8.25 adjuster tool- build it for $5

Just figured I would pass along a recent addition to my toolbox to ya'll. I regeared an 8.25 last week for a customer and forgot my Miller 8.25 adjuster tool at my dealer. So I did a little measuring and came up with one for really cheap.

Take a front axle hub nut from your D30. Insert your stock/bent/scrap tie rod tube onto the end. Weld axle nut to end of tube. Insert 1/2" bolt into other end of tie rod tube and weld in place. You know have a tool to properly adjust carrier preload and backlash and built it using scrap parts.

I buy all Miller Tools for setting up ring and pinions and have spent crazy money on their kits. But in this case, I saved a few bucks, and have a tool that rivals the one sitting in my toolbox at my dealer.

Enjoy.

Did you make this up at Andys? Sounds like another tool to add to the list of cheap shopbrewed ingenuity.

AARON

I made two, but I made them witha T-handle. tallk about works great...

WNC Custom Jeeps said:

Just figured I would pass along a recent addition to my toolbox to ya'll. I regeared an 8.25 last week for a customer and forgot my Miller 8.25 adjuster tool at my dealer. So I did a little measuring and came up with one for really cheap.

Take a front axle hub nut from your D30. Insert your stock/bent/scrap tie rod tube onto the end. Weld axle nut to end of tube. Insert 1/2" bolt into other end of tie rod tube and weld in place. You know have a tool to properly adjust carrier preload and backlash and built it using scrap parts.

I buy all Miller Tools for setting up ring and pinions and have spent crazy money on their kits. But in this case, I saved a few bucks, and have a tool that rivals the one sitting in my toolbox at my dealer.

Enjoy.

Click to expand...

MrShoeBoy said:

Did you make this up at Andys? Sounds like another tool to add to the list of cheap shopbrewed ingenuity.

AARON

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Yep, we made it up while I was regearing a customer's rear diff last week.

The T-handle works well also. I used a bolt so I could put a socket on it and use a torque wrench to set to spec.

i thought he had a new guy to do the gears setups.
LOL

Pics man pics................ :eyes:

thats right the paper work didn't go thru.

WNC Custom Jeeps said:

I used a bolt so I could put a socket on it and use a torque wrench to set to spec.

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Whats specs did you find regarding the Torque?TIA

When you put it that way, I guess I've got to make one to have a second tool handy! When you consider that everything I need is sitting in the back yard, I can't help but do it. I wish I had known that I had what I needed before cruising the Mopar yard for the torsion bar; would've been cheaper than $10 as well...

I also had to go after another torque wrench; my inch-lb beam covers 0-700 inch lb, not 0-50 or so. The scale doesn't hardly budge when checking the pinion rotation torque like in the manual.

Is it normal for the sealing surface of the yoke to be heat discolored? If not, should it be replaced or will it be okay to use? I knew it had overheated, but didn't really expect to see a straw brown machined surface on the yoke...

Anyhow, the sludge that came out of it is quite metallic. I'm trying to get all of it flushed out so it doesn't contaminate the rebuild and cause problems down the road. What do you guys recommend for doing this?

check the bearing journals of the housing, if the bearings spun then the housing is quite posibly not rebuildable...

NN4S said:

When you put it that way, I guess I've got to make one to have a second tool handy! When you consider that everything I need is sitting in the back yard, I can't help but do it. I wish I had known that I had what I needed before cruising the Mopar yard for the torsion bar; would've been cheaper than $10 as well...

I also had to go after another torque wrench; my inch-lb beam covers 0-700 inch lb, not 0-50 or so. The scale doesn't hardly budge when checking the pinion rotation torque like in the manual.

Is it normal for the sealing surface of the yoke to be heat discolored? If not, should it be replaced or will it be okay to use? I knew it had overheated, but didn't really expect to see a straw brown machined surface on the yoke...

Anyhow, the sludge that came out of it is quite metallic. I'm trying to get all of it flushed out so it doesn't contaminate the rebuild and cause problems down the road. What do you guys recommend for doing this?

Click to expand...

I'll check it out tomorrow when I get them pulled. Everything seems solid and the bearings seem to turn smoothly, but there's a lot of material missing from the ring teeth. I can't really tell yet about the pinion except for what look like missing chunks toward the end of the gear. I'll try to take a picture of it tomorrow before I pull everything apart; right now I'm ready to pull the bar out of the diff & remove everything. The drums are off, pinion nut has been broken free & yoke removed but replaced with the nut to measure the rotation torque. Once I've done that, it's coming completely apart & I'll have a lot better idea of any housing or case damage that might have occurred. I went ahead & cleaned it out as much as possible with everything in the housing tonight; used laquer thinner to do the job & it seems to have done it okay. I'll follow up with WD-40 for the final cleaning before putting anything back in it. I just hope there isn't too much down the tubes; that'll be a bear to get cleaned out!

use berrymans carb cleaner to clean it all out. it will cut through the crap. since its not just a regear but a repair, I suggest changing the fluid right away after your first 20 minute break it drive. keep everything in suspension in the oil that was missed when cleaning it out and drian it right away. Use 80-90 GL5 fluid. if you want to go to heavier after the breakin period thats fine but IMHO 80-90 does the job.

