Dana 30 and 44 ring and pinion install diy

[skwake]

I had that exact same problem finding the torque wrench. Got mine from ebay. Did the job no worries.

[skwake]

Best of luck though. Looks like you have it pretty much sorted.
I did mine, changed the front axle to a HP30 and put in a locker and the rear with a locker. Never even pulled apart an axle before. Every mechanic I talked to said goodluck. They wont touch them cos they are 'too hard'.... seriously. It was technical but not that difficult. Was the most fun/satisfaction I have had working on my Jeep.

[tigermuzza]

Not so much technical but bloody hard work

I just got the front diff finished after some problems getting the pinion nut tight enough, first problem was holding the yoke, I made a spanner out of 6mm which just bent, then I tried a big pipe wrench which was useless then I had to make a spanner out of 10mm and it worked a treat. The nut took a shitload of force to tighten, first off I tried me little rattle gun (300nm) and it laught at me, then my big rattle gun (1000nm), laught at me again then a 5 foot breaker bar did the job finally but it took a lot of screaming to get it done.

Backlash ended up abit tight at 0.035 which is the problem when ya use set up bearings but after talking to some fitters that set up gears for a living it's alright. A little tight is far better than too loose and after seeing how much backlash it had when I pulled it apart it'll loosen up

[skwake]

Yeah, I am just trying to remember how I held the pinion while tightening the nut, just used a big spanner I think cant remember haha. I didnt have to fab anything to do it though

[Jonny Jeep]

I made a holder for the yoke out of 8mm thick steel.It fitted with bolts to the yoke and had an old socket welded on so it could be held with a strong arm. I don't have a pic of it on the computer at the mo, but I do have one of the diff spreader I made.

Made of 60mm x 20mm steel with 16mm bolts as pivots/dowel pins. Screw is a 5/8" UNF nut/bolt.

[bonza]

I like that diff spreader Jonny. how is held onto the axle assembly? I can see the two pins that connect to the diff housing in order to spread it, but is the spreader clamped to the axle housing to stop it falling off?

[murray]

did you use a dial indicator to measure the spread your not meant to go more than 20 thou