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Play in Pinion D30

B

bmsmalley

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Montgomery Texas
I noticed tonight with my front drive shaft off that i can turn by hand my front pinion by hand, easily, about a quarter of a turn in either direction. Also, with my front drive shaft in I get a terrible liberation around 60 mph. The drive shaft is new and balanced. Is there supposed to be so much play in the front pinion. It has no side to side play, I can just turn it about a quarter turn in both directions.

Thoughts?
 
Is there a lunchbox locker in the front?

The pinion bearings are OK if there is no play in-out or side-side. Preload is a bit hard to measure with used bearings.

Poor engagement can be caused by many things, a few are:
Main and Pinion gears not setup right.
Bad center pin.
Bad carrier holding center pin.
Normal Operation of a Lunchbox type locker :D
 
Thanks guys, the front is open. No locker, full case or lunch box. It did have a gear change to 4.56 about 2 years ago (previous owner).

Is it possible for the center pin to wear and not damage the carrier?
 
Are the two symptoms related or separate ?

Excessive rotational play at the pinion is probably a gear set-up issue.

Vibrations can be from internal differential issues, drive shaft issues, and/or incorrect pinion angles.

The center pin should hardened and the case will wear first as it is softer metal.
 
Tim_MN we checked and double checked pinion angles last night. It's running a 6" Rough Country long arm kit and the angle looks really good. Only thing to do now is to pull the cover and look inside.
 
If you can turn the yoke that far it is way to much backlash, pull the cover and check r/p if you can't have someone fix it.
 
Could have an axle shaft ujoint wearing out also. When you spin it back and forth look at your axle shaft joints for play.
 
bmsmalley said:
If this is the case does it mean that something is loose like ring gear?

The vibration only occurs when the front drive shaft is IN and only above 60 mph.
Click to expand...

Could be, or teeth missing, or not installed correctly, like I said pull the cover, and look inside, if you turn it and the teeth are good look at the amount of play from the pinion, is is moving a lot before it makes contact with the teeth on the ring gear? If that's the case they over tightened the crush sleeve on the pinion and it all needs removed and a new one installed correctly
 
bmsmalley said:
If this is the case does it mean that something is loose like ring gear?

The vibration only occurs when the front drive shaft is IN and only above 60 mph.
Click to expand...

If the vibration goes away with the front shaft installed then the vibration is caused by the pinion angle. The pinion is pointed to high. You have to make a compromise between pinion angles and caster angles. As you make the pinion angle better to get rid of vibrations you loose caster and low caster means the steering will wander at speed.

Also a HP30 has spacers not a cush sleeve.
 
i think my crappy backlash ruined my drive shaft, and is what is giving me vibes pete. without further info, this guys symptoms sound much the same.

should check your U joints just to be doubly sure. if the ears on the trunion have play in the caps, you will get rotation in the carrier, giving you some play at the pinion.
 
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