Any reason why I shouldn't try to setup my own gears?

[Red Heep]

Just picked up a HP 30 housing from a forum member here and I'm looking to do 4.88's. I have never paid someone to work on any of my stuff and I'd hate to start now. Is it that complicated? Seems pretty straight forward, just alot of trail and error with shims right? Who's done it themselves & what was your pitfalls if any? Thanks. --Damon

[aw12345]

Never hurts to try, you got to start sometime.
Done a bunch of them my self. It does take some specialized tools though

[Tumbleweed13]

Your right. It's just alot of trial and error. Just take your time and make sure its right when your done. I did my 1st set wrong and ended up ruining them prematurely. Good luck.

[Red Heep]

Never hurts to try, you got to start sometime.
Done a bunch of them my self. It does take some specialized tools though

Ya Art, I figure I would rather spend money on the tools to do it then labor for someone else to do it. Do you have a list of the tools I need to get?

[Red Heep]

Your right. It's just alot of trial and error. Just take your time and make sure its right when your done. I did my 1st set wrong and ended up ruining them prematurely. Good luck.

If you don't mind me asking, where did you go wrong?

[aw12345]

Well you need an inch/pound torque wrench, a foot/pound torque wrench. A dial indicator with a magnetic stand. A pocket bearing puller, or a regular good puller and a bearing splitter and some ingenuity to pull the bearings of the carrier without destroying them (yes it can be done) you need to do this to move the shims around for preload and backlash. Some good drivers to install the bearings. For Spicer/ Dana axles a housing spreader is nice too.
Lastly this helps also

[RAT]

I'll only add this to Art's list: A set of dummy bearings to set your preload so you don't have to worry about trashing the good set.

[aw12345]

Dummy bearings get you close, still there is a dirty little trick to pull the carrier bearings of without damaging them.

[Roger]

If I put 'em in they would be dummy bearings...

[dirtman13]

It's not too difficult. Just time consuming. There is a ton of info available on the web to help you out. Like this:
http://www.yukongear.com/Downloads/T...structions.pdf

The dummy bearings did make it much easier for me on my 60.

[Materdaddy]

It's not too difficult. Just time consuming. There is a ton of info available on the web to help you out. Like this:
http://www.yukongear.com/Downloads/T...structions.pdf

The dummy bearings did make it much easier for me on my 60.

Since we're now throwing around links... this is a good one:
http://pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/Gear_Setup/

[dirtman13]

Since we're now throwing around links... this is a good one:
http://pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/Gear_Setup/

That is what I used for my set up.

[Lumpy Grits]

All you need is time, a dial indicator that reads down to .001", a torque wrench and colored grease to "read" the pattern is all.
Good luck, It's NOT that hard to do.
Cheers,
LG