Here's a tip for anyone doing rears that use crush sleeves. Crush sleeves or crush collars don't need to be installed during initial setup. If you set your pinion bearing preload lets say to 28 inch pounds. That will be the preload you will measure your setup distance or check your pattern against. Once you are happy with your pattern, then install the crush sleeve and crush it until you reach the same preload. The crush sleeve is necessary so that a torque preload is present on the pinion nut as well as a memory point in the event the pinion seal needs to be changed. In regards to carrier shims for backlash. If you are using the same carrier in the same housing measure the total height of both right and left sides. Record that number. However you juggle left and right thickness to obtain your needed backlash always keep that same stack height. This will assure proper carrier preload.
Thanks very much for the input Paul. I'll be leaving the crush sleeve out next time I do a set up. I hadn't heard of that until the comments of this video and I did a lot of reading before I made these videos. As for your recommendation about the shims, I actually cover that in Part 2. Thing is, the Ford shim kit is very limited and that's so hard to do. I think this would have taken half the time if I had a shim kit similar to the one you used in the T-5.
+EricTheCarGuy Didn't the new ring and pinion come with a spec for distance? Often times people think they need a special tool for setting distance. The reality is your bearing caps split on the center. You lay precision flat ground stock across the saddles and use a standard depth mic.
Nothing like that, but in the next video I share what I learned from Ford performance which is start with .024-.028 pinion shim. At the end of the day I ended up using the same one as stock. Honestly I think that would be typical for a set of Ford gears. IDK about the aftermarket ones though.
The Dana and the Ford stuff is pretty accurate. Some do a nominal measurement and then you'll see a + or -2 on the gear. Best to keep to OEM gears. Aftermarket stuff is all over the place. The pattern looks good. Can't wait to see the car come alive.
Just overhauled my 8.8 with all new bearings & new 3.31 ring & pinion gears. Thanks to you & your amazing skill I was able to do this work with absolute confidence. Thank you so much for sharing your work!
Did this 1 year ago, on a GM 8.5, installed a Yukon Duragrip and the old 3.42 ring and pinon 40 year old stock gearset. As Paul said it was a lot better doing it without a crush-sleeve . But it took me 14 tries, swapping out carrier bearing shims, and juggeling pinion shims around to get it just rigth. A set up bearing is a must! But an extremley satisfying job in the end when it all works great without a sound :)
The two things I like about this video are 1) A professional mechanic lets it all hang out and we get to see the struggles. A multitude of pros would never dare admit they struggle with a repair or procedure. And 2) An opportunity to see complex processes like this so we can decide if we can take it on ourselves, or take a pass. The two places I continue to fear to tread, as a back yard tinkerer, are transmissions and differentials. ETCG - Thanks for all your efforts.
You're BOTH the man! VIDEOS from BOTH of you have helped me with info on complex repairs that have to be right the first time! I'm subscribed to both of your channels. I'm about to watch this whole thing and I'm confident i'll get the information I need to be able to rebuild my 98' F150 8.8 with confidence. THANK YOU BOTH !!!! 🤘🤘 It's cool that you both watch each others videos! Small world.
it's AWESOME that you made the long version too. It shows all the troubles we go through as mechanics when trying to do certain jobs. All the frustration that may arise & the abundance of patience needed. It's not just taking parts off & putting new parts back in.
+EricTheCarGuy yes. I heard that in the video. I'm just thrilled you decided to publish both versions. Seriously, great job on the explanation process & procedures. Top notch!
Yeah, I know this is an old vid. But thank you Eric for leaving all these up!! I'm "gearing up" 🤦♂to rebuild my 8.8 in my truck. I'll be getting rid of some factory parts and replacing them with much better Yukon parts (mainly the open diff. to a limited slip (or posi for the GM guys) This information is going to be tremendously helpful. I'm greatly appreciative for the walk through of this job!! Thank You Sir!!
Properly setting up a differential is so tedious! I've only ever done it once, so videos like this are a great learning experience! Thanks for taking the time to go through the steps with us, Eric! You rock! :D
only when it has a horrible design towards setup. love my old landrover as it has the diff pumpkin as a seperate unit, no diff cover and you take the whole thing out as a unit, no shims on the diff carrier, only adjustable end caps. do them up to get perfect backlash and preload. pinion has shims that go on the other side of the bearing so you dont need to take the bearing off to change pinion depth. also making life a lot easier. take about 1-2 hours to change gear ratios and diff center on the bench. also ring gear is so close to not a press fit a swing with a hammer dropps the old ring gear off.
Need this done to my Mustang. I bought 3.73's and bearing kit. I'm personally can't install it but certainly gives me an idea to watch and see if the person installing it knows what they are doing. Thanks Eric, great video as always!
Have to swap my rear diff and pinion. 1997 Ford Ranger. Old one ran dry, tore up pinion carrier bearings, chipped some teeth. This series is my primary source of learning. I think I get it now. Thank you!
I have never had to do this before but i have listened to friends talk about doing this and with this video i understands allot more then ever before thank you
nice video, but you dont need a new crush sleeve when checking pinion depth. only after you have achieved proper pinion depth and gear pattern and are ready to put the pinion in for good you can use a new crush sleeve. just use the old one for setup.
