Question about gears for those who know or have set them.

I am planning on setting some gears in a D35 tomarrow what can happen if they aren't set up perfectly all I figure is rapid ware on the teeth. obviousely if it is way off it could snap teeth but has anyone set their own and have any pointers. Thanks I refuse to pay that much to have them done.
DIG IT!

Don't forget the NOISE... the set-up assures proper mesh on that hypoid cut -- a little bit off and you end up with noise, heat, slop, greatly decreased lifespan and the joys of getting to do it all over again...

.. best trick is to set-up for the pattern -- it's easy enough to do if you have time and some loose bearings to try your set-ups on...

Can you explain how to set up for the pattern I have lots of time and ots of bearings

The D35 takes shims on the outside of the bearings. Pressthem on first. On a lot of gear sets, there will be numbers on the end of the pinion shaft etched on there. May look like +.001 or -.003.
If the new set is within .005 +or - from the original set, shim the pinion exactly the same as the original. Some gears like precision gear have a pinion depth measurement marked on there. It takes a special tool to measure this. Start with the same shims and check your pattern. Adjusting pinion depth will also affect backlash, so you'll have to adjust these at the same time. D35 backlash should be between .005 and .008. Checking backlash requires the use of a dial indicator, usually with a magnetic base. Remember what Satan said about heat, noise, etc. In most cases, improperly set up gears won't last 1000 miles. I think the cost to have a shop set your gears is around $225.00. Kind of pricey, but when you have to buy the gears all over again, it negates most of the cost.

Do it right the first time.

HTH, Dan

Like Dan says -- you can press the carrier bearings on from the outset

Before you go further (with the bearings on the carrier) one thing worth checking is run-out -- not all carrires are happy (especially in the D35) and once you've got the ring on it the ring may be a little sloppy -- it's worth looking at how much run oput you have -- sometimes just pulling the ring and rotating it to a different clocking can normalize issues, sometimes the fix will involve replacing parts...

take a mill (or other) to the ID of a new set of pinion bearings so that they can just barely slide onto the pinion... Since the pinion's depth is shimmed between the bearing and the gear, you'll wanna be able to pull those bearings a few times before "settling" in on the right shim-stack to set your depth...

Getting a good pattern is really the key -- providing resistance to the rotation of the carrier (remember to torque the caps each time you test a set-up), and thinning your marking paint will help you to develop an easy to read pattern -- the goal is to have the wear centered on the face of the ring gear on BOTH the power and coast sides This is an OK shot at one

This shoudl help as well

This is a good web-resource for a little guideance...
http://www.differentials.com/install.html

not that hard -- take your time -- paint it a lot to test patterns....

ONCE you have the pattern happy -- install the "real" bearings on the pinion and check it all one more time --

I think I'd write the check!

I set my own gears up, Best 3 sets of gears I ever had..........After paying to have them done correctly after two attemps..both of which I convinced myself was due to gear manufactoring problems.....My gears are great ! what do you think chances of two sets of Dana gears being faulty? Pay the cash. It took me years to finally feel comfortable setting them up. Unless your looking for a new career, the learning curve is just to damn expensive....