Differential Assembly: Testing and Inspection

Sparingly paint eight or ten of the drive gear teeth with a stiff mixture of marking raddle or engineers blue. Move the painted gear teeth in mesh with the pinion until a good impression of the total contact is obtained. The result should conform with the ideal tooth contact pattern.

Fig.1:

Fig. 1 Ideal tooth contact pattern.

Fig.2:

Fig. 2 High tooth contact pattern.

Fig.3:

Fig. 3 Low tooth contact pattern.

Fig.4:

Fig. 4 Toe contact pattern.

Fig.5:

Fig. 5 Heel contact pattern.

A The HEEL is the larger outer end of the tooth.

B The TOE is the small or inner end of the tooth.

C The DRIVE side of the drive gear tooth is convex.

D The COAST side of the drive gear tooth 1.5 concave.