Dana 35 shim placement options?

GCole

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I'm beginning to rebuild an extra Dana 35 that I had, and was just confirming the placement of pinion shims and also carrier shims. On everything I've read and watched, on a Dana 35 the shims were outboard to the carrier bearings. But according to the Dana Spicer catalog (at least on version of it anyway, see pic#1) shows the carrier shims INBOARD of the bearings. But in pic #2, they are outboard again. These blow ups are both taken from Dana Spicer catalogs on their website.

Same thing with the pinion shims - in pic #1, the oil slinger/shim is between the bearing and the pinion head, and in pic #2 the shims are between the housing and the race.

My original axle was toasted, so I don't trust the setup that was there anyway, and there were no shims on the pinion in either place anyway. And it was loose, which is probably why it failed in the first place.

I have shims that will fit in either position on the pinion, so I can do it either way, just want to make sure it is in the correct place.

Thanks!
Greg

#1.jpg


#2.jpg
 
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Cool, I made a setup inner pinion bearing, so I think I'll shim there. I couldn't for the life of me find the Spicer oil slingers anywhere, so they are smaller diameter shims but from what I've seen, a slinger isn't crucial on the 35.

It almost seems like it would be easier to seat the carrier with the shims under the bearings, no? But more difficult to make adjustments during the setup

And thanks for the videos hosejockey61, they are extremely helpful
 
Cool, I made a setup inner pinion bearing, so I think I'll shim there. I couldn't for the life of me find the Spicer oil slingers anywhere, so they are smaller diameter shims but from what I've seen, a slinger isn't crucial on the 35.

It almost seems like it would be easier to seat the carrier with the shims under the bearings, no? But more difficult to make adjustments during the setup

And thanks for the videos hosejockey61, they are extremely helpful

Yes it is definitely easier to get the carrier in and out when shimmed under the bearing but then you need set up bearings.
 
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You can do it either way. It all depends what size shims you have.

Interesting. I assumed they had to be in one place only. But I'm a newbie to gears. I did my Dana 35 (with help) recently and the carrier shims were outboard. Now I'm working on the front Dana 30 and made set up bearings to place the shims inboard. :rolleyes:
 
Interesting. I assumed they had to be in one place only. But I'm a newbie to gears. I did my Dana 35 (with help) recently and the carrier shims were outboard. Now I'm working on the front Dana 30 and made set up bearings to place the shims inboard. :rolleyes:

Like I said, it depends what shims you have. The shims that fit outboard won’t fit inboard and vice versa.
 
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Thank you so much for making this thread, I had the same concern! Everywhere I've seen, the carrier shims are outboard on the bearings and pinion shims are between the housing and the race. I am working on a Dana 35 axle and on the axle I pulled apart, the shims are like your first picture installed on the carrier inboard from the bearings and on the pinion, between the pinion and the bearing.

I will say I think at least for the carrier I cannot imagine how one would install especially very thin shims in the outboard position - noting on the axle I have recently torn down there is one thick shim outboard on either side. Initially I believed these to be some type of spacer or washer but I think they are just very large shims. A little confusing since the Dana 30 I have does not use these.
 
Yes it is definitely easier to get the carrier in and out when shimmed under the bearing but then you need set up bearings.

Set up bearings? Don't you need to use the ones you will be running in the case when you are shimming?
 
Use a quality bearing to start with, and then grab an extra set of the exact same bearing and grind out the inner race so that it will slide into place without interference.
 
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I will say I think at least for the carrier I cannot imagine how one would install especially very thin shims in the outboard position - noting on the axle I have recently torn down there is one thick shim outboard on either side. Initially I believed these to be some type of spacer or washer but I think they are just very large shims. A little confusing since the Dana 30 I have does not use these.

There are usually two thicker shims that the thin ones can fit between, so they go in easier than you'd think. But yeah, trying to slide just an 8 thou shim would be a disaster.
 
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Ignore what the drawings show as they do not even show that the axles are Cclip. TJ Dana 35 carrier shims on the outside with OEM shims being one solid thickness and aftermarket being sandwich type with two half thickness plates and thin shims in the middle. Pinion on the other hand could be either way, but under the pinion head is the easiest if you have access to a press.
 
Use a quality bearing to start with, and then grab an extra set of the exact same bearing and grind out the inner race so that it will slide into place without interference.

Interesting idea, maybe will do this if I end up building another set, for building a first set of axles I think I'll rather just be bothered by repeated press-off, press-on. Personally not doing carrier swap just overhaul so may be easy.
 
Ignore what the drawings show as they do not even show that the axles are Cclip. TJ Dana 35 carrier shims on the outside with OEM shims being one solid thickness and aftermarket being sandwich type with two half thickness plates and thin shims in the middle. Pinion on the other hand could be either way, but under the pinion head is the easiest if you have access to a press.

Does this mean my junkyard pull has been rebuilt if I have a stack of thin shims under the bearings and a thick shim outboard on each side? It's stock axle ratio and ~120k miles on vehicle, I'd be surprised.
 
Does this mean my junkyard pull has been rebuilt if I have a stack of thin shims under the bearings and a thick shim outboard on each side? It's stock axle ratio and ~120k miles on vehicle, I'd be surprised.

It means that someone was in it for one reason or another. Could have even just for carrier bearings which is not uncommon.
 
Interesting idea, maybe will do this if I end up building another set, for building a first set of axles I think I'll rather just be bothered by repeated press-off, press-on. Personally not doing carrier swap just overhaul so may be easy.

Just saying from personal experience, there could be a lot of pressing on and off 😁

It was not just a couple of times, it was probably a dozen or more. Blackjack helped me through it 👍
 
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Just saying from personal experience, there could be a lot of pressing on and off 😁

It was not just a couple of times, it was probably a dozen or more. Blackjack helped me through it 👍

Yikes, alright I'll give it a try my way and when I am sick of pressing on and off, I'll do it your way!