CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

14 bolt gear setup patterns

Redfred

Registered Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2014
Posts
71
Reaction score
0
Location
Georgia
Just finishing up on my 14 bolt build and have run into some questions. I've basically referenced the 14 bolt gear setup article by Billavista during this whole build as well as pics from multiple sites on gear patterns. I started out with contact at the top of the tooth and on the heel. Per Billavista, I increased pinion depth to get deeper in the ring gear and had to tweak backlash to get back in the spec there.

I have all new Timken bearings and races and new Yukon gears. I used the Yukon set up kit/shims. In this pic, I have the thinnest pinion shim in the kit installed (.010) and my backlash is currently at .006 which is just inside the preferred measurement. It looks real close to many pics I've found where folks say its good. Although I'm down from the top of the tooth on the drive side, it's not exactly centered. It's still closer to the top than the root but like I say, I've got the thinnest pinion shim in there already. I don't know if I'd have a good seal between the pinion support and axle housing if I didn't use a shim plus I think going .010 deeper on the pinion depth may be too much. Does this look like a good pattern? (Also, I couldny apply 40-50 ft lbs of resistance by hand because the axle is in my basement on jack stands)

image.jpg
 
I think the last one on the drive side looks good.

I didn't read all of the post, but a quick question, are these new or used gears?
 
The drive side looks good in the second pic. I can't see the third photo.
And I had no shims on my 14FF pinion so that's not an issue.
 
The drive side looks good in the second pic. I can't see the third photo.
And I had no shims on my 14FF pinion so that's not an issue.

Cool. The third pic is just a slightly different angle of the same drive side pattern in the second pic. I took all the shims out and checked again just for the heck of it and the top/root was pretty much the same but it put the pattern closer to the heel, so I put the .010" shim back in and buttoned her up.

I did have a range of about .004" to .005" difference in backlash between the largest and smallest measurements when I was making multiple checks around the ring gear. This is more than Billavista recommends but I'm just going to go with it since both are within the .003"-.012" recommend range. I believe it actually was .005" at the smallest point and .009" at the largest.
 
Do not run that pattern your pinion is way to shallow. Don't worry so much about backlash until your alot closer with the pinion depth
 
The pattern should be rounded everywhere. A sharp straight line like you have is not a good thing
 
Unfortunately, I can't go any deeper. I removed all shims and that is as deep as it will go. The pics are with the smallest shim in the kit but the pattern between top and root was the same with no shim used at all.

These are new gears and I was not able to apply much drag at all. I'm not sure if either could explain the sharp edge or not.
 
Or maybe it's no problem at all. This is a pic of the final pattern in the Billavista 14 bolt set up article. Looks very much like mine except his is longer. Probably due to applying proper drag or the gears are not new.

image.jpg
 
I checked again and realized that the last time I checked the pattern, I had forgot to retorque the carrier bearing caps from adjusting backlash so I torqued them down, confirmed backlash was still in spec and this is the pattern. I think it helped. What do you guys think now? It has the thinnest pinion retainer housing shim in it that came with the kit.

image.jpg
 
That is much much much much more better.

That's good but in my mind it might be a touch to deep. Can you ad .001 or.002 to your shim pack?

Post a pic of the other side?
 
Yeah, here is the coast. The next shim in the kit is a .014" or .015"
I get both measurements depending on which spot I check with my dial caliper.

image.jpg
 
...which would add .004"-.005" since the .010 is in there now. You think the pattern is acceptable without causing premature wear or noise?
 
It's not awesome but acceptable. It's hard sometimes to do it with just the shims they give you.
 
The coast is actually very nice the drive is kind of hard to read. It should look more uniform. Kind of throwing it off for me. Right now the drive could use a .001 or .002 more shim

You don't have that so I would run it I suspect if you rotated it some more it might clean up.
 

Latest Posts

Top Bottom