Hi

27 spine dana 30 07 JK X

I am installing a new differential due to the braking of my front axle shaft passenger side and the front differential spider gears where shattered so I found the axles from alloy usa and the front differential locker from auburn.

Everything was going well until we put the diff into the housing, the rear clearance does not allow the diff to turn, I am not to familiar with the differential on the JK but want do I need to do reduce the backslash and what shims should I use.

My mechanic told me to remove the pinion and shave the excess metal or do the shims work also what shines has somebody use to center the diff in order to find the correct ones

Remember is my first time doing this so any help would be thankful

 

To the top

 

You mean to say shims, not shines.

No offense, but I'd say you guys might be in over your head. Providing you purchased the correct size locker it should be a simple ring gear switch from old to new, and slip in. You shouldn't have encountered any clearance issues. I have the ECTED in the rear of my '07 and it was a perfect fit, I realize your dealing with the front.
Did you get the wrong size case? What gear ratio do you have now?
What was your backlash prior to disassembly? What are you getting for backlash now?

 

I meant shims, I will measure it tomorrow but I have not removed the pinion gear I checked and the locker I have is the correct one do you remember the clearance you have? should I get a shim kit or just remove one of the ones it has?

Again thanks for any help it is my first locker

 

when you removed the original carrier you should have kept track of the shims that came out, should have only been one per side, but they both need to go back exactly where they came from. There should not have been any issues, but sometimes things happen and something might need a little tweaking.
At this point, if you are installing the locker and are binding with the pinion I would say that you are in need of setting up the gears again appropriately, meaning adjusting for backlash as best you can (yes get yourself some new shims) and running a pattern check to be sure the pinion and ring are mating appropriately....if your pattern comes out poor, you may be looking at pulling the pinion and adjusting the pinion shims to get everything back to where it needs to be. It's quite the process, not out of reach of a back yard wrencher in my opinion, PROVIDING you study up!
Hopefully all you've done at this point is something weird with your existing shims, like put them on the wrong side or something and a simple reversing of sides should bring you back on track. Who is doing the install and how are you guys measuring your backlash?

Here's a link to my ECTED and Gear install, give it a look over and see where you sit
https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/modified-jk-tech-2/begins-78112/

and if you guys really need more info....keep in mind there is a TON of material on the net to educate yourself, if your "mechanic" is suggesting "shaving" metal off of your pinion, you might best find someone else to wrench on your ride
https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/jk-write-ups-39/gearing-82262/

 

Here's a thought......are you sure that your carrier bearings are pressed on ALL the way?

 

Is the diff hitting the pinion or is the ring gear itself hitting or binding with the pinion?