carrier bearing ?

[Curly55]

doing a ring and pinion swap on my '94 yj's dana 30 and i dont have a carrier bearing puller or press. wondering what ya'll have done to overcome this problem? if ya'll have any ideas to help they would be much appreciated. one more thing... just so i have an idea how many times did any of ya'll have to remove the carrier during the process of adjusting backlash and carrier bearing preload?

[Jim_Lou]

When I did the D44 I used a regular bearing splitter in the hydraulic press. It was a little cumbersome to get the carrier positioned in the press, but it worked.

[TeamRush]

Originally Posted by Curly55

doing a ring and pinion swap on my '94 yj's dana 30 and i dont have a carrier bearing puller or press. wondering what ya'll have done to overcome this problem? if ya'll have any ideas to help they would be much appreciated. one more thing... just so i have an idea how many times did any of ya'll have to remove the carrier during the process of adjusting backlash and carrier bearing preload?

First off, I have to ASSUME you have the pinion already set up if you are working on carrier bearings...

Inside pinion (Depth) first for wear pattern,
Then outside pinion bearing for preload....

Then and ONLY THEN do you move to new bearings on the carrier.

Installing a carrier bearing set is VERY easy.
Two jaw puller will take them right off since there is a puller notch cast right into the Dana housings.

Find yourself a large, thick washer, and put it in the center of the carrier where the axles go, and drop a bolt in there to push on, and the bearings will come right off.

*IF*...
You don't have a puller, you can take the bearings off by cutting the cage on both sides, and letting the cage and bearings fall out,
Then using a 'Dremel' tool on the inside race.
Try and be as tender as you can when you get close to cutting through.
I often use a chisel and some 'Freeze Off' to get the inner race to pop when you get it cut most of the way through.

Remember, you are pressing the inner race on, and there is no seal, so you CAN mark or knick the carrier without effecting the carrier or bearing when cutting this thing off.

DO NOT DISCARD THE INNER RACE OF THE BEARINGS!
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When you install, you will find the factory manual says it's perfectly fine to DRIVE the bearings back on with a hammer.

Use the inside of the old bearing as a drive tool to seat the new bearing without impacting the cage of the new bearing.

Coat the carrier bearing surface with a REALLY GOOD GREASE,
Something like a full synthetic grease or even 'Never-Seize' before you put the bearing on so it's easier to get off for final fitting...

And don't forget to use the old shims under the bearing.
The old shims will usually get you very close to where you need to be with a D-30...

Drop your new bearing diff in the case,
Pry the case up against the pinion gear (Pry ring gear to pinion gear)
And use feeler gauges to determine how much more in the way of shims you need for both sides.
(Make sure your races are seated on the bearings.)

Take the diff case out of the housing,
Use gear puller to remove the new bearings,
Install the same thickness of shims as you got with the feeler gauges,
And hammer/press the bearings back on and check again with feeler gauges.

You are looking for about 0.000" to 0.001" of backlash when done.
(noise isn't an issue in the front since you normally don't run full time in the front)

Here is a link to the section for the front axle in the FSM,
http://www.civilianjeep.info/84-86FS...Front_Axle.pdf

Start at about Adobie page 74 or so... (manual page G-156)
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Some tips that might make your life easier,

Thick shims INSIDE next to the case so when you remove the bearing, you are lifting on one of the thicker shims.
Thinner shims tend to smear and let the gear puller loose, a BAD thing.

Buy yourself a shim pack.
About $20 and worth twice that in gold to have the correct shim at the right time!

Get yourself a good micrometer or digital/dial caliper.
None of those $20 tool sale or parts store cheapies.
Makes sorting and measuring shim packs SO MUCH easier...

Have an extra set of hands around when you are doing this.
It's VERY hard to hold the differential, and the puller, and the wrench, and the bearings at the same time,
It's also difficult to have a hand on both carrier bearing races AND the differential carrier at the same time when you are installing...

