dana 60 eaton elocker setup question

[bp71k5]

For those of you with this setup, the welded on anti-rotation tab doesn't fit as close to the bearing retainer as I expected. The ring can rotate about 1/4" and I'm curious if this is normal? I've heard these tabs can break off easily and am wondering if I should do some preventative fixes to it or leave it alone.

You can see the gap I'm talking about near the red arrow.

 

[Greg72]

Subscribed..... but I have no idea.

Sorry.

 

[bp71k5]

I can see why there is some gap since you don't want those tabs to put any leverage on the magnet, but I'd think the tolerances on that part of the axle housing would allow the bracket to be a little closer than 1/4".

Depending on the responses ( I get the impression not many of these are being run here) , I -may- try and built some kind of spacer or bracket that bolts onto the cap to take up some of the gap or find a way to strengthen the wire lead coming off so if the tabs DO break, the wire won't break off right at the magnet making it impossible to repair.

 

[driney]

I'm running an E Locker in my front 10 bolt and I remember some play, can't say whether or not it was a 1/4". I had never heard of the tabs breaking off, I did not think there was that kind of force on it. When I get around to putting the E Locker in my 14 bolt SF I'll try to pay attention to how much rotation there is.

 

[bp71k5]

Thanks for the reply. There are two styles of anti-rotation brackets as far as I can tell. The other style is a separate bracket that bolts down underneath the bearing cap bolts and engages a smaller tab on the magnet to keep it from rotating. That version seems a little more robust than this style, but I'm no drivetrain engineer so I guess I have to assume it's going to be ok.

I think I'm just going to run it and see what happens.

 

[4X4HIGH]

Thanks for the reply. There are two styles of anti-rotation brackets as far as I can tell. The other style is a separate bracket that bolts down underneath the bearing cap bolts and engages a smaller tab on the magnet to keep it from rotating. That version seems a little more robust than this style, but I'm no drivetrain engineer so I guess I have to assume it's going to be ok.

I think I'm just going to run it and see what happens.

Worst case is it breaks, pisses you off, and you get to start all over AFTER they send you replacement parts.

 

[bp71k5]

Worst case is it breaks, pisses you off, and you get to start all over AFTER they send you replacement parts

True, if those tabs break the very expensive magnet starts spinning and rips the wires off at the weakest spot which happens to be right inside where they enter the epoxy covered portion of the magnet.

 

[Greg72]

Brian,

Three ideas:

1. What about doing some aviation wire off that bearing cap that runs through the opening in that retainer tab? That way you aren't relying solely on the strength of the tab "finger" itself if it ever tries to rotate.

2. What about tapping a small hole into the pumpkin below that tab and fabricating a tiny little platform that could fill the gap under the existing tab?

3. A small, slip-on block that would go over that tab to make it larger. Maybe held in place with a small set-screw (and Loc-Tite) so that it didn't work loose?


I'm trying to think of things that don't involve modifying the part itself...

 

[bp71k5]

Those are similar to some ideas I had. Probably the safest would be a metal bracket with a tab that bolts underneath the bearing cap bolt and kinda sits in between the welded metal tabs on there.

I do understand why there is some gap built in there. If there wasn't, any kind of flexing or thermal expansion of the housing would throw the bearings on that magnet off and it wouldn't last long.

In reality it's probably ok. My concern comes from a scenerio where the diff goes from 0 rpm to a very high rpm in a short quick burst. In that case, that 1/4" gap would allow much more momentum on those tabs to build and make them more likely to break. In reality, the truck starts moving much more slowly than that. I guess if I'm popping the clutch or dropping off a ledge the issue might be more relevent.

I'm waiting for some gear setup tools at the moment so I'm back at rust repair for another week or so until they get here.

 

[bp71k5]

Update: Gear setup

I thought I'd turn this into a small build thread for the supposedly redesigned Eaton Elocker for the dana 60. The locker itself is fairly easy to install, it's just the gear setup that's a lot of work.

Here you can see the locker with just some setup bearings installed on each end. There's two wires that pass through a hole in the diff similar to an ARB.



To drill the hole, I chose a spot right next to the breather hole mostly because that's about all the length of wire would let me. The hole has to be a maximum of 1/2" for the rubber plug to seal right, so I used a 7/16" bit which seems to be pretty good.


The smaller breather hole needed to be tapped for 1/8" pipe thread since the port was missing.


And there's what it looks like installed with no gears.


I've found you need to be really careful when removing this and installing it because those metal anti-rotation tabs always seem to want to get caught on something while your trying to carefully lower this heavy hunk of metal down into the housing.

Checking backlash. Too tight at .002" but was close enough to check the pattern.

 

[bp71k5]

Here's the first pattern I've run so far on the new gears. If the backlash was ok, I might be tempted to run this as-is.

It looks fairly well centered for the first try, but I think I've got more contact at the top of the tooth than the root, it's hard to tell.

I guess I need to try and shift the carrier over .002" to try and get another couple thousanth's extra backlash.

Anyone else think that's the right move rather than decreasing the pinion depth?

 

[4X4HIGH]

Pinion depth is what dictates the gear pattern. Moving the carrier will only change the backlash.

 

[bp71k5]

Pinion depth is what dictates the gear pattern.

True, what I'm asking is whether the pattern looks close enough to just leave the pinion alone and just fix the backlash? If I want more punishment, I could shim the pinion out a bit more and see if that move the pattern down towards the root a bit more and then fix the backlash.

 

[dyeager535]

Have you talked with Eaton about your concern? I would think that if something happened and you had correspondence from them, any "improper install" comments would be null and void IF something does happen.

Or, they'll tell you how to fix it, or realize there is a problem with the design and work to correct it for future production.

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

You really should get the backlash in spec before you take a pattern but the pinion does look just a little too deep.

 

[bp71k5]

Have you talked with Eaton about your concern?

No but that's an interesting idea. The more I get into this, I can see how having some slop is needed. It would be nice to have some confirmation of that though. I'll give it a shot.

the pinion does look just a little too deep.

Really? I was going to add another shim to make it deeper. My pbb diagrams say that "top contact" requires more pinion shim. Am I reading this wrong? I did just re-read the stuff and realized the pattern isn't so useful if the backlash isn't in spec. I'll just fix that and see where I'm at.

 

[driney]

Are these the gears that were already there? I don't think you should change the pinion depth on gears that are already broke in.

 

[bp71k5]

Are these the gears that were already there?

No, these are brand new gears and bearings.

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

As it looks now, the pattern is .001-.002" too deep but like I said get the backlash in spec and then take a pattern.

"Top contact" as you call it would mean that you need to add more pinion shim but that's not how I read the pattern, it looks just a tiny bit too deep.

The pattern you posted would run silent (if the backlash were in spec) and probably live a long life, the coast side (which, on a low pinion front end is the driven side) looks perfect. So if you have everything buttoned up I'd run it, if you want perfection I'd add another .001-.002" to the pinion shim.

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

I forgot to mention, are you putting pressure/resistance on the ring gear while you take a pattern?