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As soon as Project YJ was on the lift, Paul started
stripping down the front end.
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Paul has removed the hubs and rotors disconnected the
steering linkage. Once the spindles are removed, the
axle shafts can be pulled out.
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Since we were already
partially disassembling the front axle, we decided now would be a
good time to replace the worn ball joints. That's why Al is
starting to remove the driver's side knuckle. Ordinarily, the
knuckles could be left on for a Detroit Locker install.
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After the differential was removed along with all the bearings and
seals, we were left with a bare housing. When removing the carrier and pinion,
be careful to catch the shims and make note of where they came from.
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Here's a comparison between the stock carrier with the Lockright (left)
and the Detroit Softlocker (right). Notice how much more metal is
utilized in the Detroit.
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With the carrier now on the workbench, Glen starts removing the
bearings. They aren't going to be re-used but they might come
in handy if we need to experiment with different shim packs
when setting up the carrier. By honing the inside bores of the
old bearings, they can be easily installed and removed while
swapping shims. Once the correct shim packs have been determined,
the new bearings can be pressed on.
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A bearing separator is used to remove the bearing from the
old pinion shaft. Between the bearing and the pinion gear
are the shims which dictate the pinion depth. Like the carrier
shims, these shims were also re-used with the Detroits.
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Here Glen is bolting the new 4.10 ring gear to the Detroit Locker.
Before installing the ring gear, he carefully checked the Detroit's
surfaces for nicks. Even brand new carriers can have damage from
shipping. He found a couple of high spots and filed them flat.
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While Glen was busy installing the bearings and shims onto the
carrier and pinion shaft, Al and Paul cleaned
out the axle housing and began installing new bearings and races.
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The mounting surfaces for the diff covers were cleaned up
to ensure that there would be no leaks once the covers were
bolted on.
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Before installing the pinion gear, Glen first notched
the end where the pinion nut screws on. Once the nut is
tightened in place, he'll punch the edge of the nut to
set part of it into the groove. This will lock it in place.
With his 8 years' experience in performing nothing but differential
work, I believe him when he describes the damage a backed off
pinion nut can cause.
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The carrier should always fit snugly into the housing. Knocking
it in with a brass driver is quite normal. However, you must
still be careful not to damage anything. If you look closely, you
can see that Glen is using the driver only on the corners of the races
where the metal is thickest.
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While tightening the pinion nut, Glen is twisting the yoke back
and forth to help seat everything properly as the nut cinches the
pinion shaft into place.
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With the pinion and carrier installed, it was time to test the
tooth engagement pattern. Glen got it right on the very first
try. The backlash also measured up within tolerances. Since
everything was in order, the pinion nut and yoke were removed
and the pinion seal installed.
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The yoke was then put back on. Here's a shot of that groove that was cut
into the shaft earlier on.
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Now the pinion nut is installed and punched into the groove to lock it in place.
Glen said it would be no problem to remove the nut with a wrench.
The punch only served to prevent the nut from loosening off by itself.
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Al gave the front end a shot of paint once it was all
bolted back together and now he's filling it up with gear oil.
Now there's nothing left to do except take it for a test drive!
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