Great video and explanation. I’ve done 12 and 10 bolts using the Ratech tool with good success but now I need to do a Chrysler 8 1/4 and was considering the $500+ puck kit. Gonna go this route since you made it comprehensible. Thanks again.
Thanks for the video! I had purchased the tool but couldn't figure out how to use it!! You explained it well and I have a better understanding on how to actually use the tool!
Good example. In the beginning I was starting to think that you were about to come off the rails, however you held it in line and kept her on the tracks . So as you may have figured out, you can easily achieve these measurements, without the tool, and save yourself some money. When you took your first measurement, the OD of the bearing race , you then can put the bearing race where it goes in the housing , and with a good straight edge laying across the machined face of the rearend measure to the top of the race. All simple math from there . Add that number to the OD, divide by 2, you now have you center line. You now can pull your pinion numbers to the face and your straight edge.
I bought the Jegs brand and it has a hole on the other end to bolt the bar to the bearing clamp down area, Also i figured out how it works and wrote a Excel file so all i have to do is punch in the pinion dim and variable numbers. It calculates the movement amount AND which direction. I have tried different numbers eith way and it works on paper. I will try it on my truck diff soon.
Couldn't you take a piece of flat stock 1/2x1/2 x long enough to fit into bearing cup. Drill hole in center of the stock so the dial indicator would set into it. Then add magnets on underside both ends where it makes contact with the cups ? This would allow it to set there while taking measurements.
If I am visualizing what you are talking about correctly, how would you know you were at the lowest point in each cup. Other than that it could be a great idea, but this was an explanation and a review of the tool as delivered. Given a machine shop I probably could make my own pinion depth pucks for the pro tool. This will work pretty good and can be used in all applications as is. I appreciate the idea and feed back sir.
@@GSEShop I was thinking ahead of a tool that would be universal and used in all makes of vehicles front or back. Your review was great but if only there was a universal one. How great would that be for shops !
Once you established the diameter of the carrier bearing seat was 3.000" diameter, how are you verifying the carrier bearing seat bottom is a perfect 1.500" from the carrier bearing cap surface ? In addition, what would you do if it was (example) .140" ? If that really doesn't matter, why measure it in the first place ? Did I miss that part ? Maybe I just haven't thought this one through well enough yet. Thanks. Great job !
A few things. The directions say to use the tool to measure the flat to the bottom of the seat in the housing. I did do that and my measurement was exactly half. Speaking from experience as a machinist that has machined surfaces for bearings I know they do not like to be compressed more than .0005” at the most. If you compress the race any more than that it warps the race and the bearing will not last long if it rotates at all. The final point is using the tool to measure as in the instructions will at best get you to +or- .005” which can be useful when setting up a bearing it is miles away from a good measurement of the depth of the bearing surface, if you get it in the exact center where the measurement needs to be taken. That is why I would just measure the race and divide it by half.
Lmao do you work for that manufacturer's company. If you dont you should get 70% of their profit for bringing their sells & reviews dramatically up. Especially sience they couldnt explain it them self's. Thank you for explaining in detail, an already very Difficult job especially for a driveway DIY guy & saving a lot of people money. I appreciate your help greatly. 👍👍
GSE Shop Not that I can see. The carrier bearings fit in the housing and threaded end caps are used to set backlash. The only thing I can do is setup and test, setup and test. I have the old gears that came out of the diff so I can check that pinion depth against the Motive Gears and maybe that’ll give me a starting point for pinion shims. Right now the old shim is in it and the pattern indicates it’s not deep enough into the ring gear.
