78Bronco

When installing the alumium diff covers have any of you had to remove the shim from between the pinion gear and inner most bearing to get an acceptable ring and pinion gear mesh?

Pinolelst

Most put it on the other side of the case rather than remove it otherwise you end up with sloppy gear mesh and accelerated wear

78Bronco

I did move the differential shim to the other side but the gear mesh still felt rough and was a bit too tight. Removing the shim from between the pinion gear and inner bearing eliminated most of the roughness and loosened the gear mesh up with out making it too sloppy. It still not as smooth or as loose as the front diff which by the way is still in the factory plastic housing. I should mention that the rear diff gear mesh in the stock configuration was very rough right out of the box.

LST-UK

i just moved the shims to the other side on both diffs and mesh was nice and tight but not notchy...

78Bronco

LST-UK, "notchy" is the perfect word to describe the gear mesh I had before I removed the shim from between the pinion and inner pinion bearing. I'm kind of surprised that no one else has had to remove this shim to smooth out the ring and pinion gear mesh.

icenutz

I actually had to remove the one on the front diff, and place one on the other side on the rear diff to get a solid smooth feel. Try all settings and go with the best one!

jefx

The shim(s) are only there to take out slop so that you get a good mesh. If it isn't needed, you can take it out with no ill affects. Just make sure to save it so that you can re-shim it later down the road as the gears start to get a little worn.