Just bought some gears and master overhaul kits. What do I need to know about doing it? Is there any special tools that I need to buy? I know its a long slow process. I do have my uncle that knows how to do it but I still want to know as much as possible before I do it.

 

Here you go...another member did a write up a while back....

https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/show...?82262-Gearing

 

That's a very impressive write up. I'm a differential mechanic, and I've been working as one for almost five years. When you do it every day you learn how to save as much time as you can while still making sure that the gears are set up perfectly. There is one thing I would like to add to the write up. He briefly touches on pinion depth, and mentions the numbers on the pinion head. Dana is the only gear manufacturer that uses the + and - signes followed by a number to know how to adjust the pinion depth. So unless you are spending horrible amounts of money on Dana gears you will not see those numbers. Although, every gear set you will ever buy will have numbers scribed on the pinion head or stem. The manufacturer gives you that number to help you determine pinion depth with a pinion depth tool. It's true that such a tool can be very expensive and hard to find. I have found that for a very reasonable price some companies make pinion depth tools that will only do one type of axle. So you can buy one for a Dana 44 and a 30 if its not a Rubicon. They are very afordable, and worth having if your planning on doing this in your garage. While the author of the write up is correct in that, if you properly read the pattern you will be able to determine whether you are shallow or deep on your pinion depth, it will be much easier to spend a little bit of time determing to proper shim to use for the pinion. Then you can install the pinion ONCE. All you will have to worry about then is your backlash. Some gear manufacturers even scibe the recommended backlash of the ring gear. If you think you have it set up properly and it still doesn't feel okay, or look okay, i would reccomend looking for a diffential shop to double check your work. Trust me when I say, I have had to repair many differential that were initially done by the owner. And if you ask me, its not worth ruining the possible thousands of dollars you have spent on your parts.