Advice Needed on 1923 Timken Ring and Pinion Setup

[ryan95]

Hi everyone, 

I am currently trying to get the ring and pinion set up correctly on the 1923 Moon I am restoring. Anyone with experience with setting up an axle should be able to help. Currently the gear contact pattern is on the toe end of the drive side and the heel end of the coast side of the ring gear. I read that I needed to bring the pinion closer to bring both patterns closer to the center. This started to bring the patterns closer until I ran into a problem with binding. I cant seem to get more than half of the football shaped pattern to appear before I start to have issues. These are the original gears and are worn, but my hope is that they are not too worn. I have a heard that with a used set of gears that the pattern will never be perfect. If that is true, how far from perfect can these gears be before I have issues? This is my first time doing this, so I want to get it as acceptable as possible. What is your advice? I appreciate and wisdom that is passed down to me.

[Stude Light]

It's rare to get that perfect football.  Attached is the best pattern I got for my 1923 Studebaker and it's very quiet. Focus on the drive side pattern as that is where you spend most of your time driving. Get the best pattern you can while maintaining proper lash.  Pinion lash is very important for gear noise, clunk and wear.

 

If you have enough lash with the pattern you captured, I see no issues - that is a nice wide contact patch and you are not clipping the edges.

Scott

Edited October 27, 2020 by Stude Light (see edit history)

[ryan95]

Thanks Scott! Can I also ask how you set your carrier bearings? This one also uses adjusters with notches for setting backlash and the preload/endplay of the carrier bearings. I set the left one where I liked it for backlash, brought the right one in until there was zero side to side play, backed the right side off one notch, and tapped the carrier over to seat the bearing against the adjuster before tightening the caps. I'm not sure what is typical for how much play is needed for the carrier bearings.

[Stude Light]

What is nice about these old axles is everything is adjustable.  The first thing I set was the pinion bearing preload - I used new bearings so I set that to around 20 in-lbs torque to turn with oil on the bearings.  With used bearings, 10 in-lbs would be good. After setting the pinion depth and approximate ring gear location for a good pattern, I set the back lash while setting carrier preload - similar to the video below.  Unlike the video, I installed my bearing caps while doing this. These are large tapered roller bearings and can take quite a bit of preload - kind of do it by feel but definitely want preload and not just take the play out. I set up for a total rolling torque measured at the pinion of about 50 in-lbs. When assembling, I used Permatex Teflon Thread Sealant on the two pinion adjustment threads and not one drop after 6 years. Good luck.

Scott

Edited October 27, 2020 by Stude Light
updated torque values (see edit history)

[oldford]

Excellent video, thank you.

 

Frank

[ryan95]

Thanks for the advice on the carrier preload. It seems like most rear ends use preload to some extent. I also just found in my Dyke's repair manual that they recommend to "remove all play while allowing the carrier to still spin freely." I shot for a happy medium of tightening it one notch past zero play.