should I pay some one to set up ring and pinions?

[Jeepmangled87]

My friends and I can tear apart axles and do all sorts of crazy stuff but should I pay for someone to setup my ring and pinions on my axles or should I just give it a shot and do it myself? I know the front isnt as important as the rear but I dont have the right tools for the job? Can it be done without all the exspensive tools? Im sure this has been covered before but Im to lazy to search.

[Shawn]

If you have to ask,,,

Then you shouldn't be doing it.

[Blazerman1]

You must have an indicator and some way to hold it! I set the front up on mine and it was one hell of a learning experiance. If you do much driving at freeway speeds then I would have a shop setup the rear. The front do it your self, the only way your are going to learn about it is to just do it your self. That's the best way to learn.
But that's just me.
Good luck!

[cmk]

Depending on the axle(s), it's likely you're gonna' need more than just an indicator.

I can say with certainty that you're gonna' need a press and the right tooling to get the bearings off and back on. Even if you use all new bearings, you'll still need some way to get them on cleanly.

My opinion ... unless you have access to a buddy that has everything, knows what he is doing, and is willing to hold your hand, don't do it yourself, there is too much at risk.

cm "done half a dozen gear swaps .... not one by myself" k

[pmurf1]

I've done everything on my 85 Runner from dual cases, custom suspension, new head, exocage, etc. etc. The only thing I won't touch is setting up the R and P's. I let someone else who's done it and knows it do that. I've seen too many gearsets and lockers fail from guys who did it themselves. If you can pull your thirds and take it to them, it's a lot cheaper. I paid a guy $150 cash who worked on the side after getting off work at a local 4x shop to do my two toy chunks with new gears and Detroits. Worth every penny for me to know it's done right and all I have to do is slap them in.

[High5]

it isn't too bad. i did mine. the key to dana's is have your old bearings removed and have them honed out so they slip onto the carrier with out the need of a press. this way you can just remove them by hand during the shimming process. once you get it right, have new bearings pressed on and you are good to go. you do need a dial indicator. do the front first. it isn't as criticle and learn from it. then go to the rear. just my op.

[Bones]

i agree with pmurf1. Take them to a shop IMHO. Cost me $125 for both toy 3rds to have them set up. The next time he cut me a deal for redoing another one I puchased that had a messed up crush sleeve. Only charged me $65 that time. I think it's well worth it.
I'm sure I could learn, but I don't have the press, etc to do it. If or when I get all the tools, I will learn on a donor 3rd before I do the real thing.

[Drew Persson]

Originally posted by Shawn
If you have to ask,,,

Then you shouldn't be doing it.

I'll second that, in a big way.

[Drew Persson]

Originally posted by high5
the key to dana's is have your old bearings removed and have them honed out so they slip onto the carrier with out the need of a press. this way you can just remove them by hand during the shimming process. once you get it right, have new bearings pressed on and you are good to go.

That will get you close, but you really can't assume the old bearings will be EXACTLY the same as the new. You'll still have to check the mesh pattern after setting the backlash.

[gunracer1]

i am with high 5 on this one. its not that hard to learn and it will save you big bucks in the long run. they wanted 150.00 a chunck to put the gears in mine. i figured that the gears were 190 a set so i had nothing to loose. i have done 6 or 7 sets now with just one problem and it still on the road, the guy just wont pull it back out for me to fix. i set the first one up to tight and it gets warm. mike

[DRM]

I have done several, but as has been said - if you have to ask, then you are not ready to do it by yourself. If you had someone who had done it before who could do it with you, then that would be different....

[Travis Waldher]

Originally posted by Drew Persson


That will get you close, but you really can't assume the old bearings will be EXACTLY the same as the new. You'll still have to check the mesh pattern after setting the backlash.

One thing I did, was took the old bearings, honed out the center (damn that is hard material). slapped the bearing and race in a vice and snugged it down. measured it to the .001". Took the new bearings and snugged them up in a vice and measured.

I kept the differences in measurement in the back of my head while setting up the gears. (difference was only like .001 or something like that)

Bottom line, if you asking if you need the special tools. you aren't ready to do work like this. you have to be accurate down to the thousands of an inch!

[Jeepskickass]

Search around and find a local shop that will do it cheap. We've got a guy near here that does it for $100 plus parts (bearings, seals, shims). Of course, that's with the axle out of the vehicle, but I'm sure you can handle that!

[JeepinIan]

Originally posted by DRM
I have done several, but as has been said - if you have to ask, then you are not ready to do it by yourself. If you had someone who had done it before who could do it with you, then that would be different....

Damn, I have to agree w/ DRM on this. Get w/ someone who has done r&p's and learn from him. Let him do the rear, you do the front w/ him watching.
I bought 2 sets of new bearings for the set-up when I did mine. That way I got the same manufacturer and most likely the same batch of bearings. I had the inner race insides honed for a snug hand fit and set the shims that way. Then I pressed on the other set of bearings.