help.....going crazy

[dirtracer]

I had a metal grating sound in my rearend and when i pulled the dif. cover i saw that the pinion gear had been hitting the cage.I went to the junk yard got another rearend ,first day it was alright then the same grating sound came back again so i pulled the dif. cover and it looks like the pinion gear is getting into the cage on this rearend also,i dont know what the odds of this happening again are but it appears my luck really sucks.Anyways what causes this to happen,is it the pinion gear bearing worn out and allowing the pinion shaft to move back and forth or what?Also can someone give me an idea on how much it would take to rebuild a rearend,the pinion and ring appear to be ok,think it may just need bearings,how much is the cost and what is involved,can a regular joe do it?Also thx guys for the help,you all have been a big help to me thus far.

[VileZambonie]

Pinion gear is hitting the cage? What cage? The only cage in there is the bearing cages. Are you saying the pinion gear teeth are making contact with the bearing on the pinion gear?

so to replace all of the bearings will require a bearing press and clamp.

You need to preload the pinion bearings with a crush washer by measuring the rotational torque of course only after setting your pinion depth. The carrier can be installed aand then check your gear tooth contact pattern and backlash.

[dirtracer]

The cage being the huge piece right beside the ring gear that houses the spider gears.

[Blazin]

Thats called the carrier.

[dirtracer]

I was told by a junk yard man it was called the cage but regardlee my pinion gear is hitting it every now and then,is this from wear in the bearing or could there be other causes?

[Blazin]

If the pinion is hitting the carrier the rearend needs to be completely rebuilt.

Edited by: Blazin at: 5/26/06 9:44 pm