Bad carrier

[buckmtn]

Working on setting up the gears on 14 bolt ff. Bolted the ring gear to the carrier. When I get the backlash within spec on one spot and rotate it, it will either bind up or get loose as hell. Put the dial indicator on the backside of the gear at the top and it has .006-.007 runout in it. Not a real good place to check since its not a machined surface. Then I took a ruler and laid flat across the housing and as I rotated the ring gear you could see the teeth wobble in and out away from the straight edge. Brand new Yukon gears. Took the ring gear off and rotated it a couple times on the carrier but the same result. I even took it to work and buddy put it in the lathe and took light cut to true up mounting surface of ring gear, still no help. Anyone ever heard of a carrier being warped like that. I don't know what else to do except get another carrier. Thought of trying to find the low spot on it and shim between the ring gear and mounting surface. Any ideas??? Sorry for the long post.

 

[Blue85]

Any chance the caps aren't fully seated when you are checking it? Maybe there is some dirt between the carrie and the gear or one of the bolts is held up? What did this axle run like before?

 

[Leper]

I would say that something is not aligned correct or you dont have the right preload on the pinion. You did use a new install kit with bearings, right?

 

[UPS]

Quote by Buckmtn "Thought of trying to find the low spot on it and shim between the ring gear and mounting surface."

I think that is a very bad idea. You would have to shim every bolt except the high one. I think the bolts would work loose.

Mike

 

[Wrench]

Quote by Buckmtn "Thought of trying to find the low spot on it and shim between the ring gear and mounting surface."

I think that is a very bad idea. You would have to shim every bolt except the high one. I think the bolts would work loose.

Mike

Yeah, if you're going to do that you might as well just chuck the new gears in the scrap bin now, save some trouble.

Check for a clean mounting surface and no burrs around the mounting holes either on the carrier or the ring gear--I usually use a lathe file for a couple of light passes over each surface, you'll feel the burrs if they're there.

Never heard of a carrier being warped like that, but if you have access to a lathe to check the ring gear, could maybe take the carrier in and try the same thing, if it's only out a few thou's then you can just move the carrier over to compensate after cutting.

 

[4X4HIGH]

I even took it to work and buddy put it in the lathe and took light cut to true up mounting surface of ring gear, still no help.

I would now throw those gears away. The ring gear isn't seating correctly on the carrier. You either have a burr somewhere on the gear or the carrier or the gear just simply did not go on straight.

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

The gears should be fine.

Your problem is either a warped carrier or something in between the carrier and ring gear (dirt, a gouge in the metal, etc.).

DO NOT USE SHIMS BETWEEN THE CARRIER AND RING GEAR.

 

[buckmtn]

We never did any cutting on the ring gear itself. He chucked the carrier up in the lathe and indicated it till it was running true and took like .005 off of the carrier where the ring gear mounts to. It had a few high and low spots as he was turning it. I think I finally got it to work out though. I took the carrier assembly apart a few times and rotated it to a couple different positions and got it running close enough for me. The backlash is between .005 and .009. Little more than the .002 differnece in runout that the 14 bolt bible reccomends but I am tired of screwing with it.

 

[readymix]

Did you split the carrier in half when you took it apart?

I bet you did not put it together the same way.
Or you have a small piece of grit between the ring gear and the carrier.

 

[readymix]

Oops.....I only read the first post.

 

[sandawgk5]

Mine did that when I put the new gears in it and I took it back apart and found a small sliver of brass between the carrier and gear. It must have gotten there from some other evolution and I did not clean it properly before I put the gear on. I cleaned the carrier and gear really well and put it back together. It has run fine ever since.

I think cutting the carrier is an extreme solution but if it works out for you great.

Dik

 

[UPS]

I took the carrier assembly apart a few times and rotated it to a couple different positions and got it running close enough for me.

My carrier had triangles in the square recesses on the mating surfaces of the carrier. It had one on each half of the carrier.

The holes for the cross pins lined up the best when these marks were lined up. Some of my cross pin holes had machining marks in them, so I could tell the way it was lined up when it was machined.

I think thats what the triangles are there for. You can't see the triangles when the carrier halves are together.

Mike

 

[4X4HIGH]

My carrier had triangles in the square recesses on the mating surfaces of the carrier. It had one on each half of the carrier.

The holes for the cross pins lined up the best when these marks were lined up. Some of my cross pin holes had machining marks in them, so I could tell the way it was lined up when it was machined.

I think thats what the triangles are there for. You can't see the triangles when the carrier halves are together.

Mike

Yep, i'll second that. The carriers are marked from the factory for re-alignment should they need to be takin apart for any reason.