What did you do TO your Gladiator today? [ADMIN WARNING: NO POLITICS, NO GUN TALK]

[WILDHOBO]

Hah. It’s a 2020 that’s worked hard, but I wash the engine bay a few times per year. The last one I did it was only a few months ago.

Come do mine please. It’s nasty. I’ve tried and failed.

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[NC_Overland]

Come do mine please. It’s nasty. I’ve tried and failed.

Where do you live? It might be harder if you live in the rust belt. I just spray it down good with simple green while it’s running and let it steam clean itself. Then rinse it off good. I’ve done that for years on countless vehicles and it always works great. I don’t bag things off like old cars protecting the distributor and stuff, but I also don’t go wild spraying the CPU and stuff like that.

 

[WILDHOBO]

Where do you live? It might be harder if you live in the rust belt. I just spray it down good with simple green while it’s running and let it steam clean itself. Then rinse it off good. I’ve done that for years on countless vehicles and it always works great. I don’t bag things off like old cars protecting the distributor and stuff, but I also don’t go wild spraying the CPU and stuff like that.

That doesn’t sound bad. Colorado, so not the rust belt. I’ll give it a shot. Thanks.

 

[Jaxmax]

Got new shoes for the Mojave , pizza cutters 255/80/17, little bit taller then factory tires, 5 pounds lighter, and 10.3 inches wide! Drive home was nice and quiet, steering had a much less heavy feel, looking forward to seeing how they run the beach! Side benefit I had not thought about was another about 1.2” clearance for spare tire!
BEFORE:

After:

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Thanks for the confidence. I’m learning. If it’s a full tear down, why are new ring and pinion harder to do? Genuinely asking.

You have to set pinion depth and ring gear backlash as well as carrier preload.
Just replacing the bearings, you have a starting point and often need almost no real work as things typically go back into "specs".
With a different ratio, the pinion will be a different diameter and the ring gear a different thickness requiring moving/shifting the carrier over with shims, and setting carrier preload.
You need to do a lot more work.
Replacing with the same ratio isn't as bad, but still.......... more than just bearings.

The last two I did a full bearing set on required very little to get things just right.

 

[NC_Overland]

That doesn’t sound bad. Colorado, so not the rust belt. I’ll give it a shot. Thanks.

Yeah, I lived in CO from 2009-2014. It’s not bad. Just dusty.

 

[WILDHOBO]

You have to set pinion depth and ring gear backlash as well as carrier preload.
Just replacing the bearings, you have a starting point and often need almost no real work as things typically go back into "specs".
With a different ratio, the pinion will be a different diameter and the ring gear a different thickness requiring moving/shifting the carrier over with shims, and setting carrier preload.
You need to do a lot more work.
Replacing with the same ratio isn't as bad, but still.......... more than just bearings.

The last two I did a full bearing set on required very little to get things just right.

Sounds fun. But I’m sadistic.

 

[WILDHOBO]

Yeah, I lived in CO from 2009-2014. It’s not bad. Just dusty.

Just a bit.

 

[AdamC149]

Thanks. I’m doing a full master kit (bearings, seals, and shims) on Friday. Paying an expert from a shop to moonlight at my house and teach me how to do it. Can’t wait.

Send me some pics...I am with an OEM in the gear world underneath the umbrella of the biggest bearing co in the world.

 

[AdamC149]

This from a couple of years ago, but this is what we're looking forward to again, and in our drought, it isn't going to be fun............
Chart shows temp, dewpoint, relative humidity

Watch for "galling" - you may need to take a light to the races to see very hard to detect "pitting" - will still be smooth, the pitting is not deep at all and with smooth sides, not rough.

As already mentioned, watch not just the faces, but the ends - including the bearing inner race itself which is hard to see unless the thing falls apart.
Contrary to what some suggest - you don't need to see a "glitter storm" to have bearing damage. In fact, you may not know at all from the lube! "Glitter storms" are when it's too late, and for the steel, not the bearing surfaces themselves.

ZERO signs in the fluid. The only clue was the pinion seal leak. I pulled the front pinion bearing out and found minor galling in the outer race (leading to loss of preload which helped wear the seal faster)

This is a carrier bearing but the pinion bearing outer race looked similar. Pinion wasn't loose, but there was nothing much left for preload.

This cup shows sign of a potentially loose fit by the radial pattern displayed. This can cause all kinds of problems. Another explanation for this type of pattern is if the cup was seated into position somewhat crudely, at an angular back and forth approach into the seat but this is less common.

 

[AdamC149]

You have to set pinion depth and ring gear backlash as well as carrier preload.
Just replacing the bearings, you have a starting point and often need almost no real work as things typically go back into "specs".
With a different ratio, the pinion will be a different diameter and the ring gear a different thickness requiring moving/shifting the carrier over with shims, and setting carrier preload.
You need to do a lot more work.
Replacing with the same ratio isn't as bad, but still.......... more than just bearings.

The last two I did a full bearing set on required very little to get things just right.

To add onto what @ShadowsPapa has described, and from my short time here on this forum I can attest that there is a wealth of knoweledge between those ears........setting up gearing will require more patience and understanding than swapping bearings. While many "luck out" during a bearing change, tight tolerances on bearings are limited to engagement surfaces during manufacture as a means to reduce cost. One stack up of a bearing from one assembly to the next can vary .004" - .016" depending on the size. Don't expect a plug and play here.
With gearing, there is an engineered mounting distance on bevels that is used as a reference dimension for manufacture. This is understood to be something adjusted at assembly to suit. The spiral helical nature of these gears, coupled with what appears to be lapped gearing in these trucks means the setup can vary quite a bit.
Two parts....
1) Proper backlash will ensure that when thermal growth occurs, the gears never bottom out against each other in mesh. If this were to happen catastrophic failure is on the table. Bevels are generally case hardened and can take fair amounts of abuse, but when stress risers are too great, teeth will break off. Just imagine the domino thereafter.
2) Gear contact should be checked. IMO this falls closely behind backlash on the setup in matter of importance. You will notice the wear pattern on your current gears and likely will not be able to duplicate this checking them statically. Without a load on the teeth, there is no deflection and contact is typically more confined. A setup that favors the inside diameter of the gearing will run quieter and more smoothly but at the cost of load capacity. Vice versa for the opposite in this regard. You ideally want contact in center of the tooth in every aspect. This will give the best opportunity for load capacity and smooth performance.

 

[agoldxj]

Pretty impressive truck James , but “Dad “ in chalk on the driveway is what it is about!

100% makes me smile everytime the door opens!

 

[agoldxj]

Morimoto is getting very close to releasing their Gladiator tails. No reassurance needed with them.

Just the other day Quadratec just posted a video on Gladiator exhaust and they have Oracle products half lit up and half defective lol. Hope you have Goodluck with yours!

Well that figures, I even asked them about it before I ordered my rugged ridge ones 6 months ago and they said they had no plans for them. I guess we will see what happens, I have Morimoto headlights as well as their turn signal lights and both have been flawless.

 

[Shibbyjeep]

Well that figures, I even asked them about it before I ordered my rugged ridge ones 6 months ago and they said they had no plans for them. I guess we will see what happens, I have Morimoto headlights as well as their turn signal lights and both have been flawless.

Agreed, everything I've ever had Morimoto has been amazing.

 

[Minty JL]

I just paid off my JTM. I financed for 36 mos and paid it off in 29 mos. Now I have an extra $1323 a month now

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