Inspection Before Disassembly

The differential case assembly and drive pinion should be inspected before they are removed from the axle assembly. These inspections can find the cause of the concern and determine the resolution.

1. Wipe the lubricant from the internal working parts and visually inspect the parts for wear and/or damage.

2. Rotate the gears to see if there is any roughness which would indicate damaged bearings or gears.

3. Check the ring gear teeth for signs of scoring, abnormal wear or nicks/chips.

4. Set up dial indicator Tool D78P-4201-B and check ring gear and pinion backlash and ring gear backface runout.

Check ring gear and pinion backlash in three equally spaced points with dial indicator.

Backlash tolerance is 0.127-0.203 mm (0.005- 0.008 in) and cannot vary more than 0.O5m m (0.002 in) between points checked.

High backlash is corrected by moving the ring gear away from the pinion.

Low backlash is corrected by moving the ring gear away from the pinion.

These corrections are made by switching shims from one side of the differential case to the other.

To check ring gear backface runout, mount Dial Indicator D78P-4201-B on the carrier so the tip of the dial indicator contacts the backface of the ring gear. Back face runout should be no more than 0.101 mm (0.004 inch).




5. A contact pattern is not an acceptable guide to check for noise. Proper gear set assembly must be checked using the Rear Axle Pinion Depth Gauge Tool set which shows the correct pinion depth required to assure acceptable running condition.