Front diff housing side covers
Posted: Sat May 15, 2021 12:16 pm
Folks
I am in the process of restoring an old (1964) running gear that I have.
I need to replace the side covers on the front differential casing as both sides are damaged (due to the swing arms being allowed to travel past their limits at some point).
I have spare side covers so that part is not a problem.
I was wondering if anyone had experience of conducting the shim calculations that are described in the repair manual. The shims are required to ensure precise location of the crown wheel in the diff housing against the pinion etc.
The question is really how critical these calculations are. The diff that came out of the housing is in good condition as are the bearings. These are already shimmed for the old housing covers. To do this properly (against the difficult to understand instructions!) will require pulling the bearings of the diff etc.
I suspect the risk of incorrect shimming is damage to the side covers or excessive wear of bearings in the pinion etc.
I do not have a platform for this running gear and it may never see a platform. So may never turn a wheel. And if it does it won’t exactly be doing 10k miles per year..
With that in mind I’m inclined to chance trying new side covers onto the diff with the old shims/bearings etc.
Any thoughts?
I am in the process of restoring an old (1964) running gear that I have.
I need to replace the side covers on the front differential casing as both sides are damaged (due to the swing arms being allowed to travel past their limits at some point).
I have spare side covers so that part is not a problem.
I was wondering if anyone had experience of conducting the shim calculations that are described in the repair manual. The shims are required to ensure precise location of the crown wheel in the diff housing against the pinion etc.
The question is really how critical these calculations are. The diff that came out of the housing is in good condition as are the bearings. These are already shimmed for the old housing covers. To do this properly (against the difficult to understand instructions!) will require pulling the bearings of the diff etc.
I suspect the risk of incorrect shimming is damage to the side covers or excessive wear of bearings in the pinion etc.
I do not have a platform for this running gear and it may never see a platform. So may never turn a wheel. And if it does it won’t exactly be doing 10k miles per year..
With that in mind I’m inclined to chance trying new side covers onto the diff with the old shims/bearings etc.
Any thoughts?