Rebuilding Dana 35

I know some will say don't waste your time, but this is what I have right now.
I have a rear out of an 86xj and am changing the gears to 4:10 with all new bearings,the gears are used and in good shape. When I pulled the carrier out of the axle it just kind of fell out into my hands. Now,I have never done a gear change before but have searched on the particulars and everything that I've read says the carrier should have a slight press fit to it. I know in the dana30 I have I used the rag method to get the carrier out of the housing and when the carrier fell out of the 35 I was a little bit concerned, bent housing maybe ? I have also read that there are shims between the pinion bearing and pinion , but there are none on this one. There is a thick shim between the inner pinion bearing cup and the housing.
Any thoughts?
Bill

you do know there is alot to setting gears right. I mean tools alone cost in the neighborhood of $200 you gotta set pinion depth and backlash and bearing preload lots of stuff. Just make sure you know what your doing. I have all the tools and still don't trust myself to do my own I will spend the $75 to have a shop do them for me.
DIG IT!

Just My Opinions and hopefully a little help

I found a good link on building a rear dif at http://www.drivetrain.com/ringpinioninstal.html

It looks pretty thorough, but I haven't had the time to really digest it. 20 years ago I worked as a truck mechanic, but it's been a couple of decades since I built a rear end.

I know that you're probably going to hear a lot of this, but if you can go with a Dana 44 and don't bother with the Dana 35. I'm in the process of building one and adding disc brakes while I'm at it.

My logic is this. I believe that with different axles and a truss that you can build a Dana 35 that's as strong or maybe even stronger than a stock Dana 44, but you've still got a Dana 35 no matter what you do to it! If you break an axle you're gonna get to say "bye-bye" to your wheel. A Dana 44 won't do that as it doesn't have c-clips.

That's just my opinion, but I think that most will agree with it. Of course if you really wanted to get something strong you could get ahold of a Rockwell axle out of an old army 2 1/2 ton truck!!! :roflmao:

He has an 86xj I dont think those are c-clip

Randy's Ring and Pinion has a good write up that I used when I did mine. You need a few special tools (or common tools, depending upon your collection) as well as a set of the various pinion and carrier shims. The pinion bearing shims are between the race and the housing as you have observed. There should also be shims on both sides of the carrier. There has to be preload on both the pinion bearings and the carrier bearings. Per Randy, the carrier shims should be tight enough that they need to be tapped in but not beat in. Not being in a big hurry to finish it up is a great asset. You'll need a new crush sleeve for the pinion. It takes a lot of torque to crush the sleeve on the pinion and a 3/4 drive socket and flex or t-handle are very desirable. You also need a tool to hold the yoke from turning when you crush the pinion sleeve. You can make your own tool for this. The other special tools are an in-lb torque wrench that will read in 1 inch increments down between 5-10 in-lb and a dial indicator to set the backlash. Again, Randy has a good write up. Just over $100 gets you all the bearings, shims, crush sleeve, pinion nut, ring gear bolts, front seal, and marking compound.

ok, a few things.

there are two types of dana 35. there is a c-clip style and a bolt in style. yes you can get an axle upgrade that will make the shafts the same as a d44. and yes you can truss the housing to prevent bending. but what you cannot do is reinforce the driver side bearing cap. that becomes your weekest link. the d44 has larger bearings and caps.

now for the do it yourself part. if you don't know what your getting into then make sure you have all the tools. but if you do know what you are doing then you can set up gears with less tools.
the tools I think you need to have. this is what I have and I am a gear vendor and installer.

Shop press with press plates.
bearing separator
0-50 inch pound torque wrench
dial indicator with a magnetic base
dial calipers
1/2" impact gun with 1-1/8" socket
10-250 pound foot torque wrench.
and various small hand tools including a 12pt 13mm socket.
oh and a brass or copper hammer.
most importantly, knowledge on how to use those tools.

most axles there should be a slight press fit, no preload means that things can move. not good.
some axles need a case spreader like the d44 and d60.

They say that gears are best left to the experts. i say that if you have the Tools, Time and confidence to tackle your own gears then go for it.
thats how I got into installing gears. instead of spending the money on someone else doing the work, I spent the money on the tools to do it myself.

Working on it

I've got most of the tools, except for the press and 3/4" drive torque wrench, but hey, what's life if you can't find and excuse to buy more tools!!! :looney: :looney: :looney: :looney: :looney:

Thanks all. I was a machinist for quite a few years before my present job so I have a collection of machinist tools and I also work on all my own vehicles so I have a wide asst. of mech. tools, just never done a gear install before. I did buy an install kit ,but I did not get any shims with it, I do have some shims from the rears I have. The pattern is easy enough to read, its just getting to it that may pose some problems. The pinion coming out is +3 pinion going in is +1. May not be too bad after all.
Bill

I don't know how you'll be able to do it easily without a shim assortment. My kit from Randy's must have come with at least twenty shims.