i have a 1995 dakota and the front gear ratio is 3.90 i have a set of spider gears since the one inside the diferential currently have no teeth. i am gonna install the spider gears so i will be renting the bearing adjuster tool to back off the bearing preload on the differential to get it out of the housing. u ned to pull the diferential out because the pin hits on the ring gear when you try to take it out. so here is my question. is there going to be enough room for me to disconnect the cv axles from the axle flanges and get the axle shafts out with the axle still in place?? do i ned to pull al the beaing and seals to get the tool down in the axle to back off the adjusters?? trying to do this myself instead of paying a ton of money. any help appreciated. thanks!

 

You can buy the center pin with a notch milled down on one side to slide past the ring.

You may have room with the CV's in place but it is best to pull it. I believe to get the tool in you will remove the seal and inner bearing. The service manual is in the FAQ, that will be your best tool for info.

 

okay so i removed the whole differential housing after i removed the cv axles. now since the entire housing is out i got the differential out and the spider gears replaced. while the differential is out i was looking at the pinion gear and a part of it was broken off so i decided to pull a different pinion gear with the ring gear to match it. when i pulled the differential out it was pretty loose so my question is how tight do the adjusters need to be for the preload?? is there a way to tell?? also if i match the ring gear with the other pinion am i gonna have to do the backlash as long as i put all the washers and spacers back in?? any help appreciated. thanks!!

 

the preload should be around 80 ft pounds for the carrier. i welded a nut that fit the carrier adjuster to a socket that fit a 1/2 drive. sorry dude can't remember the size of the nut. i'll take a guess and say 32mm nut, start from there. i'm 10 miles from my tools and Alexander Keith was here all afternoon (canadian beer) so i can't check for the exact size.
good luck

 

alright so i am going to get everything setup hopefully tomorrow. so when i go to set up the backlash, i am assuming that i adjust the backlash by the adjusters on the inside of the axle shafts?? i did not see any shims or anything else to adjust the backlash. plase help me out. thanks!