Hi,
TR6 diff rebuilds are fairly straight-forward, but if you don't have the
special tools for setting / measuring the pinion head height, you have to
resort to an iterative process to set the height and then you have to set
the bearing preload (or visa-versa... it's in the manual.) The general
point is that when you get it wrong (which is fairly likely), you have to
pound out the bearing race for the inner pinion bearing (aka the pinion
head bearing) and insert / remove shims to get thing in line.
Now, you could "relieve" the outer race for the pinion head bearing so it
doesn't have to be an interference fit, but there's enough tolerance built
in that you could set the shims and the bolt it together and things are
too tight (or the ring gear meshes oddly with the pinion) and you have to
pull everything and adjust after you install new bearings.
Bottom line, there can be instances where you pull the entire thing apart
5 or 6 times to get the shims right. My experience in these situations is
that you also wind up sacrificing some shims to get things working okay,
so that adds a bit to the expense, e.g. buy 4 of this and 4 of that and so
forth. There's two sets of shims, the small ones for the bearing preload
and the big ones for the pinion head. So the cost of the shims adds up.
But if someone is offering a truely reconditioned diff for $500 or less,
it's a pretty good deal. On the other hand, the pinion and ring gear are
one of the weakest parts on a TR6 and if the reconditioned diff ever ran
out of oil or overheated the gears are probably toast and prone to
failure... my personal preference is to recondition AND replace the gears.
Then you get a very long service life as long as the unit is never
overheated or run out of oil.
So, if you have the time and the inclination AND THE MANUAL, you can go
for it. But also make sure your fore-arms are nice and strong 'cause you
get to do a lot of pounding in this job!!
Note that removing the center section of the diff is pretty easy even in
the absence of a case spreader. I've done MANY of these without a case
spreader and it's really quite easy to get that puppy out as long as you
move it a little at a time on each side.
Figure a min. of 4 hours for this job, maybe longer depending on your
skill level. Take your time and don't force anything and make sure nothing
binds when you're putting things back together.
It's you call.
rml
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Bob Lang Triumph TR6!! | This space for rent
2009 NER Solo Chair |
Voice:617-253-7438 | Cell: 339-927-4489
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