Re: R&P Swapping

[Tom Mandera <tsm1@domain.elided>]

Allan & Kathryn Weidenheimer wrote:
> 
>  What did you do about the pinion?  Of you are swapping to 4.x gears,
> you need to change that with the ring gear.  And, there are depth
> adjustments
> there too.  There is a special tool for measuring the pinion depth, but I

I, of course, bought a pinion with the 4.88 ring gear.. the pinion is
in.  Mike measured read and then measured the old shim pack first, then
the scratched numbers on the end of the pinions, and decided what we
needed.  We had to toss the original shims, since the four spider gear
teeth in the gear lube had helped chew the shims up.. never fear, Mike
has a a good 6" or better stack of shims on some wire.. 

I believe he used something like a caliper to measure the shims.  Not a
dial caliper, but just a simple "caliper" to measure the shims.. he then
had what looked like a small notepad that had different thickness
"sheets" in it, and he then transferred the shim pack measurement to the
"paper" via the calipers.  Get the right figure, then start measuring
the stack of spare shims and find the right combination needed.

Tonight we'll put the shims on and reinstall the carrier and run a
pattern... then yank it back out, put the real bearings on, and then
reinstall.. and probably run a pattern once more.

Mike does these all of the time.. so I'm sure we'll be close to dead-on
the first try. ;-)

He informed me he's scored a deal on a '99 F250 Super Duty reverse cut
Dana 50 front end.. to be cut down and installed in his '74 Early
Bronco.  Apparently it's a hybrid between a '44 and a '60.  The pinion
is like a '44, the carrier is NOT Dana 60 size.. but the cover is a '60
cover.. while the axle shafts use big-joint Dana 60 hardware.  All in
all, an upgrade over his current '44.

-Tom