This is a good skill to learn! A diff overhaul around here will set you back over $2,000 - can save yourself ALOT of money, so long as it's done correctly of course. I had an '86 Grand Marquis (still do, but it's a different car from the one I'm talking about) back in '00 when I was living in Phoenix that developed a pinion leak. Replaced the seal, & bought a new nut. Didn't have an inch-pound torque wrench, so I had to guess! Funny thing on that was, anywhere I went looking for one, I got stared at like I had 3-heads. Apparently back then, inch-pound torque wrenches were a rarity. Anyway, I got it together and went for a ride. Nice and quiet at cruise, and under load. Perfect ... so I thought! Got off the highway and slowed from 70 MPH to 30 or so, and as soon as I let off the gas, WOOOOOOOOO (in a cascading sound as I slowed). VERY loud on decel. Knowing I wasn't supposed to touch that nut after tightening it (new one was $35 at the time), I loosened it just a hair and tried again. PERFECT! Learned that day to mark the nut and pinion, AND count the number of turns to remove the nut! :D
You're doing it the hard way. For setup you don't need the crush sleeve at all. Just tighten the pinion nut (without sleeve) until you have the required drag on the bearings. Also for the final tightening of the pinion nut (with sleeve) you can easily use the impact. It turns so slow due to the sleeve that you can set the bearing drag no problem.
Great video. Very informative. I just picked up an 8.8 core that i am stripping completely and building a 4.10 trac loc for my 2010 crown vic. These video sets are how I am going to build mine, really appreciate the detail and information you provide.
Hey Eric, screw the negative comments . I like how you didn’t edit it like your perfect and don’t make minor mistakes. I’m building a beefy Yukon 8.8 and never delt with a rear end only engines. Your vids on this guided me on this significantly. Granted I had to buy a crush sleeve 3 times because I’m way to impatient and rush crap. But thanks for all these details vids, you helped this Minnesotan ding dong significantly!
Same. I don't even have a car any longer! (live in a big city) But I still enjoy watching this guy. He's very good at describing what he's doing while he does it.
Those bushing/seal driver kits are a life saver. I use them for control arm bushings, wheel bearings and the like all the time. You wouldn't think they'd be strong enough since they're aluminum and so light, but they work a hell of a lot better than sockets. Also, that's why professional differential builders use large pneumatic impacts.
I have worked at our local Ford dealer for over a year now. I have seen on many occasions the side carrier shims have their bevel edges facing inward (against the carrier bearings). Most likely because they have been messed with before but a lot of dealership work is warranty and I still see it. It Doesn't really matter IMO but thought I would share. great video as always, Eric!
I've taken apart lots of these rears. The shims are all over the place and some are beveled on both sides. I guess it depends on what vendor was supplying the cast shims at the time
I had to do work on my F150 rear end... although I've been turning a wrench for 20+ years.. I don't have any experience with the internals of a diff. I do know of the need to make sure of the tolerances. I tackled it. The hardest part was installing the carrier with the shims. (even broke one). I can learn lessons. What I learn, was this is better done by someone with the experience... not just the know-how. if my diff goes nutty again.. I'm WILL be taking it to a diff shop. Great video. real informative. and kudos for not editing out the mistakes. It's those mistakes that will help others.
I thought of and discovered a really cool trick when installing races on a sport bike I was rebuilding. Take all the races and put them in the freezer for a few hours beforehand, then take them out one at a time as you need them. You'll find that the races shrink enough that they literally just drop in, maybe sometimes needing a little tap. It was a whole lot easier than having to press them all. A thicker bearing might take longer to shrink, might not work at all, but it's worth a shot.
Thanks for the great video. This give great insight into the workings of the differential for those of us who have never opened one up before. Looking forward to part 2.
I set up those crush sleeves in the press. On a live axle, you need a helper to get the rear end into the press and hold the end to balance it. Set the pinion flange down on the base of the press with a gap to access the pinion nut, and press on the pinion with a long extension. You can feel the preload on the bearings by the friction when trying to rotate the housing in the pinion bearings. Once you have it right, you can just reach up under the press base and tighten the nut down.
If the replacement gear set has the pinion gear mesh depth engraved on it, I use a depth mike and measure off the bearing saddle to achieve that dimension. Then, your heel/toe portion of the pattern should be pretty darn close to where you want it. I never use a sleeve when doing a set up, just enough pressure on the flange nut to keep the pinion gear from wobbling around. Never had a problem yet! Once I set up a GM 12 bolt Posi for a '68 GTO like a Dana, with a solid sleeve from Summit and shims to get the rotation torque preload to spec with 250 Lb/ft of torque on the nut. Worked out great! Something that was left out from this video and is VERY important, is to check the pattern and back lash at three places around the ring gear to make sure that you don't have any tight spots. A couple of dolts set up a new set of gears in a Ford tow truck axle, and didn't make it out of the driveway before the pinion gear blew up and took out about 1/3 of the ring gear! The reason? The cold chisel used to separate the old RG off the gear case gouged it, and the chip was left under the ring gear, elevating it about .007-.010". When the high point of the RG came around to the pinion gear KA-POWWW!!! Metal schrapnel all over the place inside! The Detroit Locker was also damaged and parts to fix it couldn't be had for 10 weeks, so a peg leg axle had to be put in to get it going and making money again. If they had bothered to check in three places, they would have spotted the problem and could have fixed it before the damage was done. Let that be a lesson to all here!