@@coarsegrind I have only done two 12 bolts and my buddy borrowed it for a 9inch. I do know that every gear set is different, even the same ratio from the same manufacturer will have a different depth etched on them. Other than a real pro tool I don’t know what will work, I am not affiliated with the tool or anyone else, just fond the directions confusing and thought I would try to clear it up
The distance from the centerline of the ring gear to the backface of the pinion is;;;; Dana 60 = 5.000 inches Dana 70 = 5.375 Dana 80 = 5.812 Hope this helps
@@GSEShop just so you know that information was taken out of a OE ford truck shop manual. Also states in the book for an 8.8 the nominal pinion depth setting shim is .030,, so that means that most 8.8 leave the factory with a .030 pinion shim,,and I can say that is all I've seen in them with factory gears
It's been a long time over 20 some years since I worked on a differential on a car since then I've been retired from the business a GM cars I remember the numbers are the back of the but I also remember some of them had an extra number with a plus or a minus symbol a abnormal. Pinion gear
I think you're missing the point of measuring the distance from where the bearing cap bolts to the housing to the bottom where the race seats. It's not to just get half the measurement of the bearing race. If it was you would simply measure the race and divide by two. The reason they want you to measure from the flat surface where the cap bolts to the bottom where the race seats, it's because when they bore the hole for the race it's not always centered. It could be machined deeper in the housing or deeper in the cap. The center line of the race is not always where the cap contacts the housing, you may have more of the race in the cap or more of the race in the housing. That's why they have you measure it, and then add or subtract, if it's not centered. Most times it's not centered.
I admit I had not considered that, but I also haven’t run into it. I couldn’t be off by very much or else you would have trouble installing the race either in the cap or in the housing.
First mistake, not all manufacturers (factory & aftermarket) put any measurement numbers on the end of the pinion for the purpose of setting the pinion depth. 3 examples: Chrysler 9 1/4, 8 1/4, Dana 60. Are you making the assumption that there are only GM cars out there? I fully understand the principles & how to measure. The big headache: Where the hell do you find the specs needed?
I am sorry but I was reviewing the tool and trying to provide a detailed guide on how to use it. This was not an all encompassing “how to change your pinion” or “the only thing you need to know” kind of video. I had to change the gears in my 12 bolt and that is the axle I used for the video. If you cannot find the marking I would recommend contacting the manufacturer, or the vendor who sold them to you. If you are removing a gearset with the intent of reinstallation, you should take a measurement before taking the pinion out if things are in good working order. Thank you for the comment and if I only made one mistake then I am doing good
So I am now doing a 9 1/4 Chrysler and the number is engraved on the end of the pinion. I plan on a Dana 44 front axle soon and I will let you know what I find
@@GSEShop I have since fund out that aftermarket gear sets will have a number etched or stamped on the Chrysler 9 1/4 gears. Not so on the factory gears. At least the 3 sets that I have had experience with. Also on a set f replacement gears for a Dana 60 (going from 4.10 to 3.73 gears) there were no numbers on the end of the pinion. There were numbers stamped on the pinion shaft but they were not measurements, probably some sort of production numbers or serial #s. Another problem with the Dana gear set: The machined end of the pinion gear wasn't flat, it was conical making any kind of measurement impossible even if there were a number present. They were Dana/ Spicer gears. This is gonna be complicated so bear with me. I found the actual specific dimension for the Dana 60 in one of my Dodge FSMs. The distance from the rear face of the inner (rear) pinion bearing to the center of the carrier is 5.000" exactly. using machinists parallel bars & a wide base depth mic I did the following: 1) Measure carrier bearing bore depth using a depth mic. This will give you the half dia of the bearing bore, or what it is relative to what it should be. In the case I was working on the bearing cap flat surface was not equal to the Half dia size so I calculated that into the final measurement. Also each side (bearing bores) were different so I averaged the 2 readings. I cannot remember the actual measurement but lets say that the average was .010" less than the half dia of the bearing bore. Just add that amount to the final depth measurement. 2) Using 2 sets of parallel bars set across the carrier bearing flats I measured down to the surface of the inner race of the rear pinion bearing. Subtract the thickness of the parallel bars & add the previous dimension from the carrier bearing bores. Should be exactly 5", if not (it will be more) then add shims to arrive at 5". I used setup bearings for all measurements & this was a rear drive unit. With this Dana unit I was able to get within .002" on the first try of setting the pinion depth. I have studied those depth setting tools (someone even offered to loan me one) but can't see how they would be very accurate especially after finding the baring cap irregularities. Might get one within .015 to .020" but that is all. Problem with the 9 1/4 is that I cant find the factory machined pinion bearing depth. There has to be a specific tolerance held at the factory otherwise they would have hell assembling the things. I have one to take apart sometime that is a good unit & I'll measure that one & record for future use. Sorry for the length but I have no way of making it shorter. Also don't know how to send pics which would make it easier. Thanks for the input.
@@larryhutchens7593 that would be the correct procedure, but speaking as a machinist, and using this tool you would only need to measure the side you are using the tool on. If one is .005 and one is .008, difference would not matter as the center line doesn’t change. You would just need to know if you need to add .0025 or .004 depending on what side you are on. I called Yukon Gear and they said that basically all 9 1/4 rears are the same and all take a .032 shim. He said they don’t mark all of them because almost nobody measures anyway. I was the first person he spoke with who asked such a question. Seems odd to me but that was directly from their helpline. I hope that helps.
@@GSEShop As a 30 year machinist I am very familiar with machine work in the manufacturing industry. It is all about tolerances. The closer the tolerance the higher the manufacturing cost so you only hold close tolerance where necessary. After a search I located my notes on that Dana axle that we are working on and here they are: All references are in a rear wheel drive unit sitting on saw horses, U joint end of pinion pointing downward, working from what would be the bottom of the axle housing. 1)case half bearing bore: left side 1.887", right 1.880", Avg 1.8835", round down to 1.883". 2)Carrier bearing bore 3.814", divide by 2 = 1.907. Do the math & you will notice that the bearing cap split line is .024" below the center line of the carrier bearing, on average. Notice that there is a variance between the left & rt sides which means that the mill cut that made the machined surface for the caps is out of parallel to the plane that is running through the center of the entire axle housing (lengthwise from left to rt). I'm also sure that there is a manufacturing tolerance for the other plane of that cut, It should be square (at 90 degree angle) to the plane running through the center line of the pinion gear but there is, no doubt, a tolerance for that also. So if I used your tool on one side or the other of this Dana axle the measurement would be off by .024 plus or minus whatever error would be created by the out of parallel angularity of the surface the tool were attached to. That could be calculated by some plane trig math work. End result: a stab in the dark. By using my method & the 5" dimension & shims I was able to arrive at a measurable 4.999" dimension which was about .002" from where we got a good pinion depth pattern. I have no trouble with your tool process if it is the best someone can use. Most don't have the tools that I used or the skill to use them so I understand that. My gripe is that I cannot find that dimension that I found for the Dana 60 (the 5" one). I need it for the 9 1/4, 8 1/4, & 8 3/4 Chrysler & no one seems to know what it is or where to find it. Would the folks at Yukon have any idea? Here are some assumptions about tolerances that I'm going on. Closest tolerance is in the bearings themselves. probably held in the 4th digit to rt of the decimal (.0001 or so). Next would be the plus/minus tolerance of the center line of the pinion gear itself. I am assuming that this is the measurement that is etched on the end of the pinion gear. Another tolerance (again plus/minus) would be the location of the surface that the inner pinion bearing race seats against. That surface would have to be cut at such a depth that is below the required depth & shimming is required to get the pinion depth correct. It has to be deeper than the assembled dimension, if it were less then there would be no way to correct for pinion machining tolerance. A couple of problems with the Dana axle 1) The bearing/seal kit we got had enough shims to do the job but not enough variety. I had to run all over town to locate enough to get the correct shim thickness, used ones at that. 2) there was some slight difference between the set up bearings we used & the final bearings. Shims for the pinion brg preload produced way too much drag & we had to fabricate a press to remove the pinion so that we could get the situation corrected. The comment from Yukon is probably correct. Most of their gears go into drag cars or off road vehicles so a bit of whine would not be very noticeable. On off road vehicles, they usually get broken about 20 minutes into their outing anyway. I had to build this axle for road use in a van that is being converted into a camper. Longevity is critical. Again apologies for the length, it is a complicated issue & thanks for the feed back.
could a man just torque the caps down, use a snap gage to find center line and thin use a straight edge face of the rear end housing, measure to the bottom of the Carrie race to the straight edge, divide the CL measurement by 2 that you got from the snap gage, calculate those numbers together to find true CL from face of housing. Then you can measure from the straight edge to the face of the pinion gear. Do you think that would work?
@@GSEShop your video is fantastic. maybe we share a brain but this was exactly how i need this to be explained. ive been watching and reading for days trying to teach my self how to do this. thank you
