UPDATE 2 with Pictures of the DIFF -- Replacing rear bearings on a Dodge pickup?

This is why the manual tells you to take it somewhere to get it done. Phillip screwdrivers don't make good torque wrenches.

beekeep

1. There is no bearing pre-load on the carrier bearings, only the pinion bearing, and we aren't discussing the pinion here.

1. If Iggy takes the ring bear backlash now it may be an invalid reading since the side adjusters have moved, throwing the ring gear out of adjustment.

Techincally, the backlash value is engraved on the ring gear. But for practical purposes anything from .006 to .008 should be fine.

Tony

Bee,

Having rebuilt a few 9.25 Mopar rears, including machining custom axle shafts, installing limited slips, and such, the screwdriver method works fine. As a matter of fact thats why the factory places the adjustment holes in the side adjusters. It's not practical to buy every tool the service manual recommends. The only tools you really need are a dial indicator and a good mechanical sense.

Tony

There absolutely is - what do you think the function of the adjusters is? They get tightened to somewhere around 80ft.lbs. (don't remember exactly). That's putting pre-load on the carrier bearings.

All tapered roller bearings require pre-load.

(cross-post to RCM removed - this is a truck issue, not a metalworking issue. No need to pollute other groups - something I wish others would recognize)

Tom, how do you get 80# of torque with a phillips screwdriver?

beekeep

Put a pipewrench on the shank???? There is a 'special' tool to turn the adjusters. Think of a piece of pipe with the appropriate (sp) sized nut welded on one end to fit the adjuster and a nut on the other end to fit whatever socket you desire. You insert the tool in place of the axle shaft to turn the adjuster. Or just pry the hell out of the adjuster with a screwdriver..

Denny

I would like to see how a wabbit does this?

With a pair of gloves on.... Nothing worse than gear lube on paw fur....

Denny

Well-developed forearms...

And I was incorrect - the actual torque spec. is 75 ft.lbs. - which we all know IS able to by applied by yanking with a screwdriver.

My bad...

Oh, but there is.... gear lube in your face/mouth/nostrils. Back when I was workspace-challenged, and did my vehicle work on a creeper in my driveway, I was attempting to remove a rear diff cover. I had most of the bolts removed, and a gasket scraper tapped underneath the cover. As I pulled on the gasket scraper (much the same way you would pull on a screwdriver to tighten an axle adjuster nut), I pulled myself on the creeper towards the axle, just as the silicone decided to "let go", and popped the cover up.

Not fun.... not fun at all. I smelled gear oil for the next several days.

But with you, it cleans right off, maybe with a little elbow grease. Could you immagine the stained pink fur!

Yuck....

Denny

"Tony" wrote in news:XdBRg.1571$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe09.lga:

Screwdriver? Feh.

Don't you have a set of pin punches?

There'll be one in there that fits just right.

ah what a wonderful smell and experience.

you didn't enjoy it Tom?

Geez, he didn't tell me he had pictures. Seems he lost the lock on the left adjuster. It would seem that this adjuster worked its way loose and the carrier is floating to the left under load. It doesn't look like he has too much wear on the ring gear. At this point I would tighten *ONLY* the left adjuster to get proper load on the bearings. He shouldn't need to set the rear up if he didn't screw with the right adjuster. The noise will disappear once the bearings are properly loaded. If he still has noise after this it would be best to go down to the bone yard and get a low mileage rear for about $75.

Rita

Perhaps to position the ring gear and carrier in relation to the pinion gear. Yes, they also allow setting bearing preload but that is a given.