inner pinion shim stack. Copy down the number and its sign from both old and new pinions. If you’re starting without an old gear-set or if one of the pinions doesn’t have a checking distance marking – don’t bother, as you will have to use a different method to calculate a starting shim stack.
Figure 10 – Counter-clockwise spiral ring-gear teeth
You can distinguish standard cut gears from reverse spiral by looking at the face of the ring-gear and the face of the pinion. Standard-cut gears will have ring-gear teeth that spiral out from the centre in a clockwise or right-hand direction and pinion-gear teeth that spiral counter-clockwise. Reverse-spiral gears will have ring-gear teeth that spiral counter-clockwise and pinion teeth that spiral clockwise. Figure 10 illustrates counter-clockwise reverse spiral ring-gear teeth. Figure 11 illustrates clockwise, reverse spiral pinion teeth.
Figure 12 – Ring-gear set number and tooth count
Ring and pinion-gears must always be used in matched sets, or the teeth will never mesh correctly. Each gear-set is stamped with an identifying “set number” on both the pinion and ring-gear. Figure 11 shows the set-number on the pinion, circled in yellow. Figure 12 shows the same number stamped on the ring-gear.
To check a gear-set’s ratio, count the number of teeth on the ring-gear, and divide by the number of teeth on the pinion. For example, a 4.10 gear-set will have 41 ring-gear teeth and 10 pinion teeth. The number of teeth will also be stamped on both the ring-gear (Figure 12, blue circle) and on the shaft of the pinion.
If all the numbers match up the next step is to make your set-up bearings. Since you will have to install and remove the bearings repeatedly in order to change shims while adjusting the gears, you need to make a set of cones and cups that will slip easily in and out of the housing and on and off the carrier and pinion so you can avoid pulling and pressing the new bearings each time. Not only does this make the job faster and much easier, but it also avoids damage to the new bearings that would otherwise almost certainly occur with repeated removal and installation. Using a small rotary tool such as a hone, grinding stone, or sanding drum:
- Hone out the ID of the carrier-bearing cones until they are a firm slip-fit on the journals on the carrier;
- Hone out the ID of the outer pinion-bearing cone until it is a firm slip-fit on the pinion; and
- Shave down the OD of the inner pinion-bearing cup until it is a hand press-fit into the housing.
The old carrier-bearing cups can be used as-is for set-up, and the new inner pinion-bearing cone and outer pinion-bearing cup are installed immediately and left in place throughout the set-up and final assembly.
The last step before you actually begin is to calculate the starting shim stacks. There are several different methods, the choice of which will depend on the circumstances as outlined below. The more accurate this calculation, the faster the actual set-up adjustments will go, but in the end, any of the methods will work as you just need to calculate a place to start. Whichever method is used, you should always set up gears using new shims rather than re-using the old.
Starting shim stack calculations
If you are just changing the gears or if you are replacing the carrier and re-using the old gears, the quickest method is to simply start with new shims equal to the old shim stacks. You should measure each shim individually when calculating the old and assembling the new shim stacks, as measuring a stack of shims together can lead to inaccuracies. Note that any slingers or baffles (i.e. part numbers 2 and 6 in Figure 9) form part of the inner pinion shim stack. This means that if you are re-using gears that had a slinger or baffle (or both), but you aren't re-using the slinger and/or baffle, you must add the thickness of the deleted slinger/baffle to the starting inner pinion shim stack. The same is true in reverse. If you are using a slinger and/or baffle with a set of gears that didn't use them originally, you must delete the thickness of the newly added slinger/baffle from the starting inner pinion shim stack.
If both the old and new pinions have checking distance markings (aka depth codes), the starting point for the new inner pinion shim stack can be further refined as follows:
- calculate the size of the old shim stack.
- calculate the adjustment by subtracting the new pinion marking from the old, being careful to observe the signs. For example, if the old pinion marking is (+4) and the new pinion marking is (-2) the result will be (4)-(-2) = (4)+(2)=(6). If the old number was (0) and the new number (+2), the result would be (0)-(2)=(-2).
- If the adjustment figure is negative, subtract that many thousandths of an inch from the shim stack and if the adjustment number is positive, add that that many thousandths of an inch to the shim stack.
- Example: old shim stack = 0.035” (35 thou), old pinion marking is (-2), new pinion marking is (+1). Adjustment =(-2)-(1)=(-3). New shim stack will be (35)-(3)=32 thou.
Alternatively, you can use the following chart to calculate a new inner pinion shim stack
New Pinion Marking |