Novak Conversions Jeep Wrangler TJ engine mounts

2000 TJ rear differential rebuild

From your first post it sounds like you are planning on a regear at the same time - that will require a full gear setup.

We bought the Jeep and it has a small lift and 33 inch tires and was pretty gutless. Gearing appeared to be 3.55 and from what I read we needed to be 4.56. I ordered the 4.56 rear and matching front gearing from Extreme Terrain, but hadn't taken it apart at that point, so didn't know it was LSD. Someone had clearly been in there before as the carrier bearing caps were on wrong and now I know why. I suspect the lift kit was put on after the LSD or it would have been geared lower?

A friend and I are rebuilding it (he has done a few before) but now I'm not sure which way to go as I have all the parts to rebuild Open diff... except I now need a new carrier if I go that way. Rebuilding the LSD didn't look too bad but in one of the video's Andy White sent me, the guy changed the ring and just put the standard shims (one each side) either side on the carrier and made no mention of the pinion or setting up the backlash. Maybe I need to watch it again?
 
We bought the Jeep and it has a small lift and 33 inch tires and was pretty gutless. Gearing appeared to be 3.55 and from what I read we needed to be 4.56. I ordered the 4.56 rear and matching front gearing from Extreme Terrain, but hadn't taken it apart at that point, so didn't know it was LSD. Someone had clearly been in there before as the carrier bearing caps were on wrong and now I know why. I suspect the lift kit was put on after the LSD or it would have been geared lower?

A friend and I are rebuilding it (he has done a few before) but now I'm not sure which way to go as I have all the parts to rebuild Open diff... except I now need a new carrier if I go that way. Rebuilding the LSD didn't look too bad but in one of the video's Andy White sent me, the guy changed the ring and just put the standard shims (one each side) either side on the carrier and made no mention of the pinion or setting up the backlash. Maybe I need to watch it again?

It is the introduction of the new gear set which drives the need for the full setup - meaning setting pinion depth and backlash. When using existing gears, you can sometimes get away with no shim changes if you are replacing a carrier. But it still requires running a pattern to confirm.

There is certainly a chance that you could slap the new gears in there with the existing shim stacks, run a pattern, and all would be OK. But that is highly unlikely.

Gear setup is certainly possible to learn - it is tedious and requires a few specialized tools - but it is entirely doable. Especially with input and guidance from the folks here on the forum.
 
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So am I right in thinking there is no shimming of the carrier required to get the backlash correct with the LSD?

There is shimming for all carriers to get the backlash correct. If there weren't shims, how would you adjust anything?

I assume that the process for installing a new pinion and bearing is the same as with Open diff - preload to 16 to 20 inch lbs?

Correct
 
There is shimming for all carriers to get the backlash correct. If there weren't shims, how would you adjust anything?



Correct

OK thanks. Seems logical to me but the LSD I removed from my Jeep only had one "thick' shim each side - almost like a spacer. Same with the video I was sent showing how to rebuild a LSD. Hence the question... :)
 
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OK thanks. Seems logical to me but the LSD I removed from my Jeep only had one "thick' shim each side - almost like a spacer. Same with the video I was sent showing how to rebuild a LSD. Hence the question... :)

The thick shim for each side is specific to that axle set up. I can guarantee you that they are different in thickness. Instead of using multiple shims to get to a desired thickness, the axle factory would have all sorts of different thickness shims as to only use one.
 
Ok... so I am just getting back to putting this Diff back together. I'm struggling with setting the pinion depth. The old pinion had no shims under the bearing or the race in the housing? The Master rebuild kit I have bought has shims that obviously go under the race, but where do I start if there was nothing there before? I dont have a reference. There are about 4 shims in the rebuild kit for this. Any ideas where to start?
 
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It had a large washer under the pinion bearing to sling oil.they come in different thicknesses to set depth

Also,if you are going to make setup bearings and races you need to use the exact same brand and part number bearing/race combo
 
I strongly advise you to watch some re-gearing videos. You really need to be familiar with the basic principles of how things work and what parts should be there.

Did you already take your pinion head bearing off? If so, what was between it and the pinion head? What about behind the inner bearing race?

Do you have any pictures of all the parts that came out?

Help us help you.
 
I strongly advise you to watch some re-gearing videos. You really need to be familiar with the basic principles of how things work and what parts should be there.

Did you already take your pinion head bearing off? If so, what was between it and the pinion head? What about behind the inner bearing race?

Do you have any pictures of all the parts that came out?

Help us help you.

Thanks Hosejockey61. I have watched a lot of the videos and grasp the idea, but this pinion had no shims under the head and none behind the race (in the housing). I have no confidence that whoever installed the LSD in this jeep had watched any videos at all. If you see in one of my original posts they had the carrier bearing caps switched over which is a no-no. I also learned yesterday that you can shim either behind the pinion head, between the bearing OR behind the races. The Master rebuild kit I bought had shims to go behind the race so thats what I am doing. I ground a set race from an identical bearing to the one I am using and have used that. I had no reference so just went middle of the range on shims as a start point. Just about to run the pattern and see what it looks like...

Thanks again.
 
Thanks Hosejockey61. I have watched a lot of the videos and grasp the idea, but this pinion had no shims under the head and none behind the race (in the housing). I have no confidence that whoever installed the LSD in this jeep had watched any videos at all. If you see in one of my original posts they had the carrier bearing caps switched over which is a no-no. I also learned yesterday that you can shim either behind the pinion head, between the bearing OR behind the races. The Master rebuild kit I bought had shims to go behind the race so thats what I am doing. I ground a set race from an identical bearing to the one I am using and have used that. I had no reference so just went middle of the range on shims as a start point. Just about to run the pattern and see what it looks like...

Thanks again.

Ok, copy that. I would start with 54 thou and go from there. That includes the baffle if you're installing one.
 
Ok, copy that. I would start with 54 thou and go from there. That includes the baffle if you're installing one.

Ok. Just had an afternoon spare to play with this... Here are the patterns I got with 15inch lbs of preload, 8 thou of backlash with 40 thou of shims behind the set race on the pinion. Thoughts? The lighting on the pictures isnt that good as it had got dark by then and my flashlight had died...

IMG_2797.jpg


IMG_2798.jpg


IMG_2797.jpg


IMG_2796.jpg
 
It looks like you might be in the ball park for sure but you need to do three things.
  1. Thin your paint out with some gear oil as stated above
  2. Use a LOT LESS of it. Just use enough to cover the tooth, not globs that fill the root or pile up on topland
  3. Use more pressure on the ring gear so it really wipes off the paint to give you a better pattern
 
What's your backlash at?

Still a bit too much paint... it's a diff not a fence!

I'm no expert so I'll let Hosejockey answer... almost looks too deep to me...but I've only done it three times.

Dial in the backlash first...

-Mac
 
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What's your backlash at?

Still a bit too much paint... it's a diff not a fence!

I'm no expert so I'll let Hosejockey answer... almost looks too deep to me...but I've only done it three times.

Dial in the backlash first...

-Mac

HAHA - Struggling with this paint thing... I'll thin it out a bit more next time...

Backlash is 8 thou.
 
Novak Conversions Jeep Wrangler TJ engine mounts