When you are setting PINION depth in the case,
Make sure you remember what you are seeing in the gear grease paint is BACKWARDS of which way the pinion needs to go in the case.

DO NOT use the crimp nut on the pinion threads when you are selecting preload shims and depth shims...
The crimp (Prevailing Torque) nut will eat up the threads in no time, leaving you needed new pinion and to do this again!

Use GREASE on the pinion nut threads! Even a dry straight nut will gall threads if you run it on and off enough times,
And you must run it on and off quite a few times as you are setting up the pinion!

When you drive the bearings on, make sure you put a board under the 'Down Side' bearing!
You don't want that bearing impacting something hard like concrete or metal while you are pounding or pressing on the 'Top' bearing...

[TeamRush]

And to answer the 'How Many' times for the carrier bearings,
I think 4 or 5 times...
Some people only have to take them off once, but I'm not one of them.

Doing gear sets is a MARATHON, not a sprint.
Expect to pull, install, pull, install several times to get the pinion depth correct,
Then expect the same for getting the preload correct on the pinion.

The carrier is the easiest of all, since you can get to the sides of the carrier and use feeler gauges to get you almost right on the money.

If you don't have a dial indicator that registers in thousands of an inch,
And an INCH POUND torque wrench, NOW is a good time to locate them!
You normally can't rent these tools, so if you know someone with them, start begging now.

And that INCH pound torque wrench needs to be a direct read type with beam/pointer or dial read out...
The 'Clicker' types aren't suited for this work, but can be used in a pinch.

If you don't have your own tools,
You can 'Rent' jaw type and clamshell type pullers at the parts stores.
You pay for them, but when you return them, you get your money back...

Advance Auto seems to have the best tools in the best condition.

(There is a reason we get $500 a set to install these gear sets!
It takes some specialty tools most people don't have and don't know how to operate, and unless the axles are out from under the vehicle, all this has to be done UNDER the vehicle, which is a REAL pain in the butt!)

[GoldToyBox]

I can't add much to TeamRush's report.
but if you going to much of this type work (axles, bearing, hubs, 4:1 kits, tranny, etc) a press is worth it's weight and the garage space it takes up. Not to mention the flat finger syndrone caused by using a BHF.
You don't need a high dollar model, Harbor Freight or just a bench mounted model will do for most jobs. Mine is a home made one that I found on Craigs list, looks like someone high school shop project. You can build one with out much effort.

[TeamRush]

I just did about 5 sets in the driveway for other people,
And I did my own earlier this summer.

Built a press out of GRADE 8 'All Thread' and a hydraulic jack and it works fine for this stuff,
More of a 'Bench Top' model than anything, but it works fine.

Not worth the effort if you are only doing one set, but if you are going to do yours, it won't be long before EVERYONE wants you to do theirs!
(You get a new full time job they don't want to pay you for)

[Curly55]

well thanks ya'll the advice is worth the time to get it. ill be back I'm sure, weather its to ask more about this project or let ya'll know how it came out. thanks again. oh and do any of ya'll know were i can find a in/lbs wrench?

[Jim_Lou]

Any decent parts house can get one for you, although they might not have one in stock. I got mine from MSC - MSCDirect.com.

[bandhmo2]

Since this is your first gear swap you will need to take it apart and put it together much more then normal. Getting a feel for how much to change pinion depth take a few tries. Every time you take a new try at pinion depth you will need to adjust backlash. It took me about 5 tries to get pinion depth close on my first axle and about 3 tries after that to get it dead on. So if I did not have setup bearings for the carrier I would have needed to press the bearings on 16 times (remember 2 sides to the carrier). This will take a lot of time and be hard on the bearings.

Do yourself a favor and make the setup bearings they will save time in the long run, and you can save them for future axles, you can even sell them and recoup the the cost of the bearing cones if you buy new. Also pressing the bearings on and off that much can damage them and or the trunnions on the carrier. You can of coarse make setup bearings from the old bearings but that can lead to trouble if they are worn much as when you switch to the new bearings things will be different.