Yep thats right, 5.13 gears right here in my garage! I have done several gear sets in years past, so instead of paying $800 plus for the labor I decided to spend the $200 and get the rest of the specialty tools i needed and do it myself.

I am going to spend an hour or two a night over the next week or two and change them out. Tonight I got the driverside rear axle out before the wifey made me come back in the house. So tomorrow will be the pasenger side and the carrier.

If anyone has done gears on the JK themselves and ran into any hickups or issues please feel free to let me know.

I just turned 10k miles on it today. With that in mind the carrier bearings are like new so I am going to leave them and the shims as is for the moment. Once I get the pinion depth and preload set I will measure the backlash, thrust, and tooth patern. Only if those are bad will I pull the bearings off the carrier to reshim. Since the replacement gears are the same tolerances as the factory manual I dont see an issue. Anyone have any advice to throw in???

Day 1 Carnage:

 

Nice, good luck! I don't have the balls to even consider a project like that...haha

 

Good luck with getting the gears to line up perfect without changing any of the shims. Out of 15 sets of gears that i have changed out on various rigs, none of them have ever not need changed. Usually they get you close, but still need some fine tuning.


Just remember to get a shim kit and crush sleeve with new pinion nut. Also do not put in the crush sleeve or the seal until you have made all the adjustments and are ready for final install.

I have not done my JK yet, but would guess it is the same as any other axle. One thing to note, is the sensor for e-lockers if you have them. Just be carefull you dont intall it incorrectly or bend it.

 

wow buddy, good luck with the install. Ill be keeping an eye on this thread if you keep it updated.

 

https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/jk-write-ups-39/gearing-82262/

Here is a good thread just in case you have not seen it yet.


Originally Posted by wayoflife
Sounds to me like your sensor was just installed incorrectly. If you don't take out the diff when you install the sensor it will look like this, which is incorrect:



When it's installed correctly, the sensor should look like this:

 

Sounds good! I will buy the special tools when/if I regear. It's not rocket science, just requires taking the time to do it right and some focusing. I'm sure it'll turn out just fine!

 

Specialty tools? Like a bigger garage fridge for all the beer I would need while scratching my head.

 

Excellent points and I have all the required shim packs, bearings, seals , crush sleeves ect. if all goes bad (2 complete overhaul kits for each axle, got a good deal so I figured spare parts at the least).

As for the carrier shims you are correct, all I have done have always needed fine tunning as well. The only reason I consider that this one might be able to get away without is that the current shims are all showing within .001 of low side of tolerance. If this holds out I "MAY" still be in tolerance when reassembled. If not then I pull the bearings and reshim as neccassary.

EDIT: I have also created a set of set-up bearings as well as a spare new set since if I pull the bearings it will be using a hand puller (no press available).

 

Actually I bought a new dial caliper with magnetic base and points set (.001 increments). I new digital slide caliper (.001 increments) and a pinion depth guage. I have everything else except a press (gonna use a hand puller if it comes to it) and a case spreader (not really needed if you have a big ass pry bar).

 

You are brave, I am willing to do just about anything to my jeep other than the gears...i will rip the engine apart, the t-case, the suspension, axles, etc....but I will never do gears.

My hat off to you!!