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You'll need to fabricate this Ghetto Service Tool (GST) if you'll be ditching the stock open diff. A true LSD won't have the pinion for the diff bearing preload adapter SST to grab onto. You just need the inboard stub axle from an AW11 C50/52, a square plate, and a nut and bolt size suitable for a 1/4" socket. This nut is what's gonna attach to your 1/4" torque meter. |
| That center nut should be as close to the axial axis as possible. That way, your torque readings are as accurate as possible. Kudos to Alan for ghetto-fabbing this ghetto fabulous GST with your basic everyday tools and no means of accurate measuring; we just used a piece of paper and folded it in half to bisect each side of the triangle. He scribed the plate and used basic high school geometry to confirm that the center bolt/nut was right in the middle. =) |  |
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Partially assemble the tranny without the shafts. Torque all of the case bolts to spec, then insert the GST. I also took the liberty of propping up the tranny so that it was similar to the as-installed position. |
| Carefully attach the 1/4" torque meter and appropriate socket to the GST. Slowly rotate the torque meter until the diff breaks the friction and rotates in the case. New bearings should have a starting preload range of 6.9-13.9 in.-lb. If the preload is out-of-spec, select the proper shim size and replace the transmission case (left hand) shim. This step is very important, so don't even think about skipping this! |  |
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My diff preload ended up being a hair over 13 in.-lb. Do a little math and you'll realize that that's barely over 1 ft.-lb. Amazing, ain't it? If you've done your research, you will have found that only Snap-On makes accurate torque meters in this low a range. Unfortunately, these torque meters list for $350. I lucked out and found mine on eBay from a seller who just finished a similar project. $55 later, it was mine. =) |
| Now that the diff bearing preload has been set, pull the case apart, and get the shafts ready for installation into the case. If you haven't done so already, now is the time to clean the mating surfaces on the case to ensure that the FIPG packing has a good seal. I just used a sharp gasket scraper/remover, dental picks, and finally non-residue brake cleaner. It's very important that there are no oily traces on the mating surfaces. |  |
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Input and output shafts sittin' pretty in the transaxle case. The internals were so clean that I thought it was shame to hide them from public view. =) |
| Isn't it cool seeing how the gears intermesh? Depending on whether or not a certain gear is selected, it may just be spinning on its respective needle roller bearing and not transferring any power. |  |
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New input and output shaft rear bearings. The grooves that you see on the bearings are for the snap rings that you took out in the very beginning. Those snap rings prevent the shafts from dropping too far into the transaxle (front) case. The rear bearing retainer plate prevents the shafts from extending too far into the transmission (rear) case. |
| Installation and orientation of the # 1 (1st and 2nd gears on the output shaft) and # 2 (3rd and 4th gears on the input shaft) shift forks. |  |
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Installation of the # 1 shift fork shaft. Getting everything aligned and oriented the correct way can be tricky if you've never done this before, so I hope you paid close attention during the disassembly process. |
| Installation of the # 3 shift fork shaft along with the reverse shift fork. Remember those two little, pesky ball bearings that go in the reverse shift fork? Don't forget to reinstall 'em! A dab of assembly lube will help keep the ball bearings from coming out of the shift fork too easily. |  |
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A close-up view of the gears, shift forks, and shafts. If you've assembled everything correctly thus far, the 3 bolts fastening the shift forks to the shafts should line up fairly well. |
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