[Tigers] Rear End Gears

[Thomas Witt]

Dave,
  I did it out of necessity. The PO had allowed water to get into the 
housing and all the bearings were shot. Shot to the point that one had spun 
and wore about .035 off a press fit on the carrier.  I bought a used 
replacement carrier and gears from Dale A.  I made my own case spreader and 
configured a pinion depth gage.  I followed the manual regarding the shims 
and in the end felt I got everything very close (within half a thousand on 
the back lash and .0015 on the ring gear runout).
  Frankly, I found it very hard to get a reading on the mesh.  The 
recommended product to read the gears is, dare I say (of late), "lead" 
paste.  Some might cringe, but in the end I used fine valve lapping paste to 
leave a dull pattern.  I later cleaned this up with a few swipes of 600 grit 
paper.  From what I could tell I was extremely close to the original mark.
   Your rear end guy obviously would be better equipped, but to me the 
hardest part was setting the pinion depth.  I put the race in the freeze, 
and heated the case with a propane torch. It dropped right in.  I think it 
took me less than 10 seconds to get the reading, but I had to hammer rather 
hard on a closet pole sized wooden dowel to get the race back out.
  I would love to tell you the outcome, but after 8 years my Tiger is still 
on jackstands. I'm not sure what you paid for the gears, but perhaps the 
difference between them and new gears might be worth the cost for your piece 
of mind going with new.  Me, I'm just cheap and if my gears whine I'll 
probably protect the bearings, apply the fine valve paste and see what 
happens.  When I was a kid I was enamored with the movie the "Flight of the 
Phoenix.."  I guess that is where I get my 'I'll make it work even if by 
unconventional means' perspective.

Tom 


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