NN4S said:

I'll check it out tomorrow when I get them pulled. Everything seems solid and the bearings seem to turn smoothly, but there's a lot of material missing from the ring teeth. I can't really tell yet about the pinion except for what look like missing chunks toward the end of the gear. I'll try to take a picture of it tomorrow before I pull everything apart; right now I'm ready to pull the bar out of the diff & remove everything. The drums are off, pinion nut has been broken free & yoke removed but replaced with the nut to measure the rotation torque. Once I've done that, it's coming completely apart & I'll have a lot better idea of any housing or case damage that might have occurred. I went ahead & cleaned it out as much as possible with everything in the housing tonight; used laquer thinner to do the job & it seems to have done it okay. I'll follow up with WD-40 for the final cleaning before putting anything back in it. I just hope there isn't too much down the tubes; that'll be a bear to get cleaned out!

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RCP Phx said:

Whats specs did you find regarding the Torque?TIA

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This is a cut and paste for the rear carrier bearing preload adjustment.


Hope this answers your question.

Bryan



DIFFERENTIAL BEARING PRELOAD AND GEAR BACKLASH
The following must be considered when adjusting bearing preload and gear backlash:

The maximum ring gear backlash variation is 0.003 inch (0.076 mm)
Mark the gears so the same teeth are meshed during all backlash measurements.
Maintain the torque while adjusting the bearing preload and ring gear backlash.
Excessive adjuster torque will introduce a high bearing load and cause premature bearing failure. Insufficient adjuster torque can result in excessive differential case free-play and ring gear noise.
Insufficient adjuster torque will not support the ring gear correctly and can cause excessive differential case free-play and ring gear noise.
NOTE: The differential bearing cups will not always immediately follow the threaded adjusters as they are moved during adjustment. To ensure accurate bearing cup responses to the adjustments:

Maintain the gear teeth engaged (meshed) as marked.

The bearings must be seated by rapidly rotating the pinion gear a half turn back and forth.

Do this five to ten times each time the threaded adjusters are adjusted.

Use Wrench C-4164 to adjust each threaded adjuster inward until the differential bearing free-play is eliminated Threaded Adjuster Tool Allow some ring gear backlash (approximately 0.01 inch/0.25 mm) between the ring and pinion gear. Seat the bearing cups with the procedure described above
Install dial indicator and position the plunger against the drive side of a ring gear tooth Ring Gear Backlash Measurement Measure the backlash at 4 positions (90 degrees apart) around the ring gear. Locate and mark the area of minimum backlash.
Rotate the ring gear to the position of the least backlash. Mark the gear so that all future backlash measurements will be taken with the same gear teeth meshed
Loosen the right-side, tighten the left-side threaded adjuster. Obtain backlash of 0.003 to 0.004 inch (0.076 to 0.102 mm) with each adjuster tightened to 14 N·m (10 ft. lbs.) Seat the bearing cups with the procedure described above.
Tighten the differential bearing cap bolts 95 N·m (70 ft. lbs.)
Tighten the right-side threaded adjuster to 102 N·m (75 ft. lbs.) Seat the bearing cups with the procedure described above. Continue to tighten the right-side adjuster and seat bearing cups until the torque remains constant at 102 N·m (75 ft. lbs.)
Measure the ring gear backlash. The range of backlash is 0.006 to 0.008 inch (0.15 to 0.203 mm)
Continue increasing the torque at the right-side threaded adjuster until the specified backlash is obtained
NOTE: The left-side threaded adjuster torque should have approximately 102 N·m (75 ft. lbs.) If the torque is considerably less, the complete adjustment procedure must be repeated.

Tighten the left-side threaded adjuster until 102 N·m (75 ft. lbs.) torque is indicated. Seat the bearing rollers with the procedure described above. Do this until the torque remains constant.
Install the threaded adjuster locks and tighten the lock screws to 10 N·m (90 in. lbs.)
After the proper backlash is achieved, perform the Gear Contact Analysis procedure.

Rawbrown said:

check the bearing journals of the housing, if the bearings spun then the housing is quite posibly not rebuildable...

Click to expand...

I got some pictures of the housing, ring & pinion tonight during disassembly for you all to examine and advise on; unfortunately, I can't seem to find a way to post them. Anyway, the pinion was worn down enough to show a 1/16" step in the drive face of the gear. I also see an odd spot in the ring gear (other than the wear pattern) where a tooth is either chunked or has been ground down by the installer of this gearset; is this normal? The housing looks okay to me but will need more flushing to get all of the metal bits out. should I go ahead & replace the axle bearings as well considering the amount of material that's ground off of the gears? They're the only part that I haven't already got a replacement for (yet).

Thanks for the info; it's been quite a learning experience so far... :banghead:

I'd be happy to check the pics out if you want to send the direct to me [email protected]

as for the bearings. don't you think its worth the extra few $$$ for the insurance. and the spot of the ring gear that was grinded should be for clearance of the cross pin. 4.10's and up require that little bit of grinding to get the pin in.

NN4S said:

I got some pictures of the housing, ring & pinion tonight during disassembly for you all to examine and advise on; unfortunately, I can't seem to find a way to post them. Anyway, the pinion was worn down enough to show a 1/16" step in the drive face of the gear. I also see an odd spot in the ring gear (other than the wear pattern) where a tooth is either chunked or has been ground down by the installer of this gearset; is this normal? The housing looks okay to me but will need more flushing to get all of the metal bits out. should I go ahead & replace the axle bearings as well considering the amount of material that's ground off of the gears? They're the only part that I haven't already got a replacement for (yet).

Thanks for the info; it's been quite a learning experience so far... :banghead:

Click to expand...

Thanks for all of the help! Ryan, pics are on their way & I'll go ahead & get the new bearings for the axles before finishing it up. The peace of mind knowing I won't have to get into it again any time soon will be well worth it.

I don't know if I'll get it back together before the weekend is over, but time spent chasing parts, tools and $$$ to pay for it all has had the `01 sitting for just over a month now. I sure will be glad when it's finished! :clap: arty: