I bought the Jeep new in 05, it's a six speed 4.0L and has had a sloppy drive train since the day I drove it off the lot. If you're not smooth when shifting gears or shifting to quickly there a dead spot where the drive train is not engaged and the jeep bounces forwards and back until positive contact is maintained at the rack and pinion gear. Sounds to me like a shim adjustment is needed to close up the clearance between the two gears. Youtube shows a shim adjustment to tighten up the slack. Youtube always makes it look easier than it actually is. I just wondered of if someone has tackled this project and can tell me "watch out for". Thanks all for the input.it depends on what your dealing with here.
is the diff assembled fully??
whats leading you to believe you need to adjust the backlash?
I'll be well informed before I dismantle that pumpkin. This is why I'm fact finding right now. Thanks for the input.A certain amount of backlash is required. Don't mess with it without knowing what you're doing.
Don't confuse the ring & pinion gears inside the axles with a rack & pinion (steering system). Both are always engaged, decreasing the backlash between the gears just makes it harder for the gear lube to get in between the gears which is the purpose of having a certain amount of "slop" (backlash) between the gears. It doesn't sound like your issue has anything to do with the a amount backlash between your axle's ring & pinion gears.I bought the Jeep new in 05, it's a six speed 4.0L and has had a sloppy drive train since the day I drove it off the lot. If you're not smooth when shifting gears or shifting to quickly there a dead spot where the drive train is not engaged and the jeep bounces forwards and back until positive contact is maintained at the rack and pinion gear. Sounds to me like a shim adjustment is needed to close up the clearance between the two gears. Youtube shows a shim adjustment to tighten up the slack. Youtube always makes it look easier than it actually is. I just wondered of if someone has tackled this project and can tell me "watch out for". Thanks all for the input.
I'll be well informed before I dismantle that pumpkin. This is why I'm fact finding right now. Thanks for the input.
It's not the backlash causing the issue. Backlash runs from about .006 to .010. there is no way you are feeling that while driving.I bought the Jeep new in 05, it's a six speed 4.0L and has had a sloppy drive train since the day I drove it off the lot. If you're not smooth when shifting gears or shifting to quickly there a dead spot where the drive train is not engaged and the jeep bounces forwards and back until positive contact is maintained at the rack and pinion gear. Sounds to me like a shim adjustment is needed to close up the clearance between the two gears. Youtube shows a shim adjustment to tighten up the slack. Youtube always makes it look easier than it actually is. I just wondered of if someone has tackled this project and can tell me "watch out for". Thanks all for the input.
Thanks everyone for your feedback.It's not the backlash causing the issue. Backlash runs from about .006 to .010. there is no way you are feeling that while driving.