Pinion depth during gear install

[o2sys]

Does everyone measure their pinion depth when installing new gears on their rear end?

Or as long as you reuse your old pinion bearing shim is this step not really necessary?

 

[Saleen304]

More than likely your old pinion shim will work, but you should always check the pattern to make sure.

 

[o2sys]

More than likely your old pinion shim will work, but you should always check the pattern to make sure.

But if I check by then it's too late no?

 

[Saleen304]

But if I check by then it's too late no?

No. you just have to remove the pinion bearing and change the shim. It's tedious. I usually take the old bearing and remove some material so it slips on the pinion and use it as the setup bearing. Once I have the right shim, I press the new bearing on.

 

[Timmbo]

As long as your installing a Ford Racing brand gear set, transferring the pinion shim should not yield any issues. I did this quite a few years ago and have absolutely no issues or noise.

 

[TexasBlownV8]

As long as your installing a Ford Racing brand gear set, transferring the pinion shim should not yield any issues. I did this quite a few years ago and have absolutely no issues or noise.

+1: I've never had any issues when going from one set of Ford gears to another. This assumes that stock gears are in the rear end to begin with, or a swap was done AND the gears are FRPP and the same stock shim was used.

Get the proper pre-load and torque specs, and you should be fine.

 

[Saleen304]

As long as your installing a Ford Racing brand gear set, transferring the pinion shim should not yield any issues. I did this quite a few years ago and have absolutely no issues or noise.

I agree for the most part, but I just did a gear swap on my car from a FRPP 3.73 to FRPP 4.10 and had to change the pinion shim slightly to get the pattern I wanted. It's silent and I ended up with 0.010" backlash.

 

[o2sys]

I'll be removing 3.31 that's came from factory to 3.73 FRPP. Does mileage matter for the depth and shim? It's got 57k right now.

I'll be doing all the bearings.

 

[Saleen304]

I'll be removing 3.31 that's came from factory to 3.73 FRPP. Does mileage matter for the depth and shim? It's got 57k right now.

I'll be doing all the bearings.

Mileage doesn't matter. There is a different pinion bearing preload spec for a new bearing than a used bearing. Are you upgrading the pinion bearing and race to the high torque one from the gt500?

I am also a fan of using a solid spacer instead of the crush sleeve especially if you beat on it. Makes it a lot easier to replace a leaky pinion seal in the future as well.

 

[o2sys]

I'm using the motive kit, don't think it has the high torque bearing like the FRPP kit.

 

[TexasBlownV8]

That's why I've not used the Motive install kits lately, because they do not have the better pinion bearing.

 

[o2sys]

That's why I've not used the Motive install kits lately, because they do not have the better pinion bearing.

Is that a worth while upgrade? Car has been running the stock bearing and supercharged for half of its life seems to hold fine.

 

[Saleen304]

Is that a worth while upgrade? Car has been running the stock bearing and supercharged for half of its life seems to hold fine.

I can't tell you if it makes a difference, but for $50 it's worth it to me. Changing gears is a pain in the ass. Ford seemed to think it was a good idea for the GT500 and the coyote powered GTs. Good enough reason for me.

 

[lenko]

Pinion heads usually measure different thickness. If similar or close resure same shim. Measure existing shim, then measure the old pinion head at a number of positions and average that. Then measure the new pinion head in the same way - a number of places around and average and then use the Master Housing Dimension calculation to the arrive at the difference and add or reduce proper amount of shim to get similar pinion depth you originally had. Use this guide: http://www.cherod.com/mustang/HowTo/Gears.htm

Have done 5 sets of gears this way and all quiet. It's doable.
Good luck

 

[06redgt]

I had a motive pinion seal put in......it leaked a few months later. When I replaced it with a Ford seal I noticed that the two seals contact the pinion flange in different locations. Ford seal has been fine for a few years now.

I recommend using the factory Ford seal.

 

[o2sys]

Yea I'm going to return the motive and get the FRPP. I was planning on doing the axle bearing as well. I'm looking at part m-4210-c3 which includes the axle bearings but shows it only for 98-04??? Aren't they all the same?

 

[o2sys]

Will using a already installed pinion bearing from another car into my existing race bearing cause a problem ?

This way I can keep both gear sets with pinion bearings already installed on them.

 

[Saleen304]

Yea I'm going to return the motive and get the FRPP. I was planning on doing the axle bearing as well. I'm looking at part m-4210-c3 which includes the axle bearings but shows it only for 98-04??? Aren't they all the same?

I used the M-4210-B2 kit. $76 on Amazon.

 

[Saleen304]

Will using a already installed pinion bearing from another car into my existing race bearing cause a problem ?

This way I can keep both gear sets with pinion bearings already installed on them.

Why wouldn't you just use a new bearing from the install kit? My guess is that it shouldn't be a problem, but I always like to use the race that comes with the new bearing.

 

[o2sys]

Honestly is to save time and make the install easier and be able to go back to the other gear without a need of a press.

Just wondering if the used race bearing will be an issue with a used pinion bearing from another car.