You also need to be sure the faces where the pinion races sit don’t have burrs, I’ve had to go back in after guys that burred that face driving old races out and repair it because they couldn’t understand why their measurements weren’t close. Great video.
next time you have trouble getting a bearing off the pinion use a chistle, bump it in there and it will give you enough gap to get your puller installed without ruining the cage
Again, my FIRST CAR was a 1978 Fairmont Sedan in Metalic Brown powered with an Inline-6 200 Auto. As with watching your video series, I have been trying to find another one to "Modify" and use as a Daily Driver... Sadly, they are either too expensive ($2,500 to $1,750), or WAY out of my Region... I have even expanded my search for either a Futara Coupe, or a Wagon. NO LUCK!😿 My only complaint I had with my (5) previous Fairmont's/Zepher's was the Aluminum Bumpers. Looking forward to seeing you have your Fairmont Sedan back on the road!😎 Take care, 🤓 -Thomas Western Washington State
Great video when you do your set up you don't need to use a crush sleeve just tighten your bearings up to your final preload. It makes it just a little easyier
+EricTheCarGuy I agree with eustise. You dont need the crush sleeve during setup. You just have to setup same rotational resistance without the crush sleeve. The pinion depth will not change due to pinion bearing preload as long as the pinion is not loose. Once you get your setup right then you put in the crush sleeve during your final assembly.
the factory use special tools that measure of the back of the rear pinion bearing to the center of the carrier bore then the pinion would have marking of plus or minus of a certain thousands to add or subtract to the shim stack to get pinion depth then they measure for ring gear back lash for doing aftermarket gears he is doing it the correct way i do this every day many hours some times is needed to set them up
Others have suggested not using the crush sleeve for set up. I hadn't heard of that before. I'm going to try that next time. Thanks for the suggestion.
I'm always happy when I can find relevant information from you. You are a great teacher. Is there some reason why you didn't just throw the carrier in the freezer so the bearings and gear set didn't go on easier without as much pressure on the bearings? (Bearings and gears being warm/larger vs the carrier being cold/smaller)
Eric, good video. I like seeing your real life happenings. people that post dislikes and negative comments never worked on anything in their lives.Things rarely go as planned lol
thanks for the video, i did this on my Fairlane a year or so ago, i got frustrated on gave up trying to get preload right on the pinion, big mistake, diff is really noisy and wont last long, will be rebuilding again with new gear, and will be watching this a few more times. thanks
How do you know if you have your pinion depth correct? I've noticed on most pinions they have a measurement on the backside of the pinion that tells you the pinion depth. I didn't hear anything about pinion depth.
after watching this video, I have come to the conclusion that finding a mechanic who actually knows how to repair a differential properly is probably close to impossible
Ik they are motive gear sells the ones like the ford kit you have Ik your pain stay focused and don't get to frustrated you are doing it correctly keep up the good work bud
Make a fake yoke out of some tubing and a nut. Make it a bit longer than the height of the yoke. For setup, leave the crush sleeve out and tighten the fake yoke by hand until you get the right preload. Saves a ton of time and you only need 1 crush sleeve to do setup. I see you fond the shim driver tool. I've got one drawer of my tool box with special tools for doing gears. They also make crush sleeve eliminator kits. Good luck against my buddies Miata on friday! Catching up on your fairmont, looks good, money is still on the Miata.
Eric, I love your videos man, but being a diff specialist this video had me yelling at the screen. That was a solid effort though, your persistence is something to be admired.
i shimmed the rear axle in my friends F-150, it was making lots of noise. he had super high backlash, I was surprised the gears weren't destroyed. BTW- Eric, I can see you put a lot of effort in this video. Great job and thank you for your dedication.
Great video, Eric. I have done what you are doing and, yes, sometimes it is very time consuming. Unless you have done it, no one really knows how many hours it can take.
One more thing on that rear end. the upper control arm in the diff you can put bearings. On the forward mounting point make brackets to lower the upper front mounting point 1 inch. I had 1.3 60 foot. Just some ideas on my part.
Eric! Completely random, but I just wanted to say holy dang!!! I've been subb'ed to you for years, and the last time I noticed your subscriber count it was pushing roughly 2,000. It's now almost to 1 million! Congrats and keep it up!
If you dont have a press to press the bearing on you could also put the bearing in the oven at 350 and put the pinion in the freezer for a hour or 2 and the bearing will slip right on and when both get back to normal temp it gets tight like its suppose to be.
Great video at first i was going to going to have a shop do my gears but this video series gives me the confidence to do it on my own. Video quality and editing is top notch.
hi to you, great video with lots of explanations. Today I am replacing my differential but I cannot read the setting value on the pinion. How to get your opinion, a photo where? thank youps : (my car is a 1995 Cherokee Jeep)
Hey Eric, is there any particular reason why you didn't pack the bearings with wheel bearing grease? Are you not supposed to mix wheel bearing grease with diff fluid or is there another reason?
If you pulled a OEM timken off of the pinion, wouldn't a replacement timken be the same spec? I'm curious because the bearing set i ordered is Timken and if my Ford 8.8 came with Timken originally i "should" be able to use it as a cheater bearing for setup, no?
pressing the bearings with the race under is a bad idea , i have had those go bad because the rollers leave a mark on the race and it begins to howl after a few months ( which is nothing for a good bearing ) , admittedly this happened to me just once when i was using bearing of questionable origins , but i always prefer using a socket fitting the inner race ( or outer depending on what i am pressing) or even better i may have inner/outer races from older bearings
when setting the backlash start with the factory shims and measure backlash. changing the shims by .010" will change the preload by .007" in either direction. then do the math and make your adjustment. for example if you needed to remove aporox .028" of backlash you would divide 28 by 7 which is 4, and multiple by 10 giving you 40. so you would remove .040 from the right side and add it to the left side
Great video. I'm having someone help me but it's nice to get the lingo and sequence down. 2nd time watching since I ve done it a few years ago. Got some movement and sound vibrations. I hope to reduce to normal. Older vehicle so great practice. Thanks again.
An old tire is your Friend here- to sit the unit onto, steady, hold comfortable working angle, and save your paint job. Hammer blows would be softened, though.
I know this is 7 years old. But I saw your axel tubes aren't welded to the pumpkin housing. Have you had any issues twisting the tubes? My builder also says I should be fine.
Im doing mine now and rebuilt the whole thing and changed from a 3.73 gear to a 5.13 and started off with the shims that was in it and it felt to little of back lash but it was right at 8 and did the paint test and looked good so did i hit the rear end lotto or what.
I know you have to be very precise in setting up your differential but how did Ford mass produce so many vehicles if you have to spend so much time tweaking each individual differential I wonder how they did it so quickly to mass produce so many vehicles
I believe rear ends were premade and just a big pile of them waiting to go on a car, the same with engines,however when they mass produce stuff like that they have special tools,since all the bearing sets they are using are the same made by the same company you just set one up and all the others should be the same. Something that always has amazed me about the auto industry is how a particular model will have some goop they put behind hinges like under the hood for corrosion protection and of course once they tighten it it oozes out,if you look at another car made at the same time that oooze pattern is just about identical, how??? lol
Just FYI the koyo bearing in the ford racing bearing kit was most likely the updated 2012 high torque bearing. Koyo also makes a bearing that matches the timkin bearing you used. It just so happens that Ford sells all their bearing kits with the high torque bearing set now. That would be why the old bearing that came off the car originally, and the new kit bearings didn't match.
Here's a tip for anyone doing rears that use crush sleeves. Crush sleeves or crush collars don't need to be installed during initial setup. If you set your pinion bearing preload lets say to 28 inch pounds. That will be the preload you will measure your setup distance or check your pattern against. Once you are happy with your pattern, then install the crush sleeve and crush it until you reach the same preload. The crush sleeve is necessary so that a torque preload is present on the pinion nut as well as a memory point in the event the pinion seal needs to be changed. In regards to carrier shims for backlash. If you are using the same carrier in the same housing measure the total height of both right and left sides. Record that number. However you juggle left and right thickness to obtain your needed backlash always keep that same stack height. This will assure proper carrier preload.
Thanks very much for the input Paul. I'll be leaving the crush sleeve out next time I do a set up. I hadn't heard of that until the comments of this video and I did a lot of reading before I made these videos. As for your recommendation about the shims, I actually cover that in Part 2. Thing is, the Ford shim kit is very limited and that's so hard to do. I think this would have taken half the time if I had a shim kit similar to the one you used in the T-5.
+EricTheCarGuy Didn't the new ring and pinion come with a spec for distance? Often times people think they need a special tool for setting distance. The reality is your bearing caps split on the center. You lay precision flat ground stock across the saddles and use a standard depth mic.
Nothing like that, but in the next video I share what I learned from Ford performance which is start with .024-.028 pinion shim. At the end of the day I ended up using the same one as stock. Honestly I think that would be typical for a set of Ford gears. IDK about the aftermarket ones though.
The Dana and the Ford stuff is pretty accurate. Some do a nominal measurement and then you'll see a + or -2 on the gear. Best to keep to OEM gears. Aftermarket stuff is all over the place. The pattern looks good. Can't wait to see the car come alive.
What about the 9" though, Paul?
Just overhauled my 8.8 with all new bearings & new 3.31 ring & pinion gears.
Thanks to you & your amazing skill I was able to do this work with absolute confidence.
Thank you so much for sharing your work!
Did this 1 year ago, on a GM 8.5, installed a Yukon Duragrip and the old 3.42 ring and pinon 40 year old stock gearset. As Paul said it was a lot better doing it without a crush-sleeve . But it took me 14 tries, swapping out carrier bearing shims, and juggeling pinion shims around to get it just rigth. A set up bearing is a must! But an extremley satisfying job in the end when it all works great without a sound :)
The two things I like about this video are 1) A professional mechanic lets it all hang out and we get to see the struggles. A multitude of pros would never dare admit they struggle with a repair or procedure. And 2) An opportunity to see complex processes like this so we can decide if we can take it on ourselves, or take a pass. The two places I continue to fear to tread, as a back yard tinkerer, are transmissions and differentials. ETCG - Thanks for all your efforts.
i'm a fully licensed tech and I haven't dabbled in differentials or transmissions it's a specialty within itself..
@@olliej914 Same (as far as full rebuilds)😁, but i'm about to.
Click → 1:42 imPRESSive! Made in the USA! Also, who makes a helpful 42 minute video with only 1 ad at the beginning? Eric does. You're the man!
Thanks Brian. It's funny because I think you're the man. ;)
You guys host my two favorite channels on TH-cam. You're both awesome!
You're BOTH the man! VIDEOS from BOTH of you have helped me with info on complex repairs that have to be right the first time! I'm subscribed to both of your channels. I'm about to watch this whole thing and I'm confident i'll get the information I need to be able to rebuild my 98' F150 8.8 with confidence.
THANK YOU BOTH !!!! 🤘🤘
It's cool that you both watch each others videos! Small world.
it's AWESOME that you made the long version too. It shows all the troubles we go through as mechanics when trying to do certain jobs. All the frustration that may arise & the abundance of patience needed. It's not just taking parts off & putting new parts back in.
I'll also made a 'short' version that will air after the series completes. That way those just looking for the set up information can get it.
+EricTheCarGuy yes. I heard that in the video. I'm just thrilled you decided to publish both versions. Seriously, great job on the explanation process & procedures. Top notch!
Thank you. I work pretty hard at what I do. It's always nice when it's appreciated.
My respect for this man grows with every video i watch of him. It's astonishing how much he knows.
Yeah, I know this is an old vid. But thank you Eric for leaving all these up!! I'm "gearing up" 🤦♂to rebuild my 8.8 in my truck. I'll be getting rid of some factory parts and replacing them with much better Yukon parts (mainly the open diff. to a limited slip (or posi for the GM guys) This information is going to be tremendously helpful. I'm greatly appreciative for the walk through of this job!! Thank You Sir!!
Awesome video. The patience skill and resilience to get this right while making a video is impressive.
Properly setting up a differential is so tedious! I've only ever done it once, so videos like this are a great learning experience!
Thanks for taking the time to go through the steps with us, Eric! You rock! :D
only when it has a horrible design towards setup. love my old landrover as it has the diff pumpkin as a seperate unit, no diff cover and you take the whole thing out as a unit, no shims on the diff carrier, only adjustable end caps. do them up to get perfect backlash and preload. pinion has shims that go on the other side of the bearing so you dont need to take the bearing off to change pinion depth. also making life a lot easier. take about 1-2 hours to change gear ratios and diff center on the bench. also ring gear is so close to not a press fit a swing with a hammer dropps the old ring gear off.
Need this done to my Mustang. I bought 3.73's and bearing kit. I'm personally can't install it but certainly gives me an idea to watch and see if the person installing it knows what they are doing. Thanks Eric, great video as always!
thanks Eric. I've rebuilt a couple 8.8's over the years and always refer back to this vid for a refresher
Have to swap my rear diff and pinion. 1997 Ford Ranger. Old one ran dry, tore up pinion carrier bearings, chipped some teeth. This series is my primary source of learning. I think I get it now. Thank you!
Watching all these videos really makes me appreciate my mechanic more.
It makes me very happy seeing someone else having fun with this stuff.
I have never had to do this before but i have listened to friends talk about doing this and with this video i understands allot more then ever before thank you
nice video, but you dont need a new crush sleeve when checking pinion depth. only after you have achieved proper pinion depth and gear pattern and are ready to put the pinion in for good you can use a new crush sleeve.
just use the old one for setup.
This is a good skill to learn! A diff overhaul around here will set you back over $2,000 - can save yourself ALOT of money, so long as it's done correctly of course.
I had an '86 Grand Marquis (still do, but it's a different car from the one I'm talking about) back in '00 when I was living in Phoenix that developed a pinion leak. Replaced the seal, & bought a new nut. Didn't have an inch-pound torque wrench, so I had to guess! Funny thing on that was, anywhere I went looking for one, I got stared at like I had 3-heads. Apparently back then, inch-pound torque wrenches were a rarity. Anyway, I got it together and went for a ride. Nice and quiet at cruise, and under load. Perfect ... so I thought! Got off the highway and slowed from 70 MPH to 30 or so, and as soon as I let off the gas, WOOOOOOOOO (in a cascading sound as I slowed). VERY loud on decel. Knowing I wasn't supposed to touch that nut after tightening it (new one was $35 at the time), I loosened it just a hair and tried again. PERFECT! Learned that day to mark the nut and pinion, AND count the number of turns to remove the nut! :D
Good idea to count the turns of the nut on initial tear down to have an idea how many turns to make on final assembly, beauty
You're doing it the hard way. For setup you don't need the crush sleeve at all. Just tighten the pinion nut (without sleeve) until you have the required drag on the bearings.
Also for the final tightening of the pinion nut (with sleeve) you can easily use the impact. It turns so slow due to the sleeve that you can set the bearing drag no problem.
Patience is a virtue, young Eric!!....and a skill that very few people possess these days :-)
Really enjoying this project :-)
impact gun, yesssss
i really enjoyed this video, i have built many 8.8s and it was nice to see the proper overview
dude this is awesome nobody else has ever explained preload in a way i understood before thank you
Great video. Very informative. I just picked up an 8.8 core that i am stripping completely and building a 4.10 trac loc for my 2010 crown vic. These video sets are how I am going to build mine, really appreciate the detail and information you provide.
Hey Eric, screw the negative comments . I like how you didn’t edit it like your perfect and don’t make minor mistakes. I’m building a beefy Yukon 8.8 and never delt with a rear end only engines. Your vids on this guided me on this significantly. Granted I had to buy a crush sleeve 3 times because I’m way to impatient and rush crap. But thanks for all these details vids, you helped this Minnesotan ding dong significantly!
I dont even work on my car myself, but i love watching stuff like this! ;)
Same. I don't even have a car any longer! (live in a big city)
But I still enjoy watching this guy. He's very good at describing what he's doing while he does it.
Finally i understand how to set backlash as every other person just does it and fast forwards which doesnt let me see crap!!! Thank you etcg!
Those bushing/seal driver kits are a life saver. I use them for control arm bushings, wheel bearings and the like all the time. You wouldn't think they'd be strong enough since they're aluminum and so light, but they work a hell of a lot better than sockets.
Also, that's why professional differential builders use large pneumatic impacts.
I have worked at our local Ford dealer for over a year now. I have seen on many occasions the side carrier shims have their bevel edges facing inward (against the carrier bearings). Most likely because they have been messed with before but a lot of dealership work is warranty and I still see it. It Doesn't really matter IMO but thought I would share. great video as always, Eric!
I've taken apart lots of these rears. The shims are all over the place and some are beveled on both sides. I guess it depends on what vendor was supplying the cast shims at the time
I had to do work on my F150 rear end... although I've been turning a wrench for 20+ years.. I don't have any experience with the internals of a diff. I do know of the need to make sure of the tolerances. I tackled it. The hardest part was installing the carrier with the shims. (even broke one). I can learn lessons. What I learn, was this is better done by someone with the experience... not just the know-how. if my diff goes nutty again.. I'm WILL be taking it to a diff shop. Great video. real informative. and kudos for not editing out the mistakes. It's those mistakes that will help others.
I fall on my sword so you don't have to. ;) Thanks for your comments.
I thought of and discovered a really cool trick when installing races on a sport bike I was rebuilding. Take all the races and put them in the freezer for a few hours beforehand, then take them out one at a time as you need them. You'll find that the races shrink enough that they literally just drop in, maybe sometimes needing a little tap. It was a whole lot easier than having to press them all. A thicker bearing might take longer to shrink, might not work at all, but it's worth a shot.
Come on eric! crank these videos out man! love watching this project progressing! keep up the good work!
This car guy telling me to use a setup bearing... Well, like...that's just your pinion man!
Thanks for the great video. This give great insight into the workings of the differential for those of us who have never opened one up before. Looking forward to part 2.
I love those long videos that you are pulling out recently man ! I'm really getting addicted to your channel !!!
I found a gold nugget with this video, thank you thank you thank you
I set up those crush sleeves in the press. On a live axle, you need a helper to get the rear end into the press and hold the end to balance it.
Set the pinion flange down on the base of the press with a gap to access the pinion nut, and press on the pinion with a long extension. You can feel the preload on the bearings by the friction when trying to rotate the housing in the pinion bearings. Once you have it right, you can just reach up under the press base and tighten the nut down.
If the replacement gear set has the pinion gear mesh depth engraved on it, I use a depth mike and measure off the bearing saddle to achieve that dimension. Then, your heel/toe portion of the pattern should be pretty darn close to where you want it. I never use a sleeve when doing a set up, just enough pressure on the flange nut to keep the pinion gear from wobbling around. Never had a problem yet!
Once I set up a GM 12 bolt Posi for a '68 GTO like a Dana, with a solid sleeve from Summit and shims to get the rotation torque preload to spec with 250 Lb/ft of torque on the nut. Worked out great!
Something that was left out from this video and is VERY important, is to check the pattern and back lash at three places around the ring gear to make sure that you don't have any tight spots. A couple of dolts set up a new set of gears in a Ford tow truck axle, and didn't make it out of the driveway before the pinion gear blew up and took out about 1/3 of the ring gear! The reason? The cold chisel used to separate the old RG off the gear case gouged it, and the chip was left under the ring gear, elevating it about .007-.010". When the high point of the RG came around to the pinion gear KA-POWWW!!! Metal schrapnel all over the place inside! The Detroit Locker was also damaged and parts to fix it couldn't be had for 10 weeks, so a peg leg axle had to be put in to get it going and making money again. If they had bothered to check in three places, they would have spotted the problem and could have fixed it before the damage was done. Let that be a lesson to all here!
I'm installing 31 spline axels as well and a TrueTrac, with Yukon ring and pinion. Looks like the process is the same. Appreciate the video
I installed a Detroit locker in a Corporate (GM) 14 full floater once when I was 19. Super easy setup just like a Ford 9".
I just like the way a 9 inch Ford third member is set up so much more, having done both myself.
Yea, those are a lot easier to set up that's for sure.
You also need to be sure the faces where the pinion races sit don’t have burrs, I’ve had to go back in after guys that burred that face driving old races out and repair it because they couldn’t understand why their measurements weren’t close. Great video.
next time you have trouble getting a bearing off the pinion use a chistle, bump it in there and it will give you enough gap to get your puller installed without ruining the cage
Your experience always shows in your work. Love it
Watching in 60fps is quite funky.
I love it
Again, my FIRST CAR was a 1978 Fairmont Sedan in Metalic Brown powered with an Inline-6 200 Auto.
As with watching your video series, I have been trying to find another one to "Modify" and use as a Daily Driver...
Sadly, they are either too expensive ($2,500 to $1,750), or WAY out of my Region... I have even expanded my search for either a Futara Coupe, or a Wagon. NO LUCK!😿
My only complaint I had with my (5) previous Fairmont's/Zepher's was the Aluminum Bumpers.
Looking forward to seeing you have your Fairmont Sedan back on the road!😎
Take care,
🤓 -Thomas
Western Washington State
Man, that thing is putting up a fight. Great video though, Eric. Thanks for showing us how it's done. Can't wait for the next one to become available.
Great video when you do your set up you don't need to use a crush sleeve just tighten your bearings up to your final preload. It makes it just a little easyier
The crush sleeve needs to be there in order for the preload to happen.
+EricTheCarGuy I agree with eustise. You dont need the crush sleeve during setup. You just have to setup same rotational resistance without the crush sleeve. The pinion depth will not change due to pinion bearing preload as long as the pinion is not loose. Once you get your setup right then you put in the crush sleeve during your final assembly.
There is no way that a car factory would do this process. Do you (or anyone else for that matter) know how it is done?
the factory use special tools that measure of the back of the rear pinion bearing to the center of the carrier bore then the pinion would have marking of plus or minus of a certain thousands to add or subtract to the shim stack to get pinion depth then they measure for ring gear back lash for doing aftermarket gears he is doing it the correct way i do this every day many hours some times is needed to set them up
Others have suggested not using the crush sleeve for set up. I hadn't heard of that before. I'm going to try that next time. Thanks for the suggestion.
I'm always happy when I can find relevant information from you. You are a great teacher.
Is there some reason why you didn't just throw the carrier in the freezer so the bearings and gear set didn't go on easier without as much pressure on the bearings? (Bearings and gears being warm/larger vs the carrier being cold/smaller)
Eric, good video. I like seeing your real life happenings. people that post dislikes and negative comments never worked on anything in their lives.Things rarely go as planned lol
Awesome job Eric.
thanks for the video, i did this on my Fairlane a year or so ago, i got frustrated on gave up trying to get preload right on the pinion, big mistake, diff is really noisy and wont last long, will be rebuilding again with new gear, and will be watching this a few more times. thanks
Great stuff Eric! way more involved than i ever imagined rear end setup could be.
That canary when your finished is gunna need wings. Great video Eric...
How do you know if you have your pinion depth correct? I've noticed on most pinions they have a measurement on the backside of the pinion that tells you the pinion depth. I didn't hear anything about pinion depth.
after watching this video, I have come to the conclusion that finding a mechanic who actually knows how to repair a differential properly is probably close to impossible
Me too, you don't press a bearing on by the outer race pushing on the cage, ever. And you don't press a ring gear on by the teeth.
@@Str8Hastegoing against wood won’t hurt the teeth on the ring gear🙄
So much good info in this video and actually realistic… thanks Eric!
I’m about to swap the rear gears in my F150 this weekend
What happend with you?
Ik they are motive gear sells the ones like the ford kit you have Ik your pain stay focused and don't get to frustrated you are doing it correctly keep up the good work bud
Dude I so enjoy your teaching and videos!
Thx
Welcome to hoodralic press. This bearing is extremely dangerous and could attack at any time. We must deal with it.
It's one bad customer. Gotta study it's habits first.
This IS EXACTLY what My Prof. Told Me Not to do on a bearing....Ohhh....I'm still watching
School Time
Make a fake yoke out of some tubing and a nut. Make it a bit longer than the height of the yoke. For setup, leave the crush sleeve out and tighten the fake yoke by hand until you get the right preload. Saves a ton of time and you only need 1 crush sleeve to do setup. I see you fond the shim driver tool. I've got one drawer of my tool box with special tools for doing gears.
They also make crush sleeve eliminator kits. Good luck against my buddies Miata on friday! Catching up on your fairmont, looks good, money is still on the Miata.
Eric, I love your videos man, but being a diff specialist this video had me yelling at the screen. That was a solid effort though, your persistence is something to be admired.
GREAT VIDEO, this is pure gold. Thanks for your time and hard work.
i shimmed the rear axle in my friends F-150, it was making lots of noise. he had super high backlash, I was surprised the gears weren't destroyed.
BTW- Eric, I can see you put a lot of effort in this video. Great job and thank you for your dedication.
Great video, Eric.
I have done what you are doing and, yes,
sometimes it is very time consuming.
Unless you have done it, no one really knows how many hours it can take.
About a 30-pack. Well, at LEAST a case.
So in love with tthat #DMP outro. It stirs feelings in my male body that no mechanical object should :P
Right? It does for me too. I'm glad I'm not alone in that.
this really helps getting ready to do the same to my 94 f150
Great video! Do you have a tool list for doing this job?
One more thing on that rear end. the upper control arm in the diff you can put bearings. On the forward mounting point make brackets to lower the upper front mounting point 1 inch. I had 1.3 60 foot. Just some ideas on my part.
Love your videos keep me coming! Lol I just watched/helped the lead tech at my job rebuild a differential on a crown Vic :)
When you flipped the diff around did you not press directly on the bearing you just installed?
Eric keep up the good work man love the videos
Eric! Completely random, but I just wanted to say holy dang!!! I've been subb'ed to you for years, and the last time I noticed your subscriber count it was pushing roughly 2,000. It's now almost to 1 million! Congrats and keep it up!
Great video. I suggest not using the crush washer while setting up pinion depth. Makes life a lot easier.
That's been suggested a couple of times. I think I'll try that next time. Thanks.
If you dont have a press to press the bearing on you could also put the bearing in the oven at 350 and put the pinion in the freezer for a hour or 2 and the bearing will slip right on and when both get back to normal temp it gets tight like its suppose to be.
Very specialized procedure - this setup !!
Nicely done Eric. Brian does good camera work too!
Great video at first i was going to going to have a shop do my gears but this video series gives me the confidence to do it on my own. Video quality and editing is top notch.
Thank you. If you follow the take aways of this video and use a proper set up bearing, it's not that bad. Good luck.
Looking forward to part 2, loving it mate!
this video will help me tremendously. thanks man.
Thank you I learned a lot from this. I sold timken bearings for many years I would have done that over the koyo.
hi to you, great video with lots of explanations.
Today I am replacing my differential but I cannot read the setting value on the pinion.
How to get your opinion, a photo where?
thank youps : (my car is a 1995 Cherokee Jeep)
Out of curiosity, why were the bearings not packed first before installing on the diff?
Hi Eric,How did you determine the carrier bearing preload? It seems u only determined the pinion bearing preload...Thanx in advance.
Hey Eric, is there any particular reason why you didn't pack the bearings with wheel bearing grease? Are you not supposed to mix wheel bearing grease with diff fluid or is there another reason?
If you pulled a OEM timken off of the pinion, wouldn't a replacement timken be the same spec? I'm curious because the bearing set i ordered is Timken and if my Ford 8.8 came with Timken originally i "should" be able to use it as a cheater bearing for setup, no?
I get parts today the pinion gear and the rotor gear an hope to build the rear axle today I'll follow your lead
this is an amazing video Eric ..thanks
pressing the bearings with the race under is a bad idea , i have had those go bad because the rollers leave a mark on the race and it begins to howl after a few months ( which is nothing for a good bearing ) , admittedly this happened to me just once when i was using bearing of questionable origins , but i always prefer using a socket fitting the inner race ( or outer depending on what i am pressing) or even better i may have inner/outer races from older bearings
Was that why he had the groove in the race because he pressed against it?
Great detailed video!
when setting the backlash start with the factory shims and measure backlash. changing the shims by .010" will change the preload by .007" in either direction. then do the math and make your adjustment. for example if you needed to remove aporox .028" of backlash you would divide 28 by 7 which is 4, and multiple by 10 giving you 40. so you would remove .040 from the right side and add it to the left side
Eric my Honda odyssey needs transmission work, can I bring it to you, for the fixing it forward.
Great video. I'm having someone help me but it's nice to get the lingo and sequence down. 2nd time watching since I ve done it a few years ago. Got some movement and sound vibrations. I hope to reduce to normal. Older vehicle so great practice. Thanks again.
An old tire is your Friend here- to sit the unit onto, steady, hold comfortable working angle, and save your paint job. Hammer blows would be softened, though.
your video has given me knowledge to diff's that i did not have before ' enjoyable
The easiest way to put the ring gear on is heat it up and drop it on. Works great!!
I know this is 7 years old. But I saw your axel tubes aren't welded to the pumpkin housing. Have you had any issues twisting the tubes? My builder also says I should be fine.
Im doing mine now and rebuilt the whole thing and changed from a 3.73 gear to a 5.13 and started off with the shims that was in it and it felt to little of back lash but it was right at 8 and did the paint test and looked good so did i hit the rear end lotto or what.
I know you have to be very precise in setting up your differential but how did Ford mass produce so many vehicles if you have to spend so much time tweaking each individual differential I wonder how they did it so quickly to mass produce so many vehicles
I believe rear ends were premade and just a big pile of them waiting to go on a car, the same with engines,however when they mass produce stuff like that they have special tools,since all the bearing sets they are using are the same made by the same company you just set one up and all the others should be the same.
Something that always has amazed me about the auto industry is how a particular model will have some goop they put behind hinges like under the hood for corrosion protection and of course once they tighten it it oozes out,if you look at another car made at the same time that oooze pattern is just about identical, how??? lol
Just FYI the koyo bearing in the ford racing bearing kit was most likely the updated 2012 high torque bearing. Koyo also makes a bearing that matches the timkin bearing you used. It just so happens that Ford sells all their bearing kits with the high torque bearing set now. That would be why the old bearing that came off the car originally, and the new kit bearings didn't match.
Awesome video